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Gardener on a Journey

Wise gardeners will use plants native to their area in their gardens - I try to. Whenever I see the original species on a bush walk it's like meeting an old friend. I'm proud to make the connection!

Every week I try to go walking, on the peninsula hills, along the coastline, in the foothills or in the mountains of the Southern Alps. On every journey I meet these old friends - hebes, astelias, flaxes, beech trees - all in their natural environment. Nature's rock gardens and nature's water features are inspiring, and they have such wonderful designs!

I've put together some pages of my trips in New Zealand. I promise I'll try and be a bit botanic, photographing and hopefully identifying the native plants I love. There should be a bit of gardening interest on every page - and lots of New Zealand 'clean and green' scenery.

Washpen Falls Track... Thu 28th Jul 2011: What a rugged privilege it has been to hike the Washpen Falls track, a private loop track in the foothills of Canterbury. I've already been back for a return winter visit. And I'm definitely walking the track again in summer...
Dry Acheron Stream Track... Tue 31st May 2011: The Dry Acheron track is a newly developed hiking route through two high country stations (farms) in the upper Rakaia. It wanders gently up river flats alongside the Dry Acheron Stream, which in winter, at least, is certainly not dry. Wet boots! Soggy socks!
Tiromoana Walkway... Tue 5th Apr 2011: New Zealand's beaches are wonderful in autumn. Forget blue skies and frenzied, frothy bathing - autumn is the season for the beachcomber-gardener. Drag a stick along the sand, write a message, pick up pebbles, driftwood, and shells...
Walking on the Port Hills... Wed 30th Mar 2011: Close to Christchurch is a harbour (Lyttleton) ringed by high hills - the site of an ancient and extremely extinct volcano. A huge network of walking and running paths overlook the harbour, promising fresh air, whippy wind and breathtaking views.
Up Foggy Peak... Fri 14th Jan 2011: Foggy Peak's reputation has always attracted the seriously committed hiker in me. Finally a suitable windless (and fogless) day has dawned (and 'dusked'). I've climbed it, accompanied by Non-Gardening Partner.
Peak Hill - Lake Coleridge... Fri 17th Dec 2010: We've been hiking all day in the blazing summer sun - up Peak Hill, which has wonderful, amazing, stupendous, awe-inspiring views the whole way up the track. From the summit the views are even more wonderful, amazing, stupendous, awe-inspiring...
Craigieburn Forest Park Ridgeline... Sat 20th Nov 2010: Amazing. We've been on 'that' serious hike again in the Craigieburn Forest Park - up to Camp Saddle, along a ridgeline for nearly two hours, and then down a scree slope, which I call 'The Big Scree' (when I want to impress my low-horizon friends).
Scott's Saddle and Rhododendrons... Thu 28th Oct 2010: I've been hiking in the Canterbury foothills, a delightful spring day trip up to Scott's Saddle. Seduced by the notes on the trip list which clearly stated that 'the rhododendrons should be flowering', I took my camera...
Climb Every Mountain...... Wed 23rd Dec 2009: Peak-bagging is something I've read about, where hardy men with strong legs climb a 'Munro' (a Scottish mountain, height over 3,000 feet) before breakfast. I didn't think that genteel retired lady hikers peak-bagged - well, not deliberately...
Craigieburn Forest Park Hike ... Mon 30th Nov 2009: This route in the Craigieburn Forest Park, which passes through Camp Saddle and the Lyndon Saddle, is THE most serious day trip I've ever enjoyed in the mountains. Ever! It involves climbing up through bush and over avalanche slopes to an exposed saddle, then wobbling along a ridge-line...
Woolshed Creek, Mount Somers... Wed 30th Sep 2009: Mount Somers (South Island, New Zealand) is a seriously bulky (and definitely male) mountain, even though he doesn't quite sit in the Main Divide. There's a network of tracks and huts, old coal mines, gorges, swing bridges...
Cliff-Top Walk... Sat 20th Jun 2009: The essential ingredients of a cliff-top walk are simple - the sea below, and a path above. There's no need for extras or shortcuts - just a track which wiggles in and out, following the edge of the land.
Hurunui High Country Track... Fri 7th Nov 2008: I've just been intrepidly hiking with my friend in the mountains. We had a brilliant trip - three nights away on the Hurunui Track in the Island Hills High Country Station.
Cape Campbell's Lighthouse... Sun 20th Apr 2008: The Cape Campbell lighthouse, painted in fat black and white stripes, perches at the end of a finger of land on the East Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It pops scenically into view at the end of the second hiking day on the Cape Campbell Walkway.
The Cape Campbell Walkway... Fri 18th Apr 2008: The Cape Campbell Walkway runs in a loop over two hill farms on the East Coast of Marlborough, New Zealand. It's a four day hike in the fresh air with spectacular views of sea, cliffs and mountains - a walkway which is 'a little on the wild side'.
Walking on Cape Campbell... Fri 18th Apr 2008: Hiking out in the open on the Cape Campbell Walkway - what a refreshing change from walking back and forth, around and around my own garden! Fifty-seven kilometres, four full days, with a topographical map and a hand-drawn guide - and brilliant weather.
Cape Campbell - Signs and Shelters... Fri 18th Apr 2008: The signposts and shelters on the Cape Campbell Walkway are wonderful morale boosters. Arrows give confidence, local names cause much giggling, and the shelters are perfect rest spots. And a sign saying the next shelter is only 300 meters away is worth a thousand hand-drawn maps!
Cape Campbell - Wildlife... Fri 18th Apr 2008: As well as wild views the Cape Campbell Walkway guide book promised us lots of wildlife, from sea life lounging on the beaches to birds being buffeted in the fresh air. We'd also be sharing the track with many regulation farm animals - and rabbits. Aargh!
Cape Campbell's Cordylines... Fri 18th Apr 2008: I'm supposed to be a gardener, interested in plants and shrubs and trees. Oh dear. The only plant life photographs I took on the Cape Campbell Walkway were of Cordylines - New Zealand's iconic Cabbage trees.
Charming Creek Walkway... Wed 12th Mar 2008: The Charming Creek Walkway is a three hour hike in the hills near Westport, on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. A creek? No way! Charming? More like dramatic and slightly scary - and very beautiful!
Tussockland Park... Sun 24th Feb 2008: My latest trip with the walking group was in the Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park. It was the gentlest of strolls, firstly through low valley fog, later in sunshine with a cooling breeze - the perfect lazy trip for a gardener's day off.
Westland's Glaciers... Tue 4th Sep 2007: I've just taken a short trip over to the West Coast to 'see' two of New Zealand's easily visited glaciers - Fox and Franz Joseph. Both are spectacular, seeming to tumble down from the Southern Alps into the temperate rain forest beneath.
Saddles and Scree Slopes... Mon 23rd Apr 2007: On a calm day the New Zealand mountains are magical. It is inspiring sitting on a saddle in the sunshine eating a good lunch, enjoying panoramic views of mountain ranges, ridges, valleys, and rivers. What a wonderful country!
On The Tops - Mount Oxford... Fri 23rd Feb 2007: I'm back from a day journey climbing Mount Oxford in the Oxford Forest, North Canterbury. What a day! Do I have enough energy left to write up this trip report? Do gardeners ever get sick of their gardens? Ha!
Wharfedale Track... Sat 13th Jan 2007: Sometimes, when there's been lots of rain, the New Zealand bush is unbelievably green, from the ferns and tiny cushioning ground covers to the tall beech trees. Our trip up the Wharfedale track was greener than green...
Flock Hill - aka Narnia... Sat 9th Dec 2006: Flock Hill, high in the Southern Alps of the South Island, New Zealand, is an area of limestone rocks and dramatic valleys. It was the grand finale on my walking group's trip list for 2006...
Rakaia River - Water and Weeds... Fri 1st Dec 2006: There's a delightfully relaxing walkway which meanders high above the Rakaia River, in Canterbury, New Zealand. Gardeners feeling guilty that they should be at home weeding might not feel quite as relaxed, though...
Nature's Water Features... Sat 4th Nov 2006: Waterfalls are nature's most dramatic kinetic sculptures. For the water it's simply a matter of potential energy, and the need to find lower ground. For bushwalkers it's more a matter of magical energy and watery wondering.
Gardens of Hinewai... Fri 13th Oct 2006: The Gardens of Hinewai are 1050 hectares of New Zealand bush and grassland, on Banks Peninsula, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I spent a sunny spring day with my walking group, exploring a loop track.
Bealey Spur... Sun 1st Oct 2006: Climbing up Bealey Spur is one of the favourite day trips for Canterbury hikers - and gardeners having a day off. They can enjoy big dreams, gazing deep into mountain valleys - high enough to feel important, low enough to be safe.
Mount Richardson... Sat 30th Sep 2006: At 1049 meters, Mount Richardson is an excellent winter's day trip near Oxford (that's Oxford in New Zealand!). There's a satisfying loop track through the beech forest, over the tops, and down again.
Mount Alford... Sat 30th Sep 2006: Mount Alford in the South Canterbury foothills is a great trip for intrepid day-walkers. Our trip takes place in early spring, on a perfect sunny day. Hmm... Should I really be at home working hard in my garden?
The Rail Trail - Lake Ellesmere... Tue 26th Sep 2006: What do retired gardeners do on their days off? Explore their local area, of course, by walking, hiking - and bicycling. My first serious bike journey took me (and a friend) on a newly constructed rail trail, from Motukarara to Little River.