February 2009 Upprer Hutt, Royal Forest and Bird Protecton Society Newsletter

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Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society

Upper Hutt Branch Newsletter February 2009 PO Box 40 875 Upper Hutt

February Meeting

‘Barbecue at Kaitoke Regional Park’

Date: Wednesday 25th February – 6.00pm

Place: Large Barbecue Area

To Get There: Turn left off State Highway 2to Kaitoke Regional Park. Take the loop road tothe left and about half way around there is alarge barbecue area on the right.Bring:

• Your own food and drink • $1 coins for the barbecues • $1 for the raffle • Family and Friends

March Meeting

Speaker: Dr Barrett

Topic: ‘Galloping around the Galapagos’

Join Dr Barrett to explore this most famous ofIsland Archipelagos, during a trip of a life time.Time: 7.30pm - Wednesday 25 March 2009 Place: Heretaunga College Staffroom

To Get There: Heretaunga College, Ward

Street, Wallaceville. The staffroom is oppositethe main entrance to the college and will besign-posted. There is parking in the collegegrounds or on Ward Street. Bring:

• A gold coin donation for the hire of theCollege Staffroom

• $1 for the raffle• A friend who hasn’t been to one of our

meetings before

April Meeting 22/4/2009 7.30pm

‘AGM and

Speakers’

Yes it’s that time of the year again where weare looking for volunteers to come on to the

committee. We need you!!

Remember, many hands make light work. Pleasethink about whether you can contribute a fewhours a month to help run our very active

Branch. The tasks are not too onerous,provided that we have enough people on thecommittee. We are a very friendly bunch ofpeople committed to improving and maintainingthe Upper Hutt environment, flora and fauna,for today and the next generation.

If you are interested and want to know more,please contact a committee member orvolunteer at the AGM. Thank you

Speakers: Barry and Rosemary Wards

Topic: ‘Journey’s into the South Island High

Country’ - Trip reports and images from someof New Zealand’s iconic places and stories

about the state of our Bio-diversity

FOREST & BIRD

CALENDAR & DIARY 2009

These are still available at reduced prices:

Diaries $10.00Calendars $ 7.00

Contact: Graham Bellamy, Ph 526 3053, [email protected]

16 Morepork Close, Riverglade, Upper Hutt



Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society Upper Hutt Branch February 2009

Chairperson’s Chat

Happy New Year from Upper Hutt F&B. I hopethat you’ve all had a good break and the return

to work hasn’t been too traumatic? Having just returned to work from a 6 weekbreak, I’m reeling from a radical “environmental

shift”. Wherefore a week ago Rosemary and Iwere experiencing the simplicity and solitude ofthe South Island mountains, I’m now strugglingwith 1500 emails, an impressive pile of paperand a rapidly-filling calendar!

F&B has been active over the summer break as

plantings needed weeding and the plant nurseryneeded water in this dry weather. Sue hasheaded off several disasters to avoid majorplant loss. Our first meeting for the new yearwill be held at Kaitoke at the F&B BBQ (details

in this newsletter) so please come along.Following this, we have a good program ofmeetings coming up. I have no doubt that 2009will be another busy year for us and there willbe plenty of opportunity for members to getactive with F&B activities.

Since I’m still thinking about mountains,forests and tracks that need to be sought out,I’ll leave you with some lines from RobertService:

“Have you gazed on naked grandeur where

there's nothing else to gaze on,

Set pieces and drop-curtain scenes galore,

Big mountains heaved to heaven, which the

blinding sunsets blazon,

Black canyons where the rapids rip and roar?”

Barry Wards, Chairperson

Barry

Planting Updates

Hulls Creek: Weeding/releasing is stillcontinuing on the last Thursday of each monthas per the following dates:-

Thursday 26th FebruaryThursday 26th MarchThursday 16th April (This one is a bit earlier)

Potting Up: This is being done at the UpperHutt Depot every Tuesday from 9am toapproximately 11.30am.

For further information please contact SueMillar on 5267 440 or [email protected]

Milford TrackWatch this space in the next

newsletter for a report on the Milford

Track Tramp

Milford Track January 2009




Trip Report by Gill Murgatroyd

DESERTS AND CANYONLANDS OFSOUTH - WEST UNITED STATES OF

AMERICA

A group of New Zealanders has recently beenon a 24 day tour of the deserts andcanyonlands of south west U.S.A. We leftearly on the morning of 13th October andtravelled east through Los Angeles into theCalifornian hinterland and desert.

Our first stop was at San Gorgiono and thenwent through a wind farm situated in a gorgeand on top of hills nearby. There were rowsand rows of turbines about 600 centimetersapart - hundreds of them - all merrily turning.

Lunch was at Joshua Tree National Park, anarea of weirdly shaped rocks and Joshua trees,which look a bit like our cabbage trees but thefronds are very stiff and sharp ended. TheJoshua tree is a type of yucca and is host to

many animals and birds and is specially adaptedto survive in desert conditions. It is only foundin the Arizona desert. We went on to walk in agarden of chollas (pronounced chooyas) whichare very prickly, and inadvisable to touch.

Next we stopped at Cottonwood Springs, whichwas dry but was an area of much morevegetation including giant fan palms 20 - 30feet high. Our first night was spent in Blythe

on the California/Arizona border. Irrigationsuddenly transformed the desert into greenpaddocks and citrus groves.

Next daywe stopped

to walkamong the

saguaros(sawarras)which are

giant cactiwith a hardwood-likecentre.

Birds, miceand rats

make nests in them. There was very littleother vegetation. Prescott was a biggish townwhere we had lunch in the town square and thenexplored the first of many gift shops withIndian arts and crafts. Further on, we stoppedat Jerome, an old copper mining town with acolourful past and which was now an art centre.We were now in red rocks country and travelledon to Sedona where we stayed in Oak Creek

Valley for three nights. At the end of thestreet we stayed on was Bell Rock, a

breathtaking brilliant monolith and surroundingrocks were also fantastic.

Main Street – Oak Creek

Days were pleasantly warm but temperaturesdropped quite a lot at night. Sedona is also anarty place. We even came across a NewZealand woman from Hastings painting in themain street of Sedona.

Next day we visited Montezuma's Well whichwas a large spring in the bottom of a large hole.




Ancient Indians lived in the rocky sides of thecanyon and grew many vegetables. On toMontezuma's Castle where there were morecliff-side dwellings.Next day on our way out of Sedona, we visited

the Church of the Holy Cross, built on rockabove the road and quite spectacular.We stopped at Walnut Canyon and walked down

to see more cliff dwellings and were luckyenough to see a small tarantula. We were nowtravelling north east over the Coconino plateauat over 7000 feet towards the south rim ofthe Grand Canyon. The land was more forestedwith ponderosa pines and juniper trees. Ourfirst view of the canyon was a WOWexperience. It isn't just a hole in the groundbut an area built up over millions of years andthen eroded over more millions of years but atdifferent degrees, so that erosion wears awaythe ridges separating adjacent canyons(leaving buttes and pinnacles) The Coloradoriver (when visible) looks like a tiny stream inthe bottom. The canyon stretches 446kilometres, is up to 29 kilometres wide and is

1.6 kilometres deep. The colours are amazingtoo - blue, pink purple, red and white. We got

up early next day to see the sun rise on thecanyon walls and then joined a ranger's grouptalking about and finding fossils. There was afree bus service which you could use to get tovarious parts of the area to save on fossil fuelsand congestion. We were now at 9000 feetwith the temperature going down near zeroovernight. There were several trails leadinginto the canyon which you could walk or ride amule. Our group went down at Naidab Point forabout half an hour along a steep zigzagging

track which was about five feet wide. So wedidn't get very far but got some different

views. While we were there, a man had crossedthe canyon to the top of the other side andthen travelled back overnight. He was verytired.We went on to Cameron through the PaintedDesert, which is almost completely barren andstayed one night. Cameron is an Indian tradingpost with shops, a restaurant and lovelyaccommodation.Next day, on the way to Bluff, we stopped atMonument Valley on the border with Utah. Wewalked among the great monoliths in an almost

barren land but there were several interestingplants, including narrow leaved yuccas, blackbush, snake bush, Russian thistle, juniper,rabbit brush and a few prickly pears. Theground looked as though there were worm casts

there but this is actually a lichen that protectsagainst erosion. You are asked to keep to thepath.

Next day we woke to find the ground wet froma short sharp shower - the first moisture wehad seen. On our way next day, we stopped tolook at the Indian newspaper - ancient rock,messages or old style graffiti - done on rockcovered with desert varnish (a black coatingwhich you can scratch). Here we also saw thefirst autumn colours in aspens and cottonwoods.On to the Needles in Canyonlands National Parkwhere we saw more monoliths and needle-likerocks and had lunch under a mushroom-likerock. There was more desert land but enoughgrass to support a few cattle. We saw lizards, abluejay and chipmunks.

Mesa Arch at Moab

We arrived at Moab in more red rock country.This was a pleasant town settled by Europeansabout the same time as New Zealand and existsbecause of oil and uranium mines (now closed).The town is also home to many artists. Iparticularly enjoyed the wind sculptures. Whilein Moab, we visited nearby Arches NationalPark, an area of natural arches and weatheredrock. The following day, we went on Highway inthe Sky to the Mesa arch in the White Mesalands. Once again we were on high groundlooking in to a canyon where there were trailsfor bikers and walkers.On the way to Bryce Canyon National Park, now




travelling southwest, we stopped at HollowRock cafe for refreshment. The cafe wasactually built in to the rock and was lovely andcool. There was also a garage and a boat yardas Lake Powell was fairly close.

We had lunch at Freemont Bridge followed by awalk to Hickman's Bridge - a natural arch.There were lots of plants here - Buffalo berry,

pinyon pine, mormon tea, juniper, prickly pearand yucca.We travelled on a narrow ridge above deepvalleys and through pondorosa pines and aspenswhich had already lost their leaves. Bryce wasanother place in the middle of nothing much.We stayed at Ruby's Inn, a large complex ofshops and accommodation. Next day wetravelled out to Sunset Point and viewed BryceCanyon which is just like Fairyland with brightorange and white rock formations calledhoodoos. We walked down in to the canyon, nottoo steep or deep, through Queen's Gardens tothe Peekaboo track and finished on Navajotrack climbing up to Bryce Point. Our cameraswere going nineteen to the dozen - it was just

so beautiful. One rock looked like QueenVictoria and another like Yogi Bear plus there

were arches and windows. The canyon wasquite well forested with mainly pine.Next day we travelled on to Zion. We had ourfirst view at Canyon Overlook, climbing upsandstone rocks to the viewing point. Onarrival at Zion, we walked beside a flowing riverwhich seemed strange after seeing almost nowater on our tour so far. This canyon hastowering walls and there are many walks to bedone there. We stayed at Springdale not faraway and once again there were free buses to

take us to the canyon and others inside to take you to the different areas. On the following

day, we did a six hour tramp on the Eastern Rimtrack. We walked across a forested plateauuntil we came to a steep zigzag trail into thecanyon and caught the shuttle bus back. Nextday, we walked to Scout's Landing, quite closeto Angels' Landing which looked and sounded abit too adventurous for us.On again into Nevada, still in desert land, to LasVegas, just to show us something completelydifferent. You could see the city long beforewe reached it - there was a cloud of dust orsmog over it. After so many days of peace and

quiet, it was an assault on the senses - motortraffic, neon lights , blaring music and high-risebuildings. We took an afternoon walk down thestrip and went in several casinos which heldshops as well as hundreds of pokies. Luckily our

motel was off the main street and reasonablyquiet. Later, going out for a meal, we saw amagnificent water fountain playing in to a

largish lake in front of Caesar's Palace andfound a beautiful garden through the FlamingoCasino. From our Motel, we counted ninecranes working on building projects. Nextmorning we went for a walk back one streetfrom the strip which was much humbler withwarehouses and more ordinary businesses.Suburbia stretched for miles with new housingestates before we were out in the Mojavedesert again and in to California for a longdrive west and north, through Death Valleywhere there was very little growing or sign oflife. The land was 190 feet below sea level,making it a popular place for people in wintertime as it was warmer. Furnace was an oasiswith tall palm trees and a caravan park - even

some coarse grass. We arrived late in theevening at the small town of Bishop. During the

night, there was snow on the Sierra Nevadatops so that our preferred Tioga Pass wasclosed and we had to travel an extra 120 milesfurther by 9000 foot Ebbetts Pass -. Even atthe top of the pass there was light snow fallingwith some lying on the ground.We arrived in Yosemite when it was almostdark. The first thing we saw was the YosemiteFalls which only flow after rain. They areamong the highest in the world. The valley wasmisty, giving an eerie feeling, and decidedly

cool. Next day, we explored the area withinwalking distance which included fields with

mule deer roaming, a view of the falls and theAhwahnee hotel - luxury accommodation.Overnight there had been more snow on thetops. There was a lot of forest in the valley, sothat it was difficult to get an overall view. ElCapitan is a 3000 foot cliff which attracts rockclimbers from around the world and Half Domeis another feature. We climbed up the track tothe Vernal and Nevada Falls which were alsopretty spectacular. There is a shuttle bus totake people around the area which includes avillage, a motor camp, a museum and




accommodation. I would have liked to exploreYosemite further but we had to leave next dayon our way back to Los Angeles. We stopped atMariposa to see the giant sequoias. It looked just like a European Christmas scene with snow

on the ground. The trees are the tallest in theworld and have massive red trunks.After that, we came back to civilisation and

travelled through rolling hills, ranches,orchards and vineyards to the west coast. Thegroup had a final meal together and celebratedthe election of Barack Obama as President ofU.S.A. before departing for home the next day.

Gill Murgatroyd

Forest and Bird Local Branches

F&B Lower Hutt Branch meeting:Meets 1 st Thursday of the month

F&B Wellington Branch MeetingMeets 3 rd Thursday of the month

Kapiti Branch Meeting

Meets 4 th Wednesday of the month

Other Groups

Wellington Botanical SocietyMeets 3 rd Monday of the month 7.30 pm www.wellingtonbotsoc.wellington.net.nz

Web Watch

Forest and Bird has a great website with heapsof interesting information. This is currentlybeing upgraded. Next time you are on line,

check it out:www.forestandbird.org.nz Also check out:

Kiwi Conservation Club www.kcc.org.nz NZ Ecological Restoration Networkwww.bush.org.nz NZ Plant Conservation Networkwww.nzpcn.org.nz

Newsletter Deadline

The deadline for the next newsletter is:31 March 2009

Please send any items to Penny or Marion,

preferably by email (so we don’t have to wearour fingers out typing!) Thanks

Editors Note

Many thanks to Gill for the wonderful reportshe produced for the newsletter this month.

What an awesome trip you had along with yourfellow Kiwis. It is really interesting to hearabout the trips people are doing. Anyreports/information etc is greatly appreciated.Don’t be shy.

The views expressed in this newsletter are not

necessarily those of Forest and Bird as a whole.

Every effort has been made to ensure

accuracy. Any errors or omissions are

regretted. Correspondence should be

addressed to PO Box 40 875 Upper Hutt

Sundew on the Milford Track

Unusual Fungi on the Milford Track




What are these you may ask? Find out in

the next newsletter!




Calendar of Events

Month Date Time Event Contact

February Every Tues 9.00 – 11.30 Potting upMeet at the Shade House, City Councildepot, Maidstone Park

Sue Millar04 526 7440

Wed 25th 7.30 Upper Hutt Branch Meeting –

Barbecue at Kaitoke (see page 1 for details)

Barry Wards

04 970 4266

Thurs 26 5.00 – 7.00 Hulls Creek Working BeeNow daylight saving has started this

has moved to Thursday evening


March Wed 25th 7.30 Upper Hutt Branch Meeting(see page 1 for details)

Barry Wards04 970 4266

Every Tues 9.00 – 11.30 Potting upMeet at the Shade House, City Councildepot, Maidstone Park


Thurs 26th 5.00 – 7.00 Hulls Creek working Bee Sue Millar04 526 7440

April Wed 22nd 7.30 Upper Hutt Branch Meeting Barry Wards04 970 4266

2008 Branch Committee

Phone Email

Barry Wards 04 970 4266 (hm)04 894 0475 (wk)

Chairperson [email protected]

Graham Bellamy 04 526 3053 Treasurer [email protected] Marion CallusPenny Madsen

04 527 869204 528 5303

Newsletter/committeeNewsletter

[email protected] [email protected]

Sue Millar 04 526 7440 Shade House and Planting [email protected] Ruth Swanson 04 528 8389 Meeting Host

Gill Murgatroyd 04 970 3042 CommitteeRichard Northmore 04 526 2572 CommitteeStella Watson 04 971 5076 New Members [email protected] Adam Langford 04 973 7302 Committee

Georgie Dobson 04 526 5119 KCC [email protected]

February 2009 Upprer Hutt, Royal Forest and Bird Protecton Society Newsletter

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