2026 Field Trips
Day trips to locations in the Wellington region are usually held on the first Saturday of each month. Extended excursions are usually held at New Year, first weekend in February and Easter.
The following programme is SUBJECT TO CHANGE. If you wish to join a Saturday trip, please tell the trip leader on the Thursday p.m. at the latest, or if you wish to join an over-night trip, please tell the trip leader on the Wednesday p.m. at the latest, so that the leader can:
• contact our hosts, if we are visiting a private area, to confirm the visit,
• print enough copies of a plant species list, if one has been prepared for the site.
Remember the weather can be changeable on field trips. Sun hat, balaclava, waterproof / windproof parka, may all be used on a day trip.
If a field trip has to be postponed because of bad weather or other reason, it will happen the following Saturday, or a later Saturday. Please re-check our web site for updates or ask the trip leader.
Non-members are welcome to join us on our field trips.
Click
here to get more information about attending field trips and recommended trip gear.
2026 Programme
16–23 January 2026 : Summer Camp – Pureora Forest, Waikato
This year we are heading to Waikato to visit Pureora Forest Park and the surrounding area. It is known for its outstanding remnants of ancient Podocarp forest & is home to the elusive Pua o Te Rēigna /
Dactylanthus taylorii & Kōkako /
Callaeas wilsoni. Possible field trips: Mt Titiraupenga, sections of the Timber Trail, QEII Covenants & more to come.
- Base camp: Pureora Forest Lodge https://www.pureoraforestlodge.org.nz/. Breakfasts & lunches will be prepared by BotSoccers on a roster system. Dinners and deserts will be catered. Vegetarians, dairy-free and vegan catered for — if you have other special dietary needs, please let us know and we may be able to accommodate them.
- Accommodation: $20/person/night; bunking / camping.
- Transport: Participants to arrange their own transport to and from camp. Transport may be available from Bus Stop / Train station / Airport nearest SPureora Forest Lodge - please indicate if you need this on the registration form.
- Booking: Booking ESSENTIAL and by 25 November. Book early! Preference will be given to members of Wellington BotSoc. The Registrations Google form is available here.
- Deposit: $490.00 per person to be paid at time of registration by internet banking. At the end of the trip, depending on the final cost, you will be sent an invoice (or a refund) for the full cost less your original payment.
- Contact: Email botsocsummercamp (at) gmail.com.
Saturday 14 February 2026: Field trip – Remutaka Trig Track, State Highway 2
This short walk to the Remutaka trig (elevation 725m) traverses a range of vegetation types from low beech forest to subalpine. Over 200 plant species have been recorded in the area. We will be searching for some uncommon species including
Veronica venustula (not confirmed from the Remutaka Range),
Olearia avicenniifolia (only known in the Greater Wellington region from a single specimen from the Trig Track in 2016) and
Coprosma decurva.
Saturday 7 March 2026: Field trip – Skyline Walkway
Botanise part of the Skyline Walkway, where wind and small-leaved shrubs dominate the vegetation. While at first glance the area appears to be mostly gorse, Darwin’s barberry and pasture grasses, there is a range of interesting native species present in the shrubland, including some uncommon elsewhere in Wellington. The small-leaved shrubs include
Melicytus crasssifolius,
Raukaua anomalus,
Neomyrtus pedunculata,
Lophomyrtus obcordata, the hybrid
Lophomyrtus × ralphii,
Dracophyllum filifolium and several
Coprosma species. There’s also a range of interesting little plants, including
Hymenophyllum minimum,
Nertera depressa,
Leptostigma setulosum,
Leptinella squalida,
Syphelia nesophila,
Geranium brevicaule as well as bryophytes and lichens.
- Meet: to be confirmed - check back here closer to the date
- Co-leaders: Melanie Newfield and Paul Bell-Butler
Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 March 2026: Field trips – eastern Wairarapa
We will spend two days exploring some interesting but little-visited sites in the eastern hills of the Wairarapa, overnighting in Carterton. Exact details of sites and botanical highlights will be posted here once finalised.
Saturday 2 May 2026: Field trip – Ōtaki Forks, Tararua Range
We will do a quick march to the bottom of Fields Track and then botanise up until it’s time to come home. The area was logged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but there has been significant regeneration. We will hopefully see a selection of ferns (including
Lindsaea trichomanoides and
Cranfillia nigra), two species of raukawa, and other forest delights.
- Map: NZTopo50 BP33 Featherston.
- Meet: 9.30 a.m. Waikanae Station north-end car park from where we will share transport to Boielles Flat campsite & picnic area. Train: 8.14 a.m. train on Kāpiti Line from Wellington Station to Waikanae Station.
- Co-leaders: Kate Jordan, phone 027 899 0018, email kateljordan (at) gmail.com, Finn Harvey email finnharvey15 (at) gmail.com
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