Old Coach Rd Track

Page 1

The upper section of the Old Coach Road Track has shared in the general revamp and the track surface is still immaculate but begins to head purposefully uphill. The bush is still the same semi-open type featuring a good many of the Olearia and large leaf Coprosma species that seem to favour this environment. One thing I note in passing is the relative absence in this stretch of bush of the small leaf Coprosmas that are such a feature of Woodhill Reserve and other local areas of bush.

One of the signs I am getting tired is that I stop photographing, or even seeing, the vegetation along the way and confine myself largely to record shots of the track. I can do without the next bit of hill.

Miranda is getting tired too, but still has an eye for the small details. In a patch of light on a tree trunk, a couple of flies are sunning themselves, and one of them stays put long enough for a photo op.

photo by miranda woodward

The track forks. The original track to the right is now closed

and we are directed left toward the Scenic Drive. The revamped track has reverted to the original surface. I wake up enough to spot a juvenile lancewood (horoeka, Pseudopanax crassifolium) and note I have not seen many of them this trip.

Shortly we emerge onto the Scenic Drive and follow the edge of the road for a hundred metres or so.

then it's back into it. Along the roadside is a nice specimen of New Zealand tree fuchsia. This is very common on Waitakere roadsides, enjoying the extra light that many natives prefer to avoid.

This is the sort of shit I can do without, to get three quarters of the way round the circuit with Alice on a leash as requested, and then find this. The condition of the sign suggests it's way out of date, but I am not impressed. We ignore it and keep a closish eye on the dog.

The track is more of the same we've just been along, and in a few minutes we emerge onto the end of Tawari Rd.

This is the highest point on the circuit. For the next little while the track is quite close to private houses, before heading back down the hill to the Mountain Rd Carpark