July 31st Washpen Falls- Meurky Walk

The group at the top of Washpen Falls - a bit windy!

Today we took a hike at Washpen Falls in Canterbury.  Washpen Falls got its name indirectly from sheep.  European farmers thought that their wool would sell better in England if it was washed.  Therefore, before the sheep were shorn, the sheep got a bath in the creek.  Pens were built in the creek and voila – Washpen Creek!   The hike is on a farmer’s property that not only includes a working farm, but a beautiful gorge that is covered in both native and exotic vegetation.  It was a bit blustery this day with a norwester blowin’ but we donned on our gear and headed up the track.  Lots of Bellbirds were singing around us as we hiked up the trail. 

The gorge was once used by the Maori to trap and kill the giant moa.  They would herd these giant, flightless birds into the gorge and killed them with spears.  Along the trail were several large lava boulders that were blown from volcanic activity 89 million years ago.  Also along the way, we saw several white circles painted on the canyon walls by the late Tom Stone.  These targets were used by the home guard for training during World War II.

Our intrepid scientist, Dr. Colin Meurk, identified a number of different plant species along the trail.  One of these plants were beech trees (genus Sophora), which are endemic to New Zealand.  The trees we passed where covered with a black velvety fungus called Sooty Mould.  In the Sooty Mould there were hundreds of hairlike projections, each with a drop of liquid on the end.  This liquid is sweet honeydew, which is a mixture of sugars excreted by small, scale insects (Homoptera) that feed on the sap from the trees. .  All of us tried a little of this liquid – good even with the knowledge it is the excrement of a small insect! Honeydew feeds a number of different species including bellbirds, lizards, tuis, and bees.  Bees use this liquid to make a unique honey called Honeydew honey.

Washpen Falls

Irina licking some honeydew off of a beech tree.

Kristin giving here best troll face.