Katikati trampers make first 'research tramp' to Puketoki Reserve

Examining the trolley and log exhibit near the entrance to the reserve.

Katikati Tramping Club made the first of its 'research tramps' to Puketoki Reserve at Whakamarama, designed to give mental stimulation, social interaction and easy walking.

Terry Edwards, a custodian of the reserve, met the trampers at the carpark on Leyland Rd. He explained how 34.3ha of bush had been brought back from the brink of devastation by animal and human predators over the past 15 years.

Trampers learning about the Puketoki Reserve - Derek Manley right with Terry Edwards next to him.

Now birds sing and native seedlings are thriving. The trapping methods used for pests were revealed.

The 1 trampers walked around the longer loop track which normally takes about 40 minutes.

"We took a couple of hours," says Katikati Tramping Club president Derek Manley. "This was because Terry and several of our members had information to share."

Geoff Godsell telling the trampers about the Davidson locomotive on the site of the old railway track.

The group learnt about the Davidson locomotives that were used in milling days, the tawa trees that form the canopy of the forest and the various vines that hang from the trees.

There were also the fragrant alseuosmia macrophyla that was coming into bud, the robins that inhabit the reserve, the life history of glow worms that can be seen in the evening along the stream banks and the unusual habits of the puriri moth whose larvae bore holes in trees.

The trunk of the old deformed rimu tree with a rata vine climbing up it.

"We ate our lunch sitting under a rata vine hanging from a gnarled old rimu tree that had escaped the axe by growing crooked. We then adjourned to the Black Sheep cafe for coffee and a chat."

■ For more information about Katikati Tramping Club visit their website sporty.co.nz/katitracks or phone Derek 549-4874.