7 July 2007

Ridge Rd Track

page 4

I'm pretty sure this is Pseudopanax arboreus - five finger.

A young mapau stands out against a background of rimu

The track still requires a certain wariness. In drier weather it would present no difficulties.

We've hit bottom and start a series of gentle up and downs. We're now walking upstream, and still fairly cautiously.

Once again, the vegetation is fairly short, though still extremely dense.

The colour effects on this heketara are interesting

Some of the kanuka are getting pretty tall with substantial trunks. For those who regard kanuka as "scrub", the life of a kanuka can exceed 100 years.

We carry on. It's pleasant walking, if a touch wet underfoot.

An asplenium catches the light. They can have at times a sort of luminous quality when they are sitting in shadow.

A Schefflera digitata.

and here is a rata, Metrosideros diffusa, on a punga trunk. The name "diffusa" refers to the way in which the climber's branches hang off the trunk.

Watch for (quad)bikes...

On the side of the track a small fern parades it's symmetry. I have a couple of ideas but no certain identification.

A young rimu hangs down over a mossy bank

Just along here, moss is everywhere. I'm not sure of the exact reason, but there are some subjects that can confuse the focussing mechanism of a digital camera. Alice is definitely one of them, and most mosses also have this quality. It's something to do with the difficulty in calculating an average depth of field, and in low light this gets even worse. It would be siompler to detach a small piece of moss and place it on a plain background.

There's a major mix of rimu, kanuka, rewarewa and ferns

There's a few of these totara here and there, but they're all small. I wonder if they are a deliberate enrichment planting, as I can't see any obvious parents.

The light is changing somewhat. It's getting closer to midday and there may be considerably more of it...

Same applies to miro as to totara. Lots of young ones, no parents.