Claustral Canyon – 4 March 2015

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

Claustral Canyon is always a pleasant day out. This visit was with Bob Sault and Tom Williams. Tom had been on my first visit to Claustral Canyon, sometime in late 1973. It was my second canyon trip and his first. Bob had also been on many early canyon trips in the mid 70’s including the trip where we had found Rocky Creek Canyon in October 1976.

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We met at the new carpark on the Bell Rd and were on the track by the early time of 9:30. Too early for Claustral perhaps from a photographic point of view – the sun is too low in the sky at the time you are in the main part of the canyon below the abseils. Soon, we found ourselves in the creek and at the waterjumps. Quickly through these and onwards to the abseils. Continue reading →

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Bola Creek – Fungi and Slime Moulds – 2 March 2015

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

This was another in a series of visits to Bola Creek, with Digi Dave to photograph the fungi and slime moulds that we saw. And we saw lots of beautiful fungi.

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It is said that Bola Creek is the best rainforest in Sydney. Perhaps it is. It is certainly a great place to see a variety of fungi. Here is a selection of what we saw – Continue reading →

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Kepler Mountains Walk – New Zealand Visit – February 2015 – Part 7

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

This was the last walk we did on our New Zealand visit. After completing the Greenstone – Caples walk, we had originally intended to spend a few days on the Hollyford Track, but we had already done a fair bit of valley walking and thought it may be better to spend a few days in the hills.

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We and not booked any spots in the huts of the Kepler Great Walk, but we knew it was OK to camp near the track – as long as you camp more than 500 m from the track (except in two spots). So that was what we decided to do. We would walk up from Te Anau to the tops of the Kepler Mountains, camp for a night or two and then return. Continue reading →

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Greenstone – Caples Walk – New Zealand Visit – February 2015 – Part 6

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

From Te Anau, Wendy and myself had headed to The Divide and from there set off along the start of the Routeburn Track around Key Summit heading towards the Greenstone Valley.

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I was familiar with the Caples – Greenstone area, having walked the loop – up the Caples and then down the Greenstone back in 2009 (see photos here) and on a much earlier trip up along the Routeburn Track from the eastern side and then back via the Upper Caples and Kay Creek. On both those trips I was really impressed by the wild beauty of the Upper Caples Valley. Particularly the river and the overhanging beech trees. On both those previous trips, the weather for that section had been quite bad – constant rain, which had made photography very difficult. This was a major reason I was keen to return – so I could see the river again.

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We set off from The Divide around midday. The weather was not real good – cold and rainy. However the forecast was for it to improve and the next few days should be fine. This turned out to be correct. The bad weather of the start of our walk made the forest along this section particularly attractive. The beech tress are covered with a mat of moss and in mist and drizzle they took on an eerie beauty. Continue reading →

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Te Anau Area – New Zealand Visit – February 2015 – Part 5

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Dave Noble

We left the Takatimu Mountains and headed to Te Anau. This was going to be our base for the rest of our New Zealand trip.

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Our first visit was to the DOC office to check out options for walks and also the weather forecast. The we set up camp at the nearby motor camp. This left us a few hours free in the late afternoon afternoon, so we headed to Rainbow Reach on the Kepler Track. This provided very pleasant rainforest walking and some amazing fungi and slime moulds. We didn’t actually walk too far as we spent a lot of time photographing. Continue reading →

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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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