Takatimu Mountains Walk – New Zealand Visit – February 2015 – Part 4

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

We left the Catlins and headed to Invercargill. We had plans to visit the Hump Track, but after checking it out (it is very expensive to do – even if you take your own food and gear, as it is a private track), we decided to spent some time in the Takatimu Mountains. This is a compact set of mountains between Mossburn and Te Anau.

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Access was easy even with a small hire car – via a short dirt road that goes to the Lower Princhester Hut. We arrived at the hut in the late afternoon and spent a pleasant hour or two outside in the beech forest photographing the fungi and slime moulds. Continue reading →

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The Catlins – New Zealand Visit – February 2015 – Part 3

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

More beautiful coastal scenery on the third leg of our New Zealand trip. The Catlins is a region of coastline lying between Dunedin and Invercargill. Great coastal scenery was on offer as well as quite a few waterfalls and forested areas. And this time we did see some penguins.

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We headed down from Moeraki, back through Dunedin and then continued south to Balclutha for lunch and then into the Catlins. That afternoon we visited Tunnel Hill, Jacks Blowhole and Purakaunui Falls and then stayed at small, pleasant motor camp at Kaka Point. Continue reading →

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Otago Peninsula and Moeraki Boulders – New Zealand Visit – February 2015 – Part 2

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

For the second part of our New Zealand trip, Wendy and myself headed to Dunedin. Our aim was to visit the scenic Otago Peninsula. After that we intended to head north along the coast to the small town of Moeraki and see the famous boulders lying on the beach nearby.

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There is plenty to see on the Otago Peninsula. It is famous for its attractive rural scenery, a great coastline and its wildlife. Our route was to first head to Sandfly Beach and look for sea lions. We spotted quite a few, mainly asleep on the beach. Continue reading →

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Motatapu Track – New Zealand Visit – February 2015 – Part 1

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Dave Noble

I recently visited the south end of the South Island of New Zealand for a holiday with Wendy. On our three week visit we mainly did bushwalks but also some sight seeing. Our first walk was near Wanaka and it was out and back along a section of the Motatapu Track.

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The Motatapu Track leaves from near Glendhu Bay on Lake Wanaka and goes across the mountains to Arrowtown (near Queenstown). A lot of the track passes through private land. When the land was sold a number of years back to some North American music multi-millionaires part of the condition of sale was that a track and huts be constructed to provide for a public tramping track. The track also provides part of the route of the Te Araroa Trail that goes right down the entire length of New Zealand. Continue reading →

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Bola Creek – Visit to Look For Fungi – 6 February 2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Dave Noble

I went down to Bola Creek in Royal National Park with Digi Dave to look for fungi. We were hoping for a good show after recent rain and we were not disappointed even though it was quite early in the fungi season (usually – autumn – winter).

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Here are a few pictures of what we saw – Continue reading →

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Mt Hay Canyon – 3 February 2015

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Dave Noble

Bob and I headed up the mountains for a trip through Mt Hay Canyon.

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At the carpark, near Mt Hay, we were surprised to see two other cars there – we thought we would have the canyon to ourselves on a mid week day. We packed our gear and set of down the track, across the hanging swamp and then down a small bluff into a side gully. Then three abseils to arrive at Rocky Points Ravine – our creek. On the way down the side gully, we passed the other party – two members of which I knew – Les and John. We had a friendly chat as we passed by. Continue reading →

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Blue Mountains Weekend – Strange Bugs, Pink Flannel Flowers, a Crater and Canyon – 31 January – 1 February 2015

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Dave Noble

This was an interesting and pleasant weekend in the Blue Mountains.

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I headed up with John and Chuin Nee and their young son Jasper. At Blackheath we met up with Su Li and Brent and then headed out to Bung Crag at the headwaters of the South Branch of Bungleboori Creek.

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We soon arrived at the crag and it was here that Chuin Nee, Jasper and Brent went climbing. John and myself were interested in exploring the area. There were a lot of small insects flying around in the bushes near the crag – and we spotted one lower down on the ground. It was a really strange beetle – or at least it was a normal looking beetle with amazing antennae. I spent a fair while trying to photograph the beetle – it was hard as the beetle was not keen to sit still. Back at home, I found the beetle was a Feather Horned Beetle (Rhipicera femoralis) Continue reading →

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Bola Creek – a Look for Fungi – 30 January 2015

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Dave Noble

I went down to Bola Creek in Royal National Park with Digi Dave for some fungi photography. It is quite early in the fungi season, but it had been quite wet earlier in the week and we were hopeful some fungi would be out.

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We walked down to the Bola Creek Picnic Area and then scouted around. Some fungi was out. Not much, but enough for us to bother setting up tripods and getting our macro lenses out. We also found a few slime moulds. Continue reading →

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A Wet Day in the Upper Mountains – 27 January 2015

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Dave Noble

This was a wet day! I had travelled up the mountains with Bob. We had originally thought of doing a canyon – but with a bad weather forecast we thought a waterfall walk may be a more sensible option. I had suggested the walk from Leura Cascades to Leura Forest and then along Federal Pass to the base of the Scenic Railway and then returning via Furber Stairs and the Price Henry Walk. This is what we ended up doing. It did indeed rain for most of the day – which made photography very taxing! But wet weather and waterfalls make for spectacular and beautiful conditions and we had a very nice day.

Hericium coralloides - spine fungus

Hericium coralloides – spine fungus

We set off down the track from the Leura Cascades carpark. This is along a good track – but water seems to pool along it after any art of rain. The Cascades were very nice with a reasonable amount of water flowing. Lower down, under the shelter of trees and a cave I was able to get some photos.

LKWJ15-1 Continue reading →

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Canyoning at Newnes on the Long Weekend 24 – 26 January 2015

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Dave Noble

Wendy had organised a trip to Newnes for some canyoning. She planned to head up there on the Saturday afternoon – so some of us went up early with the intention of visiting an easy canyon.

Devils Pinch Canyon

Devils Pinch Canyon

In the first group were Albert, myself and John and Chuin Nee and their toddler Jasper. This first canyon would be suitable for Jasper to visit. It was a dry canyon that you could walk up and then back down – so no swims or abseils. Continue reading →

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