{"id":27,"date":"2006-12-26T13:25:54","date_gmt":"2006-12-26T12:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/?p=27"},"modified":"2012-07-07T07:17:06","modified_gmt":"2012-07-07T06:17:06","slug":"zion-hill-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/?p=27","title":{"rendered":"Zion Hill Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hingston.eu\/nzBlog\/Pictures\/December\/walk\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">On the Zion Hill Track<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">The Zion Hill Track starts of at my favourite Waitakare beach, Karekare, and quickly ascends to the shoulder of the 262m high Mount Zion.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">From up on the trail on can look far out over the Tasman. Because there are no stairs the going is relatively easy and the storm-bent trees and shrubs offer protection from the warm December sun. Native flax grows here, and there is a little bench to rest wary legs once the ascent is made. From it one gets a view of the beach and Paratahi Island, the latter being a favourite resting place for sea lions during high tide (below).<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hingston.eu\/nzBlog\/Pictures\/December\/DSC04147\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Further on Melli and I almost get hit by low flying cicadas that readily pose for macro shots. And also allow me to insert some fun cicada facts that you most likely never wanted to know. Still it is easier than having to write something myself:<\/div>\n<p><em>Male cicada sound organ consists of a large plate-like structure, the operculum, which covers a cavity containing a white or yellowish membrane and an oval, ribbed, drum-like structure called a timbal. Timbals are vibrated by strong muscles to produce the cicada song. Females are lured to the sound and fly nearer. A female responds to a male with a flick of her wings. The two gradually draw close to one another until they meet for mating. Male cicadas die soon after mating. Females lay 400 to 600 eggs in as many as 40 to 50 different nests before they die. A female cicada lays her eggs in the twigs of trees and shrubs. She places the eggs in small holes that she makes with a saw like organ near the tip of her abdomen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hingston.eu\/nzBlog\/Pictures\/December\/DSC04150\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div align=\"center\">A brightly green male cicada, singing away his life; the poor fool..<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hingston.eu\/nzBlog\/Pictures\/December\/DSC04179\" \/><\/div>\n<div>View over the dunes and swampland at Paraha Bay.<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hingston.eu\/nzBlog\/Pictures\/December\/DSC04209\" \/><\/div>\n<div>Pohutukawa or Christmas Tree in full bloom.<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hingston.eu\/nzBlog\/Pictures\/December\/goldfink\" \/><\/div>\n<div>Another feathered and neozoan, a European yellowhammer (<em>Emberiza citrinella<\/em>) in the dunes,<\/div>\n<div>and another nice photo motive for Melanie,<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hingston.eu\/nzBlog\/Pictures\/December\/DSC04243\" \/><\/div>\n<div>Almost back at the Ocean..<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the Zion Hill Track The Zion Hill Track starts of at my favourite Waitakare beach, Karekare, and quickly ascends to the shoulder of the 262m high Mount Zion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3,5,4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein","category-botany","category-hikes","category-nature","category-zoology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nz.hingston.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}