New Zealand field trips February 2010

[t00lie]

[quote author=David Lyttle
Dave,

Here are a couple of scenic shots (to show you the way).

1. Looking up Gorge Creek into the heart of the Eyre Mountains.



[/quote]

Last Sunday I managed to get a bit higher than David and his friends reached previously .

I wasn't alone --i came across this fella ---sorry for the poor image --i only had a second to take the pic on a tele setting before he got a whiff of me and bolted .

Hummock Peak framed .

Hummock Peak wider view.

Found many large cushions of Aciphylla spedenii --this one had over 30 rosettes.

Saw Ranunculus scrithalis but none in flower.

In all an eventful outing -- I won't go into the whole story however at one stage i lost control of my new camera in its carry bag and it rolled, picking up speed 30+ metres down a steep slope before flying out of sight  - my initial reaction was 'well that was a damn silly thing to let happen --i'll never find it --it will be an insurance claim for sure'---i then realized my cell phone and truck keys * were on board ......

Panicked really set in however when i thought of Hildas reaction in having to travel 2.5 hours up the road with the spare set *  

Luckily i found the bag some 40 minutes later caught up in a large Aciphylla and a check showed no damage.

I put this episode down to being very tired from all the exertions of the week before up country and as David has mentioned it's quite a climb and very steep bony country.

Cheers Dave.

[ranunculus]

We appreciate your lovely shots EVEN MORE after hearing your tale, Dave ... similar things have happened to some of our guests when we have been leading wildflower walks in the Dolomites and the potential consequences inspire panic in seemingly well-balanced people.  Luckily we have always found lost car keys, cameras, vital spectacles and passport carrying rucksacks before instigating contingency plans.

[Ragged Robin]

Wild and wonderful shots and so pleased your story ended happily - love the Chamois scene 

[Sinchets]

Shame no one had a gun to take out the Chamois! Is there nothing that didn't get introduced?

[cohan]

very lucky to recover the bag!
the Aciphylla is wonderful! how large are the rosettes? very like yuccas...

[Lesley Cox]

Shame no one had a gun to take out the Chamois! Is there nothing that didn't get introduced?

We don't have pandas or polar bears Simon. I know a few grizzlies though.

[Lesley Cox]

I wasn't alone --i came across this fella ---sorry for the poor image --i only had a second to take the pic on a tele setting before he got a whiff of me and bolted .

You must have forgotten the deodorant Dave. In your company I've never noticed the smell as being all that bad.

A pretty scary place by the look of those rocks. Maybe you were lucky to avoid broken ankles or legs. I hope you've been able to catch up on sleep since.

[Maggi Young]

A pretty scary place by the look of those rocks. Maybe you were lucky to avoid broken ankles or legs. I hope you've been able to catch up on sleep since.

 I'd have to agree with that, Lesley.... seems Dave was risking more than his camera.

What scenery, though! A wonderful place to be shown to us.... THANK YOU!

[David Lyttle]

Dave,

Your chamois is dwarfed by Aciphylla ' Lomond '. In your photo of Hummock Peak is the Gorge Burn on the left. I trying to figure out where you got to.

I have posted a picture of the Gorge Burn from the bottom ( for those wanting to go there). Its a bit complicated explaining exactly where we went; our route was up the second big spur coming down from the left.

We did not have any dramas like Dave - it was just a long way!

[t00lie]

Hello David
You are correct ---Gorge Burn is to the left of my Hummock Peak shots.

I went up the side of the third spur    and had a poke around the large scree patch (see horizontal line) where i found hundreds of Stellaria roughii --i then worked my way to the left and reached the unnamed peak (see vertical line).

Cohan
The Aciphylla can reach over a metre and half in size --the individual rosettes maybe 25cm x 25cm -their tips are just as sharp as yuccas.

Simon
In my younger days i would have certainly 'bagged' the Chamois--the only 'shooting' i do now a days is of plants ,scenery and companions.  

Rightio

I managed another trip last Saturday back into Fiordland --still a bit of snow around --the Ranunculus were mostly over lower down --- higher up a number were just starting to open --sorry if some of you are sick of R. buchananii pics -- however it has been such a wonderful season for the weeds.

Also found a small plant of a nice form of Celmisia linearis.

Cheers dave.

[ranunculus]

Oh for weeds like those, Dave?   

[Lesley Cox]

The Ranunculus buchananii - Is that what we call a Cliff hanger? Stop that dribbling Cliff.

I like your nice pun Dave. If you shoot too many of the last, what friends will you have left among the trail of bodies?

[ranunculus]

Stop that dribbling Cliff.

Is it visible on the avatar, Lesley ... you have excellent vision?   

[Maggi Young]

Stop that dribbling Cliff.

Is it visible on the avatar, Lesley ... you have excellent vision?  

VISIBLE? Good grief, what with this thread and the South American R. semiverticillatus, it's dripping out of all our monitors...... get a bucket, for pity's  sake!  

[David Lyttle]

Dave's effort in getting up to the ridge crest above Gorge Creek is fairly impressive. We basically ran out of time lower down; we were able to look down onto the top basin but were a couple of hundred metres below the ridge crest. I know how much Dave enjoys scrambling around on steep unstable screes so I guess all the adrenalin might have helped him up. The bottom of the second creek did not look particularly appealing when I looked down into it but the first creek was even less appealing.

Mt Burns where the Ranunculus buchananii grows (as Ian Y can attest) is by comparison a bit of a doddle. This why not many people have ever seen Ranunculus scrithalis.