Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 20th May.

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we had a dry day that proved to be very pleasant weather for hiking.  We drove up Bell Road then down the Hydro East road to a parking spot abouttwo thirds of the way down the very long hill.  A fairly new logging road branches off at this point and heads downhill taking a winding route through mixed areas that are both untouched forest and young plantations.  Several creeks pass under the road in culverts and after so much rain in recent weeks it was no surprise to see so many miniature rapids and attractive waterfalls. For lunch we sat on logs on the beach after failing to locate a larger waterfall that we had visited some years earlier.  

My photo is one I took on the previous hike at the start of May when we explored the forested mountain side high above Cook Bay. This is a colourful lichen that has the very odd English name 'Floral Pixie',  There is a similar species that is common elsewhere that is called 'British Soldiers', but I understand it's rare here on the coast.  

JD.

Cladonia bellidiflora, Floral Pixie, a lichen similar to another kind of Cladonia lichen called British Soldiers.