Header photograph shows the Parihaka Scenic Reseve from Parahaki Street. PARIHAKA SCENIC RESERVES Continued.
On this page we will look at the raw Ponga Track and at Mair Park. The Ponga Track is not widely known, so it is not wifely used and is in a natural state, with parts difficult even in summer, and not recommended in winter. Mair Park provides acces to all the Rarihaka Scenic Reserve Walks.
THE PONGA TRACK.
The top entrance to the Ponga Track at the end of the Hokianga Track, where it becomes the Dobbie Track.. Even the sign is somewhat rustic.
The Ponga Track. A wild unmetalled track. Bottom right is supplejack looking like electrical cable.
This Supplejack or kareao (Ripogonum scandens) is the most common vine in lowland forests. Pictured on the Ponga track, among the ferns.
Looking up at the trunk of this old Miro (Prumnopitus ferruginea) we catch the silver underside to the frond of Cyathea dealbata, the silver tree fern.
The track wanders through fern and nikau palms.
Not sure if these are filmy ferns ore mosses. The photograph above & bottom less could be a filmy fern (Hymenophyllum), but bottom left is more than likely a moss. Both pictured on the Ponga track.
Not far down the track we come across a large Kauri - Agathis australis.
looking up to the canopy of a large kauri on the Ponga Track.
Some parts of the bush are thick with epiphytes.
In parts the track has been partially washed away.
Looking up to the canopy of Kohekohe branches - Dysoxylum spectabile .
Other unidentified ferns and plants found on the Ponga Track.
A ground fern.
This wiry plant was growing as a ground plant (above), along the edge of the track, and as an epiphyte (below) on top of a tree stump.
Some of the most dense bush on any of the walks.
A steep drop down, and the track is very narrow.
Nearing the bottom of the track you get some views out over the bush.
BELOW ARE SOME MORE VIEWS OF THE BUSH ALONG THE PONGA TRACK.
Tawari - Ixerba brexioides in fruit.
Don't know what this is, but seed head suggests a member of the family Compositae or Asteraceae.
The Ponga track joins the Hatea River walk at the bottom.
The entrance to the Ponga track off the Hatea River Walk.
MAIR PARK, WHANGAREI.
As well as being a park in the traditional sense with public facilities, children's play area and picnic lawn areas, Mair Park also provides bush walks through stands of totara and other native bush areas. Mair Park is 9 hectares and is located on the west bank of the Hatea River. The main access is from Rurumoki Street which runs off Hatea Drive. It can also be accessed from Deveron Street, at the end of Banff Street, or from Pompallier Park at the end of Wairere Avenue. Mair park is the main access way for crossing the Hatea River to reach the Mount Parihakawalking tracks. It also gives another access
point to the Hatea River Walk. Mair Park also provides bush walks through
stands of totara and other native bush areas.
ROBERT MAIR – 1830-1926. Mair Park takes its name from Robert Mair, a
local native plant enthusiast whose family settled in Whangarei in the 1840s. Robert
Mair was born at Paihia in the Bay of Islands. He married Mary Ellen Boult at
Whangarei in 1861. Robert Mair lived on this property from 1842 until 1926. On
the 23rd of December 1914 he presented this land to the citizens of Whngarei
for a public domain but lived on the property until his death, at which time
his wife handed the property over to the council to comply with her husbands
wishes.
Rurumoki Street leads to Mair Park and Mt Parihaka.
The car park is quite buisy on a sunny summer's day.
The Main entrance to Mair Park.
The sign at the park entrance.
A picnic area inside Mair Park.
The children's play area. Public toilets are further to the right.
Stands of native trees line the picnic area off Rurumoki Street.
The old coach road followed this pathway through the park, in another era.
These two photographs show the memorial to Robert Mair erected inside Mair Park.
This old Puriri tree must have been one of the original inhabitants.
A totara grows in the middle of the pathway.
Some Sedges and Grasses found in Mair Park.
Inside this bush there are some wonderful short walking tracks to explore.
One of the tracks inside Mair Park.
Ferns and seedling trees grow on the bush floor.
The bush in Mair Park is quite dense in places.
Ducks on the river in the early morning.
Most of the Ducks line the river bank.
Looking across the Hatea River from Mair Park, to the Parihaka Scenic Reserve.
In the afternoon the ducks have moves to the shade on the opposite river bank.
Part of the Mair Park Bush.
A large Hoheria populnea in full flower March 2013.
Some of the paths through the park are quite rocky.
Some of the rocks are very big.
Part of the Parihaka Scenic Reserve, taken from Mair Park.
The footbridge across the Hatea River. It takes you to the walking tracks.
This totara branch overhanging the river is host to an epiphytic shrub.