Blue mushrooms and fairy finds
Walkers climb to summit of Mt Pureora
Last Wednesday was a day to die for: bright autumn sunshine, Lake Taupō the deepest of blues, the trees all copper and gold, and as good luck would have it, the Wednesday Walkers walked just about our most beautiful track.
Beginning from the carpark beside the marina in Kinloch, we set out west along the lakeshore.
This path continues for more than 10 wonderful km, but we turned inland and skirted the edge of the new development in Kinloch where sections are gradually being filled with new houses, most of which command expansive views back towards the lake and the mountains beyond.
We moved down the hill to the bridge over the Whangamatā Stream, then followed the stream inland.
This was where our walk became a stroll in a paradise garden.
The stream dashed with a tinkling chatter around hairpin bends, as though late for an appointment.
The sunlight glistened through the branches of the tall trees and played about on the ground below.
A little village of bird boxes of various colours and ingenious designs was scattered all about a clearing in the woods.
A water wheel, which, having been there so long it had become a fully customised part of nature, steadily turned.
Children on their school holiday skipped purposefully along, or peddled vigorously on their tiny bikes like mini explorers.
On it went, all around a great circle until we found ourselves heading back to the lake and home, just like the stream that wound safely to the shore.
As we gathered back in the carpark, there was a sense of elation and a feeling that “now that was just about as good as it gets”.
Wednesday Walker contacts: Ph 073773065; email wednesdaywalkers@myyahoo.com.
Monday Walkers
Rā hina’s walk was a great example of steps taken being no indication of effort expended.
The ascent to the Mt Pureora summit is easy but, as promised, there are a lot of wooden stairs and the track is muddy.
The sun was shining as we left the bumpy dirt access road and ducked into the bush.
The hush and the lush greenery were an immediate contrast to the dust a few metres away.
Early along the route, there were bridged streams edged by tree ferns and an amazing array of contorted trees with trunks insulated onesielike by thick green moss, swaying gently like seaweed under water.
Lichen draped, veil-like, from branches above us.
We were so engrossed in clambering up the unevenly spaced steps that all but one of us missed the spectacular, charming little blue werewere-kōkako tucked neatly in the leaf litter.
This tiny fungus, Entoloma hochstetteri, was honoured with the title of Fungi of the Year in 2018.
If you are fortunate enough to have a $50 note you can see it in its glory.
A Māori legend attributes the kō kako bird’s blue wattle to an inadvertent brush against the fungi’s blue pigment.
Oblivious to the tailender’s find, those further up the track spied pore brackets on trunks and, at ground level, glistening waxgills, honey mushrooms that are apparently bioluminescent at night, and pockets of tiny red and lemon fungi.
Some agility was required to avoid being told off for standing on one, while avoiding puddles and keeping one’s boots out of the mud.
Walking is definitely for multitaskers.
Water flowing down the mountain and weathering had eroded the base of some of the staircases, so the first step up was a giant one, but an elevated section of boardwalk had us at eye level with the treetops.
Suddenly, we were out of the bush and into sunlight, 1165m atop an extinct volcano, gazing over a hazy Lake Taupō, a pouting Mt Titīraupenga, more of the Hauhungaroa Range and farmland in the Benneydale, Waikato area.
On a clear day Mt Taranaki, Ruapehu, Ngāuruhoe and Tongariro can be seen, but on this day they were hidden.
The trig station did not provide much shelter from the cool breeze, but we stayed long enough to admire the view before re-entering the track.
On our descent, the hunt was on to find the solitary blue fungi.
The directions were like a treasure hunt.
Finally, we found the stairs near a bridge with a seven-step staircase and there it was.
How could we have missed it. It could probably win its own award for being today’s most photographed New Zealand fungus.
All angles were recorded including its underskirt gills.
This is a fun and easy walk with plenty of variety and panoramic views on a clear day.
Next week we are venturing out of town to a fascinating geological site.
If you would like to join us or for more information, please email walkersmondaytaupo@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook at “Taupo Monday Walkers.”