TRIP REPORT : Mt Kaukau – southwest slopes

 Saturday :   5 March 2005

Vasanta Avenue provides one of the few routes to the regenerating forest on the south slopes of Mt Kaukau.   It is via an unlikely looking culvert leading to a lost world, as yet undiscovered by local children – Playstation rules in Ngaio maybe.

Over rocks and ferns, in a typical Wellington-area young forest with mainly mahoe canopy, we followed the steep stream up to a chasm between rocky outcrops.   We added tree hebe, Hebe parviflora, to the list kindly provided by Pat Enright.   The cliffs and crags became more difficult beyond here, so we retraced our steps, to begin the second part of the trip.

From a narrow strip between 60 and 64 Amapur Drive, we entered Khandallah Park, following a steep stream, through kohekohe, mahoe and pukatea forest, with an occasional miro, and evidence of Greater Wellington Regional Council possum control work.   Climbing to the Northern Walkway, we added Arthropteris tenella, velvet fern / Lastreopsis velutina, and the sedge, Gahnia pauciflora, to the list, and we saw scarlet rata / Metrosideros fulgens in flower in the canopy.

About 350 paces before the stile, we found a 4-m hutu / Ascarina lucida on the east side of the track.   This tree was probably planted, and perhaps the one recorded by Ray Mole years ago.

Participants: Barry Dent, Frances Forsyth, Sue Freitag, Ian Goodwin (leader and scribe), Jill Goodwin, Kati Grinsted, Richard Herbert, Chris Horne, Gordon and Sheelagh Leary, Barbara Mitcalfe, Melanie Nelson, Joyce Stretton, Cathy Wylie.