Notes from Branches and Sections

Forest and Bird, Issue 184, 1 May 1972, Page 22

Notes from Branches and Sections

TAURANGA SECTION In recent years Tauranga Section has had some good small camps and has used lodges at Ruapehu, Bushy Park, Whakatane Lions’ Youth Camp, Kaimai Youth Camp, Opoutere Youth Hostel, and open camp at Kaueranga. The camp at Coromandel Forest Park in Kaueranga Valley was held from 28 to 31 January this year. On the Friday afternoon campers moved up the valley road and set up their tents and caravans by their water supply, the Whangaiterenga Stream, which also has a good swimming pool. The section members appreciated having the assistance of Mr A. S. Gray (Waikato Branch) as leader.

On Saturday morning more campers came from Rotorua Section. One party tramped toward the Pinnacles with Mr and Mrs Gray, and another to the old Tarawaere kauri dam, guided by Mrs Win Gillespie (Thames).

The first party thought it remarkable to be walking up steps where once packhorses had tramped many years before, packing in supplies to bushmen engaged in felling kauri trees. At noon they reached the ridge, where a meal and a rest set them up for the return by the Billy Goat Track. The other party had to cross the river many times, to reach the dam, the best preserved of the many dams releasing kauri logs in past years. The weather held until late afternoon, when a drizzle set in, but after a wet night the sun shone again. One of the highlights for many was. the calling of the North Island kiwi in the night and also the moreporks. Less welcome were the mosquitoes. The native trees looked fine and healthy, with an abundance of species, some uncommon. Two more days were spent tramping and climbing. Three Waihi members, O. Morgan and son and D. Smeaton, climbed Table Mountain. Many of the signposted tracks remain to be explored on a future occasion. —D. Bar row

Ten members of the section had stayed at a motel in Thames, a tranquil place by the Karaka Stream, and joined the campers in the forest park 11 miles away. Some sketched, others took photographs, and some tramped to the Tarawaere dam. Kauri . rickers and saplings can be seen on the tracks. The scars of past destruction have been covered with rewarewa, towai, and kanuka. There are associations of tanekaha, rimu, rata, tawa, hinau, tawari, Hall’s totara, and other trees. Some more uncommon are silver pine, yellow-silver pine, barrier pine, kaikawaka, and hard beech. The shrubs Senecio kirkii, Neopanax laetum, and kiekie are present, and ferns abound.

The Indian myna was the most plentiful bird in the valley; tui, pigeon, fantail, silvereye, kingfisher, and grey warbler were present in small numbers.

An application to forest park headquarters, Kaueranga Valley, Thames, for information should be helpful to families tenting or caravanning there.

Recently F. Bodley (Rotorua Section) and R. D. Creswell (Tauranga) went to the Pinnacles and other tracks and were impressed by the signs of rejuvenation of vegetation.

They noted silver pine (Dacrydium colensoi}, barrier pine {Dacrydium kirkii), rata (Metrosideros umbellata), tawheowheo (Quintinia serrata), and shrub daisies Olearia rani, Celmisia adamsii, and Senecio myrianthos. —R. V. McLintock TAUPO SECTION Taupo Section’s first visit to the newly gazetted Maori scenic reserve was made in February, when the committee asked the Maori owners to join us at the summit. This bush, called by the Maoris Maoranui, is second growth cut over by the mills about 40 years ago. The 354 acres belonged to Mrs Pene and Mr R. Kusabs, of Rotorua, and Mr Harry Dansey of Auckland, and it was offered to the Taupo Section of the Society as a scenic reserve. However, the Maori Land Court refused that and instead vested it in a trust comprising the owners and the Society.

On this first field day Mr Anton welcomed the visitors and then called on Dr Armstrong to give a short address on his experiences when the mills were working. Mrs Pene also spoke briefly of her early experiences when staying with her grandfather, who was the chief of the district.

The area has few large forest trees, but some rimu and tawa are to be seen and young totara are springing up and give hope for the future. The second growth comprises rewarewa, kamahi, rangiora, and five-finger among others and there are many ferns. Not many birds were heard, as a large party does frighten them, but the screech of the long-tailed cuckoo was heard and the call of the tui and the bellbird. This could be a good sanctuary for birds, and when a memorial to Ihakara Kahuao, the great grandfather of the Maori donors, is put up on the summit, the reserve will be of great historic interest. Early this year the section held a field day to see the Waihohonu Track, on the Desert Road. The flora of this area is distinctly interesting, and among plants seen in flower were wahlenburgia, various species of coprosma, euphrasia, the blue orchid, and other low-growing alpines. The party lunched in the beech forest by the Piri Stream and then many of them walked up the Waihohonu Track, some going as far as the hut. There were few birds to be seen or heard, but the seldom-seen rifleman was about and the black and white tomtit. This is a lovely area, and the Tongariro National Park Board is to be complimented on the work that has been done for the enjoyment of visitors.