Trip Report – 5 May 2012:   Seton Nossiter Park

This park, named after a councillor on the former Hutt County Council, lies in a valley running between the northern suburbs of Woodridge, Newlands, Paparangi and Grenada Village.   A tributary of Porirua Stream flows down the valley, towards Glenside.   The trip was in two parts.

First we botanised a route which began as a ‘snicket’ by a house on Kentwood Drive.   We descended into “Pukatea Gully” through manuka, removed the weedy male fern, Dryopteris felix-mas, and came to an impressive forest of tawa, pukatea and kohekohe.   We understand that this gully will be included in the park, when the park is gazetted by Wellington City Council as Scenic Reserve.   The second part of the trip began off White Pine Ave, where we had morning tea, then descended a broad track to the floor of the valley.

We listed plants as we went, noting some plantings of native species, including wharangi and totara, then had lunch by a fine stand of tawa and titoki, where we saw the orchid, Drymoanthus adversus, on one of the trees.   We walked up Lawson’s Track to Colchester Cres., Newlands, through typical Wellington-area regenerating, broad-leaved forest, then returned to our cars in Woodridge.

Participants :   Gavin Dench, Frances Forsyth (co-leader), Peter Gilberd (Seton Nossiter Park Working Group, co-leader), Anthony Hill, Chris Hopkins, Chris Horne (scribe), Brenda Johnston, James Luty, Barbara Mitcalfe, Chris Moore, Sunita Singh.