Forest romp

=^..^=

We finally got some much needed break from all the winter rain, so JS and I went to explore the forest near the house.

I took the opportunity to take pictures of NZ clouds - they usually look like they were painted on by a sloppy, inexperienced beginner who wanted to use up some leftover darkly shade of blue:

Click on the images to view larger size.

I can paint more realistic clouds than these!

"There's a hole in the sky that can only be filled by you..."

If you ever romp around the countryside here, DO NOT walk into a field of gorse bush. Very very prickly shrubs, gorse, and any contact stings like a sonofabitch. There's plenty in the forest to avoid, too. But that's about the only inconvenience there is, as sandflies stick to, well, certain places with sand and you don't have to worry about effin' ticks (yay for no ticks!). I present you the gorse bush:

Owchie! I kill you!!!

Vegetation in Waitakere is a bit special and different from the rest of the North Island. The prevailing type of tree is the tea tree, there's heaps of ponga trees (silver tree fern), kauri trees, pines, etc. Let's have a closer look then:

Tall tea trees, my main squeeze, gorse on the far left and right.

Baldly walking in...

...fighting off bears, volves and ticks gorse...

... and getting rather intimate with ponga trees.

Ponga tree tops

Dead ponga tree branch - light and almost hollow inside

Young ponga tree branch - looks fuzzy and cuddly, almost alive...

...but the fuzz peels off very easily and reveals a young light green shoot.

As an experienced Kiwi tracker, I can trail possums.
This animal has been here withing the last 12 hours,
and its yesterday's dinner was peanut butter sandwich.
Erm.. With chilli.

To the open field again.
Through the pine branch you can see a long row of tea trees...

...I love rubbing tea tree leaves between my fingers and smelling them - they smell kinda like pine, but less heavily so and there's just a hint of resin. Most wonderful. I also recommend putting your cheek against tea tree bark, it gives you the feeling of intensely strong connection with your natural surroundings, but without the back pain and squashed bugs associated with camping.

Alrighty then, I hope you enjoyed my attempt at walking you through the forest. Lemme know how your cheek-to-tree-rubbing experience went, if I inspired you to go outside and do so.

XOX, D.

All pics taken by JS and moi in August, 2009