TRIP REPORT : Onoke Spit

 Weekend 14-15 February 2004 :   Onoke Spit

Raoulia mat, Onoke Spit. Photo: Chris Horne.

Those of us who travelled on the Friday night were lucky to find a very snug camping pozzie in Baumea and Plagianthus divaricatus, despite the unseasonable wind raging wildly above.   Next morning we and the others set off along the spit, a regionally significant geomorphological feature which impounds the southern end of Lake Onoke.   Three kilometres long, this sand and gravel dune supports a now uncommon association of coastal plants: Austrofestuca littoralis / hinarepe / sand tussock; Spinifex sericeus / koowhangatara / silvery sand grass; Desmoschoenus spiralis / piingao / golden sand sedge; Calystegia soldanella / panahi / shore bindweed; Carex pumila / sand sedge; Raoulia australis/scabweed; Pimelea cf. urvilleana / pinaatoro/sand daphne.   We looked for Eryngium vesciculosum / sea holly, in some of the moister swards but found none.   Cyperus ustulatus / upoko tangata/giant umbrella sedge, was common in such sites.

We saw a complex of deeply channelled wheel ruts left by off-road vehicles which are unfortunately permitted to drive along the spit, causing irremedial damage to many Raoulia mats and Pimelea plants.   Their presence must also disturb the bird population and their nesting sites as well.   See Forest & Bird no. 311, February 2004, pp 36-39.

Piingao, Onoke Spit. Photo: Chris Horne.

All the way back we struggled against a gale, heads bent and skin tingling from driven sand.   Gavin and Sunita had offered us hospitality at their bach at Corner Creek but it was too dangerous to even try to ford the creek, so Sunday’s botanising was prudently and unanimously abandoned.   That night torrential rain flooded many areas and caused considerable damage.

Information sheets compiled by Tony Silbery and Aalbert Rebergen and supplied by Masterton Area Office of DOC, were much appreciated.

Participants: Margaret Aitken, Helen Druce, Arnold, Gavin and Ruth Dench, Bryan Halliday, Diane Harries, Chris Horne, Gordon and Sheelagh Leary, Pat McLean, Barbara Mitcalfe, Sunita Singh (leader), and Julia White.

Barbara Mitcalfe