Tussock restoration at Quail Island

We ate breakfast on the go today as we traveled to Lyttleton Harbor to catch the ferry that would take us to Quail Island, which had been used as a leper colony and had school for delinquent youths over the years, among other things. The island had already been cleared of most of it's native vegetation by the time Europeans arrived in 1850, so restoring it is a serious undertaking.

The leper colony

 We met Ian, our leader for the day, in the harbor and he explained our tasks when we arrived at the island. We would be planting Silver Tussock fragments, or parts of the larger Silver Tussock, in to small pots. The tussocks that we planted today will be planted in the ground by more volunteers in several months. The process was simple: fill the pot about half way with soil, place the tussock fragment inside, and then fill in the soil around the tussock to hold it securely in place.

Talking tussocks

We were like a well-oiled tussock planting machine

Found a friend in a pot!

The fruit of our labors. 320 in total!

The trust responsible for the restoration of Quail Island was established in 1998 and has since planted about 80,000 trees, as well as eradicated mammalian pests like the rat, stoat, and the hedgehog. There are many exotic plants on the island, such as the Monterey Pine and Cypress trees that tower over the landscape. The large trees may not be the most disruptive exotics, though. Exotic grasses shade out native seeds dispersed by birds and don't allow them to grow. The trust hopes to bring back healthy populations of native birds by restoring natural vegetation. Quail Island has nesting populations of Bellbirds, Keruru, Grey Warblers, and even White Flippered Penguins! We didn't see any penguins, but that may have been for the best as they are easily disturbed. 

A nesting box for penguins

When we finished planting the tussocks we headed over to a cabin for our PB&J lunch. We were treated to a fire, and Dr. Hostetler found a book of jokes that were terribly cheesy, even by his standards. 

We ate our lunch here

Before Dr. Hostetler broke out the joke book

After lunch most of us took off on a walk around the island. We stopped at a small structure with information about the island, and read signs posted at various portions of the trail to learn more about the island. Dr. Hostetler told us about the vegetation we saw, but Jamm and Meryl made sure to keep him on his toes and challenged some of his IDs. The views from around the island were incredible, but the most striking thing by far was the wind. I think I would have flown away if I wore baggier clothes. We looked out over the cliffs for the first part of the walk, then made our way to a rocky area where we found a skink and a couple of geckos. Afterwards we passed a shipwreck and made our way down to a beautiful beach, where we spent some time before heading back to the dock to catch our ferry. 

Paula has a vision for Quail island

It was a rite of passage for young Maori to climb these cliffs and retrieve bird eggs

Walking around the island

Trying not to get blown over by the wind

The island's namesake!

Small gecko found under rocks

Tupelo's large gecko

Shipwreck!

It was a cold, windy, but awesome day. After stopping in Lyttleton for some hot drinks we made our way back to Lincoln to eat dinner and pack for our next adventure. It really feels good to be able to participate in restoration projects like this one and make a difference while we're over here learning and enjoying ourselves. 

- Derek