We went for a walk in the native bush reserve behind Orr Hill near French Pass along a historic bullock trail once used by early farming settlers. My wifes grandfather Harrold Leov regually drove cattle from his farm at Te Towaka to the Rai Valley some 70km away. These tracks are now mostly used by pig hunters.
This bush is mixed podocarp with fine stands of beech trees on the ridges and dense areas of supplejack and a vine that locals call ‘gigi’ in the wetter gullys. Rimu, lancewood, five finger, rangiora are the trees that are easily identified in this area.
Here we have some flowering nikau a favourite source of food for kereru or wood pigeon.
Fantails or piwakawaka are New Zealand’s most friendly native bird in the bush. Very busy and acrobatic, they are the ultimate test for bird photography. This one tormented us all the way down the gully.
Ghostly yet beautiful – a white moth we found sitting peacfully on a fern leaf. It did not move. We have since found out it maybe a cabbage tree moth.
This comparitively open area has always been a fascination to me as it is part of a mineral belt that runs through this area. The high mineral content of the soil has resulted in a unique flora here that has adapted to the soil type, trees are usually stunted. The rocky out crops as pictured above have finally lured us to tramp up the hill for a closer inspection.
We believe that the rock below is serpintine, a common mineral found in this area.
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At the end of the day looking North West toward Mt Shewell in the Pelorus Sound. A fascinating day in the bush and beyond