This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 96, no 10, November 2024
Zealandia E
Wednesday 18 September 2024
Seventeen members gathered on a beautiful sunny day for a tour of Zealandia. We set off to look for the Te Mahanga track where a new boardwalk, funded by a bequest from John Nankervis, has been constructed for the protection of newly released Pepeketua, Maud Island frogs.
After morning tea, we took the Fuschia Loop Track. The trees are in flower during spring. We spotted a good number of flowers on the ground and a few in the trees. We enjoyed lunch in the sun on top of the lookout tower, entertained by kākā flying to and from a huge pine tree.
We thought our last treat was several tuatara sightings on the way to the gate, but suddenly a few of us turned to notice a pair of quail having a dust bath on the clay bank! Most entertaining and they weren't put off by us.
A four-hour walk enjoyed by all.
- Party members
- Julia Fraser (leader), Alan Benge, Anne Bond, Hadley Bond, Elizabeth Bridge, Nick Campion, Margaret Foden, Trish Gardiner-Smith, Brian Hasell, Howard Livingston, Jean Morgan, Peter Nixon, Barbara Ogilvie, Kerry Popplewell, Alison Stephenson, Sue Tunnicliff, Julie Woolf.