I had hoped that the Owhiro Bay hillside with the worst fire damage would be recovering with the rain over the last month. But no such luck. And there was also evidence of some erosion - since there isn't much topsoil above the sandstone base that is a great pity. However near the macrocarpa tree which was by another badly burned area, there were signs of new life...
Closer up, the devastation's mostly monochromatic textures, jazzed up by the green of some grasses and a few recovering shrubs.
I was being pretty unrealistic and impatient in my hope that real recovery would have appeared already. It does look as though the gorse burned up most completely and it will be interesting to see which plants come through as the winter progresses. But I am pretty confident that spring will bring an amazing sight, a silver lining as it were - but it won't be silver. (There is a daisy which I have mentioned on the blog previously - watch this space!)