Andrew Stephenson <ames@deltrak.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> In article <1i99aco.ht8g81gnwquuN%zeborah@gmail.com>
> zeborah@gmail.com "Zeborah" writes:
>
> > Andrew Stephenson <ames@deltrak.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > > This NG's NZ Correspondent could probably relate stories of such
> > > valleys that could happen right here on Earth but for the effort
> > > put in by spraying teams. IIRC, the UKian Brier Rose has been a
> > > madly successful export and thrives in godsawful country abroad.
> > > Gotta love those homesick emigrants. :-(
> >
> > I'd have mentioned gorse rather than briar rose -- I've never heard of
> > the latter being considered a nuisance, but there is in fact a fair
> > quantity of some kind of rose, which someone once long ago told me was
> > dog rose.
>
> My dictionary agrees with yours. I recall a Dec 1991 visit to
> that huge state-owned ranching area in South Island, once four
> ranches that came into public ownership through some financial
> mishap -- Molesworth Station, is it? It's at a fair altitude,
> with huge scrubby tracts of weathered volcanic soil, dotted by
> green patches where water lurks.

I've never been there but it seems to exist in Marlborough; that's not a
volcanic area, though, just generic mountain. The only volcanic stuff
in the South Island is Banks Peninsula, everything else is the Southern
Alps and erosion therefrom. And I forget if Marlborough slid north from
Fiordland or Fiordland slid south from Marlborough. I think the former.

>The wild bits sprout rampant
> rose bushes all over. Bare areas show plagues of pink shoots.
> Park rangers were roaming the landscape armed with sprays; and
> one got the feeling they and theirs would have a job for life,
> yea, even unto the tenth generation thereof (about how long it
> would take anyone to develop a good control system).

Yeah, like I said I've never been there, but Marlborough's got a warmer
climate than gorse-covered Canterbury. Grapes flourish there (good
wines) and roses like the same kind of conditions as grapes, right? so
that'd make sense.

Zeborah
--
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In article <1i9cxxw.yepfrb19fljz6N%zeborah@gmail.com>
zeborah@gmail.com "Zeborah" writes:

> Andrew Stephenson <ames@deltrak.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > [...] I recall a Dec 1991 visit to
> > that huge state-owned ranching area in South Island, once four
> > ranches that came into public ownership through some financial
> > mishap -- Molesworth Station, is it? It's at a fair altitude,
> > with huge scrubby tracts of weathered volcanic soil, dotted by
> > green patches where water lurks.
>
> I've never been there but it seems to exist in Marlborough; that's not a
> volcanic area, though, just generic mountain. The only volcanic stuff
> in the South Island is Banks Peninsula, everything else is the Southern
> Alps and erosion therefrom. And I forget if Marlborough slid north from
> Fiordland or Fiordland slid south from Marlborough. I think the former.

Ah, okay: memory playing me false. This image of dark, crumbly,
crunchy soil comes to mind. Could be weather(ed|ing) sandstone?
It is wonderfully wild, either way, yet with a surprising volume
of tourists wandering through, recreating like mad. Dark nights
full of stars, tinkly streams, pretty roses/borage, etc. And an
ancient clay lump house from the pioneering days, which anyone's
free to inspect casually. And cows.
--
Andrew Stephenson