Woodhill Diary

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Tuesday 26 June 2007

page 3

I stop for a short breather here. London Pride is just showing bud again. One of the trees on the mound has died. A bit early to justify a lunch stop yet, so I head on. More tidying needed along here.

Maybe I'm just bloody picky, but the marker signs seem to characterise perfectly the neglect that has characterised the track stewardship over the last few years.

Young rangiora are common, also along here.

There's been a good flowering of Parsonsia since I was here last, and later on I see a few flowers right up top, too far away to photograph. Just along here, the seed pods are thick, about 150mm in length.

More tidying.

We reach the viewpoint at the bottom of the hill. It seems a little more overgrown than I remember from last time I sat down here.

Young kawakawa are in the process of obscuring the track sign. So much of this began so well, with such a lot of care in track marking and signs.

Beside the track we catch a moment of birth.

This one's been down for a while now, and is big enough to warrant a little care with a chainsaw. I make my way up the bank beside the track and scramble down again on the other side.

There's a nice piece of fungus growing on the old trunk.

I have never seen Parsonsia vine growing more rampantly than in Woodhill. It is one of the relatively few plants that find a comfortable home under the pine canopy.

This section of track is also rich in young kohekohe.

Along with some mature Parsonsia just along the way a little, there is another vine growing that I do not recognise.

It's a stranger to me. Conceivable that it's one of the multitude of Parsonsia leaf forms, but the habit seems different. The leaves are attached singly rather than in pairs, for a start.

The track is getting narrow and somewhat overgrown along here.

Machete next time. This stuff is just unpleasant to brush against.

Out to the left, we can suddenly see the coast in the distance.

It's a nice day for walking, sunny and bright, but just a nip of winter about. Another tree has fallen across the track.

We are now making our way steadily downhill through a pleasant green light

towards the stile at the bottom. I bet that didn't look like it does now when it was first put there.

I think about stopping for lunch but decide to push on up to the main lookout.