Planting with Pups

     Our day got a later start than usual much to my own relief as the Super Rugby League final last night had left me rather drained. We headed straight to Hillyer's to pick up meat pies for lunch (chicken and apricot for those curious as to my choice). We ate them during our second lecture with Dr. Meurk in which he covered the theory, principles, and practice of ecosystem restoration. He stressed that there were various approaches to restoration, some of which are better suited to given conditions than others. In illustrating this point, he referenced Hugh Wilson of Hinewai Reserve whom we had met this very week. Hugh is a proponent of letting nature run its course with as little direct human intervention as possible. His decision to allow invasive gorse to grow in Hinewai is a textbook example of such a practice. However, Dr. Meurk emphasized the importance of the unique conditions in Hinewai that have been conducive to the success of Hugh's program such as the presence of native seeds in the soil.

     We left the Landcare Research facility for Mahoe Reserve across from Lincoln High School where we received our very own pair of gloves. How honored we all felt! We were introduced to Sue Jarvis, a founder of the Lincoln Envirotown Trust, who told us about the history and aim of the reserve to return the area to something like how it would've looked a thousand years ago. The reserve has been active since 2003 and draws volunteers every year to plant trees there. Dr. Meurk then demonstrated the proper technique for planting the seedlings spread all around the reserve before sending us on our way.

Dr. Meurk shows us the ropes, spade in hand.

Grace, Tess, and Maryanna show Jay the love he deserves for being such a good boy.

Another Jay shot for good measure.

 Bauer and Lexi work along the hillside to give their seedlings as strong a start as possible.

Joe, Tess, Grace, and Maryanna pose after a hard day's work.

Say treeeee!

Bauer under a free-standing arch made from the pots of the 270 plants.

We split into pairs and began working. The rocky soil gave us some difficulty in making proper holes in which to plant the seedlings but after a few plants we fell into a rhythm and by the end had planted 270 seedlings as a group! Amongst others, we planted cabbage trees, New Zealand flax, propinqua, kahakatia, kanuka, kohuhu, and marshland ribbonwood. We planted deep on the floodplain of the reserve as well as in the more stressed environments along the hillside, the whole time playing with two dogs who had energy enough for the entire afternoon. Jay (short for Justin Bieber) was quite lovable and helped to make our day. Joe and I spoke with Sue for some time about the climate of New Zealand which had afforded us a particularly comfortable afternoon in which to work. After a group photo and the effort to pack the remaining plants into the cars we left in the Gator Waka for the day. Tomorrow, we will head for the west coast bright and early where we will stay until our return on Friday. - Sheamus