Saturday, August 1 - Inspiration from Graeme's Farm and a Walk on the Wild Side

We started our day with inspiration from Graeme and Karen's lifestyle block farm.  Graeme works at Landcare Research and in his "spare" hours manages to keep a farm of apples, apricots, and almonds.  When he is not tending to his trees, he is busy keeping up with all of the latest technology from the world so that he can be as off the grid as possible.  He especially loves the technology coming out of America and believes that we have all that we need to make the world sustainable. Graeme’s house and farm sport solar panels and all sorts of gadgets he has rigged up and is even working on getting his own wind turbine up and running.  All very inspiring to show how much can be done with little things and little steps to lower our impact on our planet.

Of course Graeme and Karen also keep some sheep for keeping the orchards clear and it is lambing season so we even got to see and feed a few babies!

 

Solar Panels

Cute Lamb

 After lunch at Hillyers and some time at the Lincoln Market, we watched some girl’s rugby at Lincoln before heading out for a special visit to Willowbank.

Uni Rugby at Lincoln

Willowbank is a wildlife reserve where we had a chance to see up close both native and exotic animals. The highlight is that we actually got to touch a Tuatara! In addition, we had a Ko Tane or Maori experience where the “gals” got to try Poi Balls and the “guys” got to try a haka. Afterwards, we gathered in the restaurant to have a hangi, which is food smoked in the ground. Very tasty!

Pukeko

Kunekune pig - only found in New Zealand

Kea investigating Niko's head - hello?

Tuatara

Willowbank guide explaining about the kiwi

Poi dance

Hangi dinner

Cheers Meryl and Dr. H

Alp Foothills Restoration with Trevor and Heather

Today we traveled into the Alp foothills near the town of Springfield to visit with landowners Trevor and Heather Taege. Trevor and Heather own a large farm right on the beautiful Waimakariri River. Over the past 3 years, Trevor and Heather have planted over 5 acres of native plants on their farm. Planting native plants helps reduce the prevalence of diseases, increase native wildlife biodiversity, and decrease the amount of maintenance that would be required compared to exotics. Trevor and Heather have received their funding from several organizations such as the Malvern Lions Club, the Selwyn District Council, and Environment Canterbury. 

Trevor discussing our restoration project

Unfortunately, a recent snow and wind storm has damaged many of the native plants. Several of the large branches landed on the juvenile plants and are restricting their growth. Our restoration project was cutting and removing branches that had fallen from the recent storm and had landed onto young native plants. We cut and lifted several large branches and moved them to a place nearby away from the young natives. Some of the branches were so large that I was definitely getting a strenuous upper body workout today. I have slacking on workouts recently, so I am glad that the activity was 

rigorous.

                                                        Derek lifting a large tree branch

Gaby saving the native plants

During the morning activities, Trevor also pointed out some of the native plant species in the area. Some of the common species that we saw today are Kanuka, Manuka, Cabbage Tree, Totara, Kahikatea, and Lancewood. We also looked at specific characteristics of many species to differentiate them. After lunch, Trevor talked more about his farm and important planting techniques. He pointed out that it is important for each native plant to be planted greater than a meter a part. Planting too close together or overplanting is a common restoration mistake. Planting at the appropriate distance apart is important so each plant can uptake enough nutrients to survive and live a long life. In addition, Trevor felt that in New Zealand it is important to plant natives in Spring (late August/September). Plants that are planted at this time of year have the best chance of surviving. Planting distance and time of year are vital factors of the planning stage in a successful native plant restoration project. As important as the planning is, over the course of our restoration projects here in New Zealand, we have seen that the maintenance of the restoration project has been the most challenging. This is because maintenance is usually not as appealing as the initial planting stage and because it requires added time, energy, and money that can often be unexpected. It felt good to help Trevor and Helen with their restoration maintenance today.

Niko modeling shot

After finishing the restoration in the afternoon, Trevor gave us an elaborate sheep herding display and shearing demonstration. It was truly a remarkable site to see. First, the sheep dog “Pete” showed off his skills rounding up sheep. Then Trevor sheared a sheep. Then, Trevor explained a bit about how the business of sheep farming works. He explained that sheep wool grows about ½ inch a month; so sheering season is usually around twice a year. When the wool is sold, it usually goes towards making clothing and goods similar to it.

Trevor shearing the sheep

Group picture

Waimakariri River

After our sheep presentation, we had a couple of Heather’s homemade biscuits and headed to a hiking trail called Lords Bush. 

Lord's Bush Scenic Trail

While walking on the trail we saw a couple native plant species including, Bracken Fern, Black Beech, and New Zealand Jasmine. We also licked some of the honeydew drops from the Black Beech trees. After this, we headed back to Lincoln, Derek and I went on a nice run, and we all had dinner at the dining hall. Today was a truly fantastic day. I am going to try to enjoy every moment left of this incredible experience.

Have a great night.

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” - Muhammad Ali

-Lawson

Botanic Garden, Museum, and Hike

Nearing the end of the course (sigh!), the class explored the Christchurch Botanic  Gardens and Canterbury Museum. The Gardens contain quite an assortment of exotic and native plants. Many of these plants came from around the world, but in addition to the exotics, there was a section of New Zealand native plants. Here the class could review plants that they have seen  on the trip.

The class in the gardens

Giant Sequoia

The Canterbury museum has quite an assortment of natural and cultural history. One highlight was displays of Moa skeletons and a display of the Haast eagle that hunted them.  There was also a display of the Pau House, that a couple in Bluff decorated with Paua shells and was a famous house in New Zealand.

Students looking at display at Garden visitor center

Maori display

Pau house

To my delight – there was an exhibit on spiders in New Zealand.  I enjoyed this display = so please forgive the number of spider pictures below. The only native, venomous spider in New Zealand is called the Katipō, These spiders are rare and only found on beaches.

Jumping spider

Katipo spider

After lunch, we headed up into the Port Hills for one last hike.  This look out point allowed us to view Lyttleton harbor and the Canterbury plains at the same time. A southerly blew in and it was a bit cold and windy at the top. We did see an awesome 360 view. 

Gatorwaka and peewakawaka

Lyttleton Harbour

On the edge (but safe!)

Another view

Of course, we had tea time on the way home. Cheers Dr. H

Travis Wetland Restoration

We woke up to a very gloomy and rainy day. It was chilly waking to breakfast and walking to the Gator Waka. We managed to get through cold. once in the Gator Waka we went to the Riccarton Farmer's Market. It was on of the biggest Farmer's Market we have been to  in Christchurch. Plenty of great food for everyone. We all got to munch on some delicious hard candy that Tupelo bought with Dr. Hostetler. Kacie and Paula even got to try a very creamy pasteurized milk. Niko was able to finally buy the bread he was waiting so long for.

Tasted Delicious

After the Farmer's Market we were on our way to Travis Wetland, at least we thought we were. No one realized we were head in the wrong direction, until Dr. Hostetler admitted he was somewhat lost. Thanks to Kacie's GPS we were able to find our way to Travis Wetland.

Are we going the right way?

Finally made it :-)

 Once at the wetland, Dr. Colin Meurk gave us a little history of how the restoration project started and he gave us a brief explanation of what we were going to be doing there. According to Dr. Meurk. the restoration project started 18 years ago, when the council was able to fund raise enough money to buy off the land in 1997 (see http://traviswetland.org.nz/). The project as been able to stay a float by the amount of volunteers that come in every week. The piece of land being restored is about 56 hectares big and it is a very harsh climate, due to the extreme water level changes.

Learning is always fun!

Let the Hard work begin. As soon as Dr. Meurk finished talking we began by removing the plastic coverings from the plants that had out grown the plastic covering. The plastic covering is used to protect the plants from predators and invading weeds.

Making New Zealand a better place

Lots of work to be done

Since it is a wetland, most of our feet were drenched in water after we finished. Like always a hard working Kiwi always gets its well-deserved Tea Time. After tea time came the most exciting part of the day, Bird Counting. We conducted transects that have been done by previous classes. We got to see the many different birds that live in the Travis Wetland. We observed Pukeko, Grey Warbler, Fantail and many more native species of birds.

Yass Tea!

Serious about bird counting

Beautiful Black Swans with babies

The day was concluded with this beautiful view of Momma swan and her adorable babies. We saw them wobble away into their nest. From here we went back to Lincoln University to have dinner.

-Paula

Friday, July 10 - Over the (Southern Alps) hills and through the (Alpine Forest) woods, to the West Coast we go...

 “ And the snow was glittery, and it looked like someone dusted powdered sugar all over, and we got to see a hare and it’s tracks, and we got to ice skate on a pond with our shoes, and slide down where the hill had ice, and it was AWESOME!!! “ – Tupelo at Castle Hill 7-10-15

…And this was just the beginning.  Or at least near the beginning of our five-day West Coast trip…

Shopping cart with supplies for the Croesus Track overnight ike. There is PB and J in there too and Mark and the students picked out gourmet freeze dried food at Katmandu for their dinner.  Sandwiches will also be made at Maggies Kitchen in Greymouth that will go up the hike with everyone.

 Backing up just for a moment: One of the fun and daunting parts of the course is being the group’s Mom.  For some of our excursions we have to make sure that there are enough supplies, and by supplies, I mean food groups, and by food groups I mean the ones that have calories and help sustain the students….OK, so really I mean chocolate and cookies because I want them to enjoy themselves too, but… seriously, packing for an overnight hike needs to have enough food to keep everyone satiated, but not too much weight because 5 hours uphill can make one grouchy if one is both hungry AND one’s pack feels like lead weight.  So no beany weanies in cans. : )     For the Croesus Track hike we get “gourmet”  freeze-dried dinners and lightweight means like oatmeal packs and granola bars, etc.  Two heaviest food items in each pack – a NZ carrot and one giant chocolate bar (EACH) which made the bagger at the grocery store want to come with us (the chocolate bar, not the carrot)…

View to the Southern Alps from the side of the road.

D'oh!  Springfield!  Where is Homer?

So I digress, but with, hopefully, enough food loaded up in the car (Note: there is a second box in the Gatorwakawaka with just snacks for the driving part of our five-day trip), and leaving a few days early to chase good weather on the West Coast, we were off for longer overnight adventure.  It was cold and frosty when we left at sunrise (8am) on Friday morning, but it was so clear and the Southern Alps in the distance were beckoning us.  We were off through Arthur’s Pass. as we got to the foothills, we had to stop in Springfield to take a picture with the sculpture artwork.

Perfect snow.

Tupelo demonstrating the "glittery" properties of the snow in the sunshine.

Walking up to Castle Hill.

Sliding down Castle Hill.

Next stop, Castle Hill, …oh…wait…snow chains (again!).  The transportation association in New Zealand (NZTA) was wonderful.  They had a traffic stop in place to make sure that only four wheel cars or those with snow chains could go on the early morning roads, AND they guys even put our chains on our cars for us to be sure they were on properly.  So great and efficient.  The roads were actually quite clear on our way to Castle Hill which is a beautiful stop about an hour from Christchurch where limestone rocks stand in magnificent formations carved by the elements over time.  We were one of the first cars to arrive there that day to pristine snow.  It literally looked like it had glitter in it and made a very satisfying sound when walked upon.   We hiked up to the rocks and explored (and all of the things in Tupelo’s quote above), before moving on to the Arthur’s Pass National Park.  A short distance past Castle Hill, the NZTA had another stop where they took off our chains and let us know that all roads ahead were fine and clear (which they were). 

As we continued on to the National Park, we took in the breathtaking views of the Southern Alps in their fresh dusting of snow.  There are lakes and braided rivers along the way that add to the magnificent scenery.

Tea Time at Arthur's Pass National Park.

Devil's Punchbowl Falls from the bottom before we hiked up.

On the second bridge on our way to the falls.

We spot Colin and Dean just as they spot us coming back down the hike.

A cold Kea at the Overlook.  He was even too cold to be cheeky and chew on the rubber molding on our car windows (something they love to do if they can get away with it).

View from the Overlook heading west.

Once in Arthur’s Pass National Park proper, we, of course, took a tea break .  In true New Zealand form, we proved what a small world/country it is.  We ran into Andrew (who we met at Hinewai just three days before) and his wife who were on their way over to their batch on the West Coast.  (Later, we ran into Hugh Wilson’s older brother who lives up in the pass as we were coming off of a hike)!  We all sat out in the sunshine and hoped to spot a Kea (alpine parrot) for which this area is famous.  No such luck so we walked down the street to the Department of Conservation Visitor’s Center and on the way saw a Kea fly up into a tree (they have an impressive six-foot wing span with red feathers on the underside). Finally, we saw one closer as we got back into the vans to go to the start of our hike.  We enjoyed the chance to get close and personal with alpine plants as we walked up to Devil’sPunchbowl Falls all spruced up in snow.  It was beautiful.  Just as we arrived almost back to the car park, we met up with Dr. Meurk and Dr. Anderson who will be joining us on our big hike on the West Coast.  We stopped at a lookout to see a few more (chilly) Keas and the Viaduct area before we set out for our final destination for the night – Greymouth on the West Coast.   

West Coast here we are! Students heading out to check out the sunset on the Tasman Sea.

Dinner at Steamers.

Hanging out for a few minutes - enjoying ice cream in a cold indoor pool building.

We arrived just as the sun was setting on the Tasman Sea in this part of the country that is temperate rainforest!  It is amazing how the land and plants transformed on our passage across the Alps from the Canterbury plains to the Alpine Beech forest to the Tree Ferns of the West Coast.  We stowed our gear at the motel, ate dinner out, and then set about getting all of our packs in order for our big hike before we had ice cream and sat around the hot tub.  Not really that warm in the indoor pool building we were in, but still fun to be together.

Then off to bed to rest up for another great adventure! – Meryl : )