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On Mangawhero Forest Walk I spotted these really really white fungi on a tree trunk.

White fungi on a tree trunk.
White fungi on a tree trunk — a different view.
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Rimu Walk and Mangawhero Forest Walk at Ohakune share a common entrance. I enjoyed both. Both are easy walks. On the Forest Walk I came face to face with a Ruru, usually only around at night. No photo of the bird, sadly, only the branch it was sitting on. I was too slow! 🐦

Rimu Walk and Mangawhero Forest Walk at Ohakune info boards.
Rimu Walk — a typical part of the easy track amongst trees.
Rimu Walk — another typical part of the easy track amongst trees.
There *was* a ruru on this branch.
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Ohakune is a town just below the very popular Turoa skifield. Next to a walk I was about to do I found this memorial stone and info about Mollie, an ill-fated circus elephant who died there in 1957, aged 13, poisoned by eating the plant Tutu. 😿

Stone in memory of Mollie the elephant at Ohakune.
Iinfo sign: in memory of Mollie the elephant at Ohakune.
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I was surprised how much I enjoyed the 1 hour 40 minute concert Loreena McKennitt - Nights From The Alhambra. Generally for me a little Celtic music goes an extremely long way. Much seemed to have middle-Eastern influences though. Some instruments I enjoyed but didn’t recognise.

Screenshot showing the singer and other musicians.
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My handmade leather iPhone sleeve by @aa was so excellent (it’s serving me beautifully) that I ordered a leather wrist strap for my camera with big heavy zoom lens. The strap arrived today and is exactly what I wanted.

Camera with long lens and a blue leather wriststrap.
Camera with long lens and a blue leather wriststrap. Side view.
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Ridge Track at Whakapapa is a short little trail that climbs up behind the Chateau offering views. In the last the snowy cone of Mt Taranaki is just visible.

Ridge Track sign: 1.5 Km return.
Ridge Track — looking down over a mixed alpine landscape.
Ridge Track goes through alpine scrube with the snowy top of Mt Ruapehu in the background.
Ridge Track — view across scrub. The snowy cone of Mt Taranaki is just visible.
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Chateau Tongariro at Whakapapa is an impressive building, seeming to sit alone on the landscape. It’s certainly comfortable in the lounge where you can get tea and alcohol and smaller or bigger meals with a view. Meals are expensive though.

Comfortable chairs in the Chateau Lounge.
A view of Mt Ngauruhoe from the Chateau.
A view of the Chateau from the Taranaki Falls track.
Ridge Track — a view from behind the Chateau.
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The Taranaki Falls Track

The Taranaki Falls Track is a 6 Km loop on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu. It passes through both native forest and open land. The Falls spill through solid rock. Snow-topped mountains Ruapehu and neighbour Ngauruhoe appear of course, but also Taranaki, closer to home. And more fungi!

Brown fungus with pointy cone on Taranaki Falls track near Whakapapa.
Dark fungi on a rotten log on Taranaki Falls track near Whakapapa.
Dark fungi on a rotten log from beneath on Taranaki Falls track near Whakapapa 1
Snowy top of Mt Ngauruhoe above open scrub at the top of the track.
Taranaki Falls thunder through solid rock.
The very pointed snowy cone of Mt Taranaki from Taranaki Falls track.
Toilets at the top of Taranaki Falls track, with the snowy top of Mt Ruapehu behind and open scrub land around.
Board walk through native forest.
Trees and shrubs in greens and yellow beside the track.
Steps just above Taranaki Falls.
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In December 2008 I taught 3 WordPress courses over a weekend as part of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa Pacific New Media Outreach program. One day on my trip I visited Mauna Kea and the observatories, unaware of controversies around use of the indigenous land.

Mauna Kea visit — our small tour bus.
Mauna Kea visit — barren land along the road to the top.
Mauna Kea visit — 3 of the observatories.
Mauna Kea visit — the closed dome of an observatory.
Mauna Kea visit — an enormous telescope inside an opened dome.
Mauna Kea visit — me at the top of the mountain.
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Mounds Walk at Tongariro was another short track, with several information boards. After a few minutes there’s a view across the landscape. The Mounds were created by volcanic rubble and slabs of rock that swept down the mountain 11,000 years ago.

Sign: Mounds Walk 20 minutes return.
Sign: the Mounds are a Murimoto Formation.
Sign: this was the site of an old quarry.
Sign: the Mounds were formed by avalanche debris.
A view across scrubby mountain flat with a mound in the middle.
Another view across scrubby flats at the bas of the mountain.
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The Tawhai Falls Track was very short but led to a really nice waterfall. Midwinter and two young men were wrapped in towels having just been for a dip. Brrr!

Sign for Tawhai Falls Track 800 metres return.
A tiny beach at Tawhai Falls.
Tawhai Falls blue water and rocks in the river.
Tawhai Falls wide view.

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9 kinds of fungi on Silica Rapids walk

I don’t know anything much about fungi, except I like to look at them. The Silica Rapids walk was bounteous when it came to fungi. I don’t know the names of any of the fungi in the photos below, or anything about them. Enjoy.

Light brown fungus on a stalk in leaf litter.
Chestnut brown domed fungus on leaf litter.
Side view of the chestnut brown fungus.
Many slimy seeming greyish brown fungi on a tree trunk — top view.
Many slimy seeming greyish brown fungi on a tree trunk — as seen from below.
Many slimy seeming greyish brown fungi on a tree trunk — close up from below.
Tiny flat blue fungi on a tree trunk.
Three bulbous blue fungi and a tiny longstemmed transparent fungus on leaf litter.
Weird bright yellow fungi that look like lollies on a small branch.
A couple of longstemmed almost pale pink fungi amongst low growing green plants.
4 lumpy cream coloured almost bulbous fungi in a clump on leaf litter.
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My Silica Rapids walk

I think the Silica Rapids walk at Tongariro was my favourite, even though the weather was a bit dull and drizzly. Native forest, alpine bogs, streams. I loved it all. Theoretically there were birds in some spots but I didn’t see them.

Native forest and broad even track.
Stream flowing over yellowed rocks.
Sign explaining the yellow comes from iron and clay.
Board walk across alpine bog.
Sign explaining that alpine bogs form in small depressions with a thick lining of clay like a saucer holding water.
Volcanic hazards sign.
Alpine stream surrounded by bush.
Silica Rapids stream flowing across yellowed rocks.
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Why is it anyone wants to live in Auckland? Three news items in a row in my feed this morning: a home shot at, a stabbing, and a woman dies after an assault — all in Auckland.

Consecutive news items in my feed reader.
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My Lake Rotokura walk

Lake Rotokura is near Waiouru and is an easy ~30 minute walk, although there were a few fallen logs to clamber over. There were several interesting fungi. The ‘dry’ lake had water in it, along with a heap of dead trees still standing.

At Lake Rotokura walk sign — 15 minutes one way.
Sign advising that the top lake is sacred.
Purple berry shaped fungus at Lake Rotokura.
At Lake Rotokura — snow covered Mt Ruapehu behind the trees.
At Lake Rotokura a fallen log a metre plus in diameter.
At Lake Rotokura brown and white fungi on a log.
At Lake Rotokura the dry lake.
At Lake Rotokura a light brown fungus on a stalk.
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Before I went off walking I relaced my boots. In my photo the right boot is the old way (how they came from the shop). The left boot shows the new, incredibly much more comfortable, way. I should have done this a year ago… If you’ve never seen Ian’s Shoelace Site you should look.

Two boots on my feet with different lacing patterns.
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It’s not fair to laugh at a dog who’s old, blind, mainly deaf, frail, etc, but sometimes I have to: Sasha was looking intently at the gap between the fridge and the pantry with the firm conviction that’s where I was. I was at the other end of the lounge calling her… 🐶

Small black dog looking at a gap in the kitchen.
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We have to accept the little facts of life. Bland indifference is a start, but cheerful whistling is even better.

Source: Accepting The Little Facts of Life

Thanks @kitt for the link to this.

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Woohoo, the book I co-wrote in 2006 is still earning me royalties. What shall I do with my 17 cents, I wonder?

Statement showing quarterly royalty earnings at 17 US Cents.
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This 22 minute doco is a delight: Inside the wonderful world of Hairy Maclary creator Lynley Dodd. What Kiwi doesn’t know the immortal words: “Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s dairy”, along with the characters Slinky Malinki and Scarface Claw?

Screenshot showing author Lynley Dodd with some of her characters as stuffed toys.