Thompson Gypsy Adventure: Featherston and beyond

Tuesday, 26 January 2010 Wellington, New Zealand

PERCY RESERVE

This morning we explored a nature preserve in the hills right in the vicinity of the B&B where we are staying, in the suburb of Korokoro at the north end of Wellington Harbor. The Percy Reserve was part of the estate of Sir James Hector, surgeon, geologist, explorer, director of the New Zealand Institute, Chancellor of New Zealand University, and builder of the estate, house, and gardens known as Ratanui. The grounds include several tracks (paths) through various stands of native bush and large, old imported plants & trees. Here is Paula in a view of the upper end of Wellington Harbor.

Paula is such a fun gal, and she found this fungi:

Here is Paula in front of one of the largest Monterrey Pines (Pinus radiata) we have ever seen.

In another nearby park there was this beautiful Pohutukawa tree. Actually, we just looked it up in Paula's new "Trees of New Zealand" book, and just from the picture and our memory we can't tell whether this is really Pohutukawa ( Metrosideros excelsa) or the closely related and visually similar Northern Rata (Metrosideros robusta) or Southern Rata (Metrosideros umbellata). All are members of the same family, Myrtaceae.

FEATHERSTON

This afternoon we drove northeast from Wellington over the Rimutaka mountain range to the small town of Featherston. It is the market town in the Wairarapa agricultural valley, but it is best known as the terminus of a steep railroad route over the mountains providing one of the principal land freight routes to Wellington until 1955. The rail grade is so steep over part of the route that it required special "Fell" engines. These were coal-fired steam engines with special opposed horizontal driver wheels that gripped a center rail to provide extra traction in addition to the regular driver wheels. The last one in existence, fully restored, is in a museum in Featherston. But, of course, the town's best product is still its famous son and our good friend David.

LAKE FERRY

Purely on a last-minute whim we drove through the wine town of Martinborough and out a country road to the seaside village of Lake Ferry. It is on the Palliser Bay, which is the next major bay about 20 km around the coast to the southeast of Wellington Harbor. It boasts a spectacular beach with rugged cliffs and hills that display some gorgeous geology.