A FAIRY FOREST

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 161, 3 April 1920, Page 8

A FAIRY FOREST

WILTON'S BUSH REVEALED . NEW. TRACKS OPENED UP . (By "Sylvius.") Do many people know that within lialf- . an-hour's walk of a tram terminus they . "'nit be in the very heart of an urea of New Zealand primeval forest? If such a fact were suggested to the average citizen of Wellington ho would probably pooh-pooh the statement, as with his mind s-eye he surveyed the bare hill's that encompass the city. It is nono the less 1 true—truo that Wellington has a patch of wonderful forest, hoary with age, and yet youthful in health, of the most enchanting description. Enthralling are its vernal wonders, and potent the spoil that it exerts over all visitors. Attention is called to this priceless reserve because of all the places dose to the city Wilion's Bush is perhaps the most entrancing to those who love' nature in tho wld. No one could do better during the. Easier holidays than take an hour's ramble through the last remnant of primeval bush that lies within rifle shot of the Tinakori wireless signal station. ..Under instruction of the Reserves Committee, Sir. J. JPlvenzie (Director of Reserves) has recently employed a gang' of men to cut tracks through the heart of the bush in such a manner that the real beauty.of the !?eries of forest-clad •gullies lying to the westward of the stream that runs through the reserve has been made apparent to; the rambler. Hitherto it has been possible to pene- > trate the bush in , these gullies only by following up the' stream, but this is difficult and arduous toil.. The paths have been so cut that they loop each gully. They have opened in every direction vistas that charm the eye. Would anyone believe that there were rimus towering from eighty to a hundred feet in the air, within a mile (as the crow flies) from Parliamentary Buildings? They are there—straight and majestic, Tank after rank of them. * Yesterday the writer, in company with Mr. ,T. M'Kenzie, measured the trunks of some of these fine trees. One in M'Kenzie Gully measured 11 feet in circumference, and another in South-West Gully stretched tlie tape at 14 feet. One can always tell the rimu (red pine). Its foliage is distinct from that of all other trees in the New Zealand bush, hanging downward from the branches (when the tree is young), in feathery plumes not unlike -those of the weeping willow; but the leaves grow smaller as tiie tree grows higher. In M'Kenzie Gully was seen an extremely 'beautiful nikau palm—one ofmany—with sweeping fronds quite 15 feel; in length. ' Tho limns of Bush are not the only giants. There are many giant rewarewas (the Ne\y Zealand honeysuckle) which rival the pines in height, but have that hard, blasted appearance, which makes the foliage .rather forbidding. : . There are many Tewarewas that ; reach the 90 feet mark, although'most of them are laden with parasites of all descriptions, including the ever-present rata, vine, which is Just now adding its vivid toucli of colour \to the buah. The] bright scarlet. 11 owere may bo seen glancing through the greenery on every hand, brazenly proclaiming the triumph of the rata over some victim or other, for tho rata vine kills that to which -it clings. Aiiot'her tree that eeeks the light far above, the mean level of the bush is the splav.-bunked pukatea. which stays itself to the earth .by throwing, out .buttresses, from ivh.ich-. again roots spread on the 'surface W 'a space of 15 feet around One "pukatea measured yesterday had a 20-foot circumference, six feet from the ground,-, and measured one wav ihrpugh (including two 'of the natural buttresses), the diameter was fight feet. This tree, fully ninety feet in height, had it« splay feet j planted firmly in the rocks nt the- bottom of one; of the ' .most beautiful little fora?i.. dells that one could imaginc-u veritable vernal fairyland, cool, ever, so green, riohiv aromatic in atmosphere, with 'spears (if light glinting through' the arboreal canopy overhead, and the trickle, of n littlo' 6tream, just enough to cover the utoiies with soft moss and to nio : .sten the.myriad roots that reached towards it. for sustenance'/ A great and abiding peace was there,'and the fresh smell of the grateful earth came pleasingly'to Hie uOstrila. Other fine, trees to lie seen in this paradise are the tawa, hinrui, knrakai koikoi. niiro miro, and the eceentrc konini (N.Z. fuchsia), which grows'fantastically ' in any direction, mostly in such a way as to cross the tracks that have recently been made. ,No one slpuld visit Wilton's Bush without paying homage lo Fairy Glen, the second gully to the left (or west) after entering the bush proper. This beautiful guffy terminates in a, grotto-like scene, in which a stream tumbles over a double waterfall, among wg picturesque rocks,'which have evidently lain there'since the world was young: The great attraction of Wilton's Bush at the present time is that its beauties can lie more fully' explored tlmn heretofore,-by means of the new tracks which are incidentally to serve os a convenience in protecting the "bush from destruction by fire. ' . . ' Captain iFTilis, file new ' Government Director' of Forestry, visited the bush recently in company with Mr- M'Kenz'e, and expressed himself as" delighted with its beauty and variety. The road approach to Wilton's Bush needs attention. If about 10 or 12 chains of the road before tho stile is reached were widened by six feet or eight feet, and the surface made more regular, a' marked improvement would.be effected. .A small br'dge, wide enough to take motor-cars, ,is needed below Mr. O'Connor's property; in ord?r to make the trip practicable "for motoring parties.