An after-dinner drive today led to a fascinating discovery. My husband and I drove up Otaki Gorge Road [click here to view map], a beautiful scenic road that follows the Otaki River up towards its source in the Tararua Ranges. In many places there are stands of totara which some past landowner with some foresight decided to spare from the scourge of milling and burning that destroyed all trace of most of the other plains forest.* Continue reading →