Still no Storm - just Cycling, Walking & fungi!

Saturday 31 May

The much heralded storm seemed to peter out with rain on us and snow on the hills overnight - but none of the forecast fury appeared.

We took Harley round Home Creek in the morning as the skies cleared a bit, then after yesterday’s homemade pumpkin soup for lunch we headed into Te Anau. Louis and Jez took their bikes and after a coffee, cycled home via the Ivon Wilson mountain biking park.

Abby & I had a brief visit to the op shop then parked up at the Control Gates to walk a few kilometres of the Kepler Track. The woods were stunning - filled with so much fascinating fungi. The various shades and textures of green along the way were incredible - mosses, lichens, beech leaves, ferns, pongas - glorious!

The mosses and lichens were extra damp and squidgy after a few days of rain, the ground was springy in places and I loved the Muppet/Dr Seuss trees wrapped in greenery.

The fungi display was amazing - from little families and communities of velvet shank fungi in yellows and oranges, to the vibrant red fly agaric toadstools, and then a large number of very round rather shiny looking fungi in yellow, white, brown, beige & even purple, with more of the coral fungi I saw in Lake Coleridge Village, and disc after disc of bracket fungi, usually climbing up dead beech tree stems like little steps or protruding from fallen tree trunks.

We detoured into Lord of the Rings country on the way home, looking out over the Wainui River as did the hobbits and elves in at least one of Peter Jackson's movies. It was only 2 months earlier that we picnicked on the stones along the edge of this river - this time our picnic spot was under a metre or more of water!

Back at the NZMCA park we decided to join happy hour in the main block with the custodians and other campers, before cooking & eating dinner there because it was so warm & spacious… super Jez on wood burner duty coaxed the most heat out of it! Early night ahead of a big day in Milford Sound on Sunday…