On the climb from Ngamoko hut to the top of the range last week, I stopped in the relative shelter of a hollow in the track about ten minutes before the summit. Cloud shadows slid across the mountainsides below and short sections of the Pohangina river appeared, grey and glinting, before disappearing around yet another bend. Down there somewhere, the whio I hadn't seen would have hidden themselves away for the day, under some log jam or overhanging boulder; here, wind lashed the snowgrass and a branch of leatherwood rubbed against another, making a sound like a small, strange bird. Morning sunlight crept through the tangle of tough, low tupare and lit a few of the leathery leaves from behind. Dense thickets of tupare can drive a person to the brink of despair, but fortunately the route back to the car never required me to push through more than a few knee-high metres of this tenacious plant. I almost felt an affection for it.
[25 April 2012, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 45 mm, ISO 100, 1/40 at f8]
All content © 2012 Pete McGregor
In that lovely light it looks quite soft - something you could turn into mint sauce to go with all that New Zealand lamb?
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMaureen
RR, it does look minty, doesn't it? But it's about as far from mint as is possible, and even if were a substitute, I can no longer afford the NZ lamb. :^(
ReplyDeleteMaureen, in this case, the perspective is best when distant ;^)
I love the light on this, and the wonderful detail. Sometimes it's lovely to stop and look at what's under your feet - thank you for reminding me!
ReplyDeleteLisa
You're welcome, Lisa :^) I think the important thing is to really pay attention, and often that's hard to do while slogging up a steep track — stopping makes noticing easier. It might be a convenient theory, but I'm sticking to it!
ReplyDeleteKia ora Pete,
ReplyDeleteAt times I have a love and hate relationship with the tupare. A great and friendly indicator of height gained, different if you have to bash through it though! Have a great day.
Robb
That's it in a nutshell, Robb :^)
ReplyDelete