Over the new year, we embarked on a three-day tramp in the mountains with friends. We had four adults and four children on the trip, which took us from near Takaka, Golden Bay up into the Cobb Valley, in Kahurangi National Park. The terrain we covered was diverse and absolutely beautiful, from lush mossy glades with dragonflies, to mountaintop lakes whipped by cold wind, to gnarled forests with lichen dripping from the trees. On the first night, we stayed in this hut and on the second, slept in rock shelters (the children are still talking about their night in a cave – very exciting!)
Because it was high summer, there were alpine flowers along the track, many of which I'd never seen, except in books. (Previous walks up there had been in snow.) So it was a thrill to be able to closely examine the alpine buttercups, Maori onion, gentians and native forget-me-nots. The children were getting into it, too- calling me over when they found a new and interesting plant.
When we got back to town, I bought this book: Mountain Flowers of New Zealand, by Nancy Adams (pub. 1965) though I hope to find a more compact version to fit into my pack on the next trip into the mountains. Aren't Nancy's illustrations beautiful? (click on the images below to make them larger). You can read more about her work here. She received a Queen's Medal in 1989, for her contribution to NZ science.
tiny happy 
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