Pukeko Hill

 

View from the local hills

That is the name I gave to the highest hill I can see from our house.  There are mountains in the distance but this hill is closer.  It was hard to get to with the state of the steep clay road.  I almost gave up in disgust but then I decided to treat it like any other obstacle and not fret about it, just figure out how to deal with it.  

There are so many of these steep clay road in the local area, if I want solitude I need to learn to deal with them.

On the way back I went just a little past the top of the trail that I take up and down and was surprised to find a picnic table.  I was also surprised that it was so close to the main track up in the local hills. 

I also saw a trail that is not on any of the maps that goes down to nae nae, or is it nea nea?  I don't like Nea Nea but I know better than to pronounced it Nay Nay, it is pronounced Ni Ni and it means mosquitos. 

I took my flying camera up for a look.  Rules on that are very strict here.  I won't be able to use it for photo journalism as you can't fly it over a road or over any private property.   

There are no pukeko birds on the hill but there are always lots of them at the trail head.  The trail head is just a pasture where the council plans to build a road to go over the  hill to Ni Ni someday. 

7 miles with 800 feet elevation gain

On the way back I found this path that is a short cut to home

Mount Mckenna

 

My first hike in the actual backcountry or bush.  Started at the trailhead on the end of sunny something road at about 7:15.  

Took a long time to get to the top due to all the lovely mosses and lichens and ferns and a few mushrooms. 

Ate expensive ramen with my home grown dehydrated tomato sauce.  Have not been able to find anything as cheap as top ramen here.  The ramen came with several flavoring pouches and tasted okay.  I tossed out the packet that I presume contained MSG.

Took a slightly different route down and it was lovely at first but suddenly ended and be came a very steep clay road.  It was hard to walk down the road, but my trekking poles helped a lot.

Took a hard fall on the actual trail when a root grabbed my foot.  Was not injured but it sure hurt where I hit my right knee.  I had my poles in my hands at the time but not sure if I was using them or just holding them since it was in a level spot.

Made it out just before dark and then rode the bus home in the dark.  So glad to have the busses figured out in the valley, there is one crazy route number that takes three different routes and has left me stranded before.

Very tired after this hike, I think because I was out for 11 hours. 

7 miles with 1,900 feet elevation gain

New super expensive topo map, will work in basecamp but not in mapsource
have to put the SD card in my computer to even get it to work with basecamp
but it is a nice map that is easy to read.  Expensive because it contains all of Australia too
saw to optoin to buy just the NZ version of this map 

This is the valley I live in now.  Wainuiomata surrounded by green hills

New Zealand Honey Mushroom Armillaria novae-zelandiae

Trail that I took down

Really cool fern Leptopteris superba

New Zealand Kidney fern

Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum

These cover everything in some parts of the forest.

Mycena mushroom

Brittle cider fungus  Kretzschmaria deusta

Luecobryum javense

And suddenly the trail was a VERY steep and slick road. 

Wianuiomata Reserve

 

This is a popular urban trail that had a couple of bridges on it and forms a loop.  My next hike after this will be on a real trail!  A few photos from the reserve for now though.