A Bonnetful of Bees

OK, back to walking again.  With the possibility of a walk along the St James (NZ, not Spain) in November being dangled in front of me, I’ve been putting some kilometres behind me down at Rimmers.  The main problem is that right now, I weigh as much without a pack as I did with a pack when I last walked the St James, and I still recall the demands the up and down first day en route to Cannibal Gorge Hut made on my legs.  (See “Duke of York Territory”

It’s been said that a fit fat man is in better health than an unfit man of average weight, and while I believe there’s an element of truth in that, we are here talking about the kind of loads that an 18-20kg pack are going to place on knees and ankles over 5 days, in addition to what’s already there.

Anyway….  The Coast Rd down at Rimmers is a useful starting place to get into training.  It’s flat, and straight, and even if you think pine trees are boring — I do — there’s lots to observe besides.  To get there, turn west at Rimmers Rd, about a couple of km south of Helensville, and follow the tarseal until you reach the forest turnoff, then through the forest until you reach the Rimmers Rd parking lot.  About 13 km from Helensville all up.

About a kilometre or so into the forest the sea mist softens every outline. Except it isn’t sea mist and if it is I’ve never seen it this far back from the coast. Along the coast road it is even more pronounced.

I suspect the source is simply this, repeated thousands of times

The roadside puddles tell the story

About a month back I went for a wander through the scrubby area between the pines and the shore dunes, and photographed what I at first thought was a toru coming into bud.  Toru is one of two NZ members of the bottlebrush family, much better known in Australia.

By Friday, it was in full flower along the coast road, and it was obviously not a toru.

Nope. Not a toru

I’d say we have an acacia or mimosa of some sort here. Once again, the leaf markings are pine pollen. A bit of research suggests either A. longifolia, A. concurrens, or A. auriculiformis, and most likely the first of these.

A small oxalis makes it way through the roadside pine needles.  Might be one of the native ones but I’m not certain at all. But it certainly sends a message about new growth.

It’s pleasant walking along here at the moment, enough sun to enjoy and not enough to be uncomfortable.  And at home I’ve just found a book in the local library called “The Obesity Myth.”  Positives everywhere.  Catch you again on my way to the St James.