Hi all,
So a few weeks ago Drea heard about a Department of Conservation trip that went down to the Catlins (an area about an hour south of us known for lush native bush, New Zealand wildlife and wet wet weather) . The purpose of the trip was to plant trees in a Yellow Eyed Penguin reserve that had been burned in a fire and cleared of vegetation about 15 years ago. The fire killed many of the endangered yellow eyed penguins that had been nesting in that area at the time. Since then, the land has been acquired by the DOC and a process of revegetation has led to the return of penguins to the area. This trip would continue the process of vegetation with the introduction of some of the larger native tree species such as Totara and Rimu (and several others I can't remember the names of) Anyway, Drea tried to sign us up only to find that there were no spots left. Then on Wednesday we received an email stating that 2 spaces had opened on the trip so we tried to sign up. Alas we were too late and the spots disappear only for one spot to reopen on Thursday. So Drea, figuring that a weekend without me meant a weekend of good studying signed me up. Sounded like fun so I went along with it.
We all met shortly after work on Friday night and drove down to the Tuatuku Lodge.
The lodge is owned by the New Zealand Department of Forest and Bird (who were co-sponsoring this volunteer trip to the reserve). The lodge had three cabins on the property. One that held 10, one that held 4 and a cute little A-frame for 3. I ended up in the A-frame but myself which was actually pretty nice. Especially after I woke up in the middle of the night, tripped over my bag and landed hard on one of the other beds.
The next morning the DOC staff cooked up a nice breakfast and we went off to Te Rere. We met up with another group that came up from Invercargill and proceeded to the reserve. Once there we divided into groups and planted the trees in between some Flax plantings that had been placed in previous trips.
Here one of the trip leaders is showing us the correct tree planting techniques.
It was a bit drizzly out but it could've been worse.
A successful tree planting
The site overlooked some beautiful and rugged coastline.
The waves would crash against the rocks and sometime fly up over the cliff which was about 60 feet high.
Here's looking back into the reserve from the top of the cliff.
Unfortunately my battery died at this point. We went back to the lodge after planting a couple hundred trees and were fixed a delicious meal with wine and homemade bread all courtesy of the Department of Conservation. Then spent the rest of the evening getting to know the other members of the group. Most of them were University students specializing in ecology or biology, so it was interesting to hear from them about their studies and how it related to things we had been seeing out at the reserve.
The next morning we went out to a nearby beach and went to town on a couple of gorse bushes. The gorse is an invasive weed covered in spines and little yellow flowers that Drea and I think smell like coconut oil. They can be pretty but in New Zealand they're a horrible nuisance so we set about with axes and saws and cleared the headlands of the beach in a few hours. We followed up the work with a short nature walk and then headed back home.
Drea and I are now looking at other DOC volunteer opportunities that we'll hopefully both be able to take part in.
Dave
We all met shortly after work on Friday night and drove down to the Tuatuku Lodge.
The lodge is owned by the New Zealand Department of Forest and Bird (who were co-sponsoring this volunteer trip to the reserve). The lodge had three cabins on the property. One that held 10, one that held 4 and a cute little A-frame for 3. I ended up in the A-frame but myself which was actually pretty nice. Especially after I woke up in the middle of the night, tripped over my bag and landed hard on one of the other beds.
The next morning the DOC staff cooked up a nice breakfast and we went off to Te Rere. We met up with another group that came up from Invercargill and proceeded to the reserve. Once there we divided into groups and planted the trees in between some Flax plantings that had been placed in previous trips.
Here one of the trip leaders is showing us the correct tree planting techniques.
It was a bit drizzly out but it could've been worse.
A successful tree planting
The site overlooked some beautiful and rugged coastline.
The waves would crash against the rocks and sometime fly up over the cliff which was about 60 feet high.
Here's looking back into the reserve from the top of the cliff.Unfortunately my battery died at this point. We went back to the lodge after planting a couple hundred trees and were fixed a delicious meal with wine and homemade bread all courtesy of the Department of Conservation. Then spent the rest of the evening getting to know the other members of the group. Most of them were University students specializing in ecology or biology, so it was interesting to hear from them about their studies and how it related to things we had been seeing out at the reserve.
The next morning we went out to a nearby beach and went to town on a couple of gorse bushes. The gorse is an invasive weed covered in spines and little yellow flowers that Drea and I think smell like coconut oil. They can be pretty but in New Zealand they're a horrible nuisance so we set about with axes and saws and cleared the headlands of the beach in a few hours. We followed up the work with a short nature walk and then headed back home.
Drea and I are now looking at other DOC volunteer opportunities that we'll hopefully both be able to take part in.
Dave
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