Fenceline Track part 1:

Cascade Track to Waitakere Dam

I said that the Fenceline Track headed off uphill, but within a metre or two we were in fact walking downhill - very pleasant indeed I might add, but not for long, then downhill again and up and down

I spot a patch of fern I don't recognise by the side of the path. I later identify it tentatively as Panako (Blechnum filiforme), the thread fern. The "threads" are mature fronds normally found well up the trunk of a host tree.

I'm still not enough of a naturalist to understand the constraints that create such open, almost bare, areas of forest floor. One day...

However, soon enough we're back in the more usual lush growth I tend to take for granted.

The walking along here is pleasant and the path is regular, without demanding your constant attention underfoot. For a change, I can lift mine eyes unto the hills, or at least as high as that wonderful specimen of kiekie up ahead.

Now, I'm calling it a kiekie, but that's just a guess. I haven't paid enough attention to this area of plant-life to be certain of anything — whether, for example there may be other similar plants with different names and a better claim to the photograph. Alice is indifferent. Downhill is all that matters.

More boardwalk.

The next fern I notice is again one I can'y put a definite name to. The best I can guess is an Asplenium, possibly A. polyodon, though the leaves are a little rounded for me to be certain. There are hints of A lyalli which does have more rounded leaves, but on the other hand it does not have the divided leaves of A. lyalli.

And here, about as far from stream or dam as it's possible to get, is what I believe is a matata, or water fern (Histiopteris incisa). Andrew Crowe (Life Size Guide to New Zealand Native Ferns) tells us that it is one of the few ferns that goats will not eat.

And this of course you will recognise instantly as a hound's tongue, or Kowaowao.

To the right is a Bowaowao, or foetid hound's tongue (I kid you not. Just get your face up close)

Also increasingly common are maukurangi (Blechnum fraseri)

Once again I'm guessing. I ran this picture below past several reference works and I think we can call it a Pakauroharoha or Pneumatopteris pennigera. Perhaps Feather Fern might be easier to remember.

And here's the sign I've been looking for.

I drop the pack, lean my sticks against the sign where I won't have to lean right over to pick them up, and take it easy for a while.

I picked up an Overlander cloth sunhat at ITM the other day on special - about $6, very comfortable to wear, and I discovered two things about it: it will hold water for long enough for the dog to get a good drink, and it feels wonderful afterwards when it goes back on your head.

One hour, downhill, 90 minutes uphill, according to the signs. I've taken just under two hours to come up and I'll take about 90 minutes on the way back, after a twenty minute break enjoying the sounds of a distant tui and a couple of nearby pigeons just above my head. Alice comes over for a sit beside, and I discover that we have been through a patch of rimu on the way up. There's a biggish combing job ahead for sure.

I load up again and make my way back the way I came up. This time, on my way down I have time to pay a little more attention to the bush on either side of the track. I notice a patch of Crown Fern, or piupiu (Blechnum discolor) that I missed on the way up:

You can pick up the next section of the Fenceline Track HERE.