TRIP REPORT : Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

 Saturday, 3 August 2003 :   Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

This trip had two purposes.   The first was to botanise along the Te Mahanga Track between the Lower Reservoir and the Upper Dam, then along the Round the Lake Track on the east side of the Upper Reservoir.   The second was to help with choosing sites along an interpreted trail to be sponsored by BotSoc.   This will involve placing numbered posts near plants or groups of plants, the sites to be described in a pamphlet available to visitors at the Visitor Centre.   We got the idea from the excellent post and pamphlet trail produced by the Department of Conservation for Mangaweka Scenic Reserve – the botanical notes were done by Colin Ogle.

As an aid to learning plant names, everyone was given a list of 140 native plants recorded in the Sanctuary, each with a number.   We added several plants to the list, including big mingimingi, coastal tree daisy / Olearia solandri, a rata / Metrosideros colensoi, fireweed / Senecio minimus, and several native species planted as part of the restoration of the valley.   Features of the day included several wheki ponga / Dicksonia fibrosa, big tree fuchsias, a large tree tutu, the ferns Leptolepia novaezelandiae, Diplazium australe, Blechnum colensoi, and Hymenophylum flexuosum, several kaka, a saddleback/ tieke and a North Island robin / toutouwai.

While the botanising continued apace, Raewyn Empson, Conservation Manager, and various BotSoccers, marked individual plants and groups of plants which could be allocated numbered posts, and described in the proposed pamphlet.   John Shorland took photographs of the plants to help with interpretation.

Participants: Trevor Anders, Graham Armstrong, Phyllis Armstrong, Diana Barnes, Rae Collins, Ken Drayton ⁽¹⁾, Raewyn Empson ⁽¹⁾, Councillor Andy Foster ⁽²⁾, Sue Freitag, Marjorie Gee, Chris Hopkins, Chris Horne, Hilary Hunter, Brenda Johnston, Mark Kearney ⁽¹⁾, Gordon Leary, Sheelagh Leary, Cathy Lythe, Barbara Mitcalfe, Mick Parsons, Logan Paul, Megan Payton, Merrin Pearse, Chris Perry, John Shorland, Sunita Singh, Anne Smith, Des Smith, Patsy White, Tony White.
⁽¹⁾ = KWS staff; ⁽²⁾ = KWS trustee.

Chris Horne