Kauri forest

23 May

Puketi Hut to Blackridge Campsite

KM 176.5

Distance: 21km

Elevation: ascent 745m; descent 802m

Steps: 33,500

Time: 7:45am - 3:30pm

Breakfast was supposed to be leftover bagels and cream cheese from yesterday's town breakfast. Remember that fridge we mentioned yesterday? It made a better freezer, because our cream cheese and milk were frozen solid. A less than ideal way to start the day.

However, as we left the hut to make our way to the track we DIDN'T come across a crazy guy with a shotgun. A good way to start the day.

If you've never walked through a kauri forest then just know that it is a very different landscape than other types of forest in Aotearoa. Kauri are the  dominant canopy species and at their base is a species of tall grass. Other trees can be found in between but the height, girth and texture of the kauri steals your attention. 

We found this peculiar arrangement. Presumably the kauri had grown around the other tree. 

We came across three more kauri snail shells along the track. They were all broken and based on the pig sign we saw along the track we assume the snails were a snack for them. 

This picture shows the trunk end of a broken branch. They always seem to have a pyramidial plug at the end. Kauri shed their branches as the move from adolescent to full adult phase. The older kauri have long straight unbroken trunks and a spreading canopy.

This was another track that alternated between boardwalk and natural surface. Only, the natural surface was rough or slippery in many places. Both of us fell down more than once but no injuries worse than a few bruises and scratches.

The track eventually led us down to a beautiful tree lined stream coloured yellow by the kauri forest tannins or the stones beneath its surface. Cool but not cold, it never got deep enough to get our shorts/skirt wet. 

We followed it for 2.5 km, which took us a little over an hour, and cast our minds back to some South Island streams and rivers we enjoyed walking through. We also remembered that some of those had been with our trail friend Linsey. We both agreed she would have found this stream "amazing!"  

As nice as the stream was, we were starting to get cold so it was nice to leave it. After washing the grit out of our shoes and squeezing the excess water out if our socks we started the climb up and out of the valley. The track was well formed but was a steady, steep ascent to Blackridge campsite which was to be our resting place for the night. Its a new campsite and there is a shelter with seating and a cooking bench. Pol got a fire going in the fire pit which created a nice atmosphere as the sun went down. Sitting in the tent writing this we can hear morepork/ruru and kiwi calling around us. 

Today was another day of discovering interesting mushrooms. Our next book investment might just be a funghi identification handbook. If any mycologists are reading this please let us know what species we found.

Finally, we also found another amazing looking insect. Not sure what it is, perhaps a goliath beetle?