Cliffsides, Cave Rock, and Cricket

After brunch, we all hopped in the GatorWaka to begin our day. We had planned on visiting a Kiwi sustainable home but the owners had to cancel because of a family matter; instead, we went to a shopping complex in a restored historic tannery. We had a morning tea time, and looked through the shops in the Tannery including an upscale thrift store, an apothecary, and a bookstore. 

Group photo at teatime

On our way to our Godley Head hike, we passed through Sumner (where there were many surfers out enjoying the day), a subdivision of Christchurch; Godley was the founder of Christchurch. Before hiking, we utilized the playground equipment in the Taylor’s Mistake parking lot. 

Messing around in the park before the hike

We had a pleasant hike with stunning views of the ocean and cliffs, but we saw lots of 
unpleasant flowering Pig’s Ear along the trails (we spent a day of restoration pulling 
Pig’s Ear from a conservation site). We were able to spot the predator proof fence that 
marked our destination from the beginning of the hike. Once at the fence we passed 
through it and descended down a ladder to the coastline. We were on the search for 
white flippered penguins in the artificial burrows that had been placed there for them as 
part of a restoration project. We were rewarded by a few containing penguins, including 
burrows number 86 and 92. 

Penguin burrow that is currently inhabited 

Little penguin inside the burrow. Photo courtesy of Grace

Cave Rock 

After our hike concluded, we headed over to Cave Rock (Tuawera). The rock provided many adventuring opportunities, including climbing to the top, running from incoming waves surging through the hollow rock, and a log prime for a king of the hill style game. We then journeyed back to the Tannery for a lunch of sushi.

Playing a nice game of cricket

We began our journey back to Lincoln, but the university dorms were not our destination; instead we went to the cricket fields at the local domain, where we were schooled in the terms and rules of the game. We played a half-court version of cricket that reduced the field size and incorporated foul balls so our baseball-oriented minds could understand. The Killer Kiwis beat the Wacky Wekas by a score of 70 to 67 (go kiwis!). 

Ice cream Sunday courtesy of Colin

After dinner, Dr. Colin Meurk and some of his grad students stopped by the dorms for an ice cream Sunday (pun courtesy of Colin). Irish Creme, Triple Chocolate, and Forest Fruit Yogurt all tied for the best ice cream flavor, but Colin's yogurt was most definitely the favorite of everyone. We had a good chat with Colin and finally got to ask him about the much anticipated sea lion story; the grad students discussed the different ecological issues facing our respective countries with us. Overall a fantastic day and a great way to end our last weekend in New Zealand. - Lexie

Saturday, July 27 - Here Comes the Sun

On the last day of our overnight trip, we woke up to the sound of “Here Comes the Sun” in the Marae meeting house, or Wharenui, to see that the fog had lifted. We had slept under the sacred and spiritual carvings of ancient Maori stories and gods that lined the inside of the Wharenui, through which Maori ancestors had filled our heads with many colorful dreams, and even some prophetic ones. After a short breakfast at the Maori Wharekai (dining room), we put everything back the way it was and headed out.

A fierce tribe performing a haka outside of the Wharenui

At this point in the day, seven of the group split off to go whale-watching while the rest went on the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway to have a fun walk up to the Huttons Shearwater predator proof area. The whale-watchers took a bus to South Bay on the west side of the Kaikoura Peninsula, where we got on a boat that took us Southwest along the Eastern coast. Whales are a very important part of Maori culture, particularly the southern right whale or Tohora, the whale that Paikea rode in the Maori Whale Rider legend that was later made into a movie. Where we were, there were mainly sperm whales, however, we were lucky enough to see a sei whale shortly after our journey started. Sei whales are the third largest whale species, after the blue whale and the fin whale. After this sighting, the crew was on the hunt for sperm whales for the rest of the day, while our host educated us. Sperm whales are the largest predatory animal in existence, reaching lengths of up to 20.5 meters and weighing up to 65 tons. They prey on large squid (such as the giant squid), octopus, sharks and other large fish, but their diet consists mainly of arrow squid. They will dive as deep as 3000 meters, and when hunting they will let out a call at 238 decibels, 34 decibels louder than a NASA space launch, that will stun and sometimes even kill their prey. Today we saw three sperm whales, all males, each with names the crew had given them. We also saw two New Zealand fur seals and several albatrosses and giant petrels. The most notable of the sperm whales was Tiaki (Maori for “protector”), a very large male that seems to have taken up protecting the other whales in the area, and our host’s favorite of the lot.

On the top deck looking out at the East coast

Watching Tiaki surface

Tiaki surfacing with an albatross overhead

A diving sperm whale

The peninsula-walkers left from Point Kean and took the Peninsula Walkway along the hillsides facing the ocean and the rocky sea floor that had risen 4 meters out of the water. There they got to experience the twisted limestone on the rocky coastline and spectacular panoramic views of the Pacific.

The Huttons Shearwater predator proof area on the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway

Everyone regrouped for lunch at the world-famous Kaikoura Seafood BBQ, where we ate a variety of seafood delicacies, such as crayfish and whitebait fritters, prawns, and salmon steak.

Reunited at the Kaikoura Seafood BBQ

Finally, after a long three days at Waipara and Kaikoura, we headed back to Christchurch, with the uneasy feeling that the end of our trip was approaching more rapidly than we would like.

-Dylan

Thursday, July 25 -Sheep, Greening Waipara, and Lip Sync

The start of our three day and two night trip was in full sun and pretty warm. Our first stop in the gatorwakawa was a green development called Pegasus. Here, we explored some for the pluses (rain gardens and swales, dark-sky lighting, and use of native plants) and minuses (used a lot of exotic plants) that the developer helped to set up. At the back of the development, there was some conserved open space where they are just beginning to restore with native plantings.

At the beach near Pegasus development

After tea time at Pukeko Junction, we explored the Greening Waipara project across many wineries and within the community of Waipara. The wineries incorporated biodiversity trails and planted natives within the planted vines. The idea is to provide habitat for insect predators that would eat the pests of the vines. Also - the biodiversity trails allow people to experience a little bit of their natural heritage while sipping their wine. We met with Daryl Harris, the local champion of the project and 4th generation rancher in the area. Daryl is a strong supporter of the project and has planted thousands of native plants in the area. He also uses his sheep to graze within the vineyards to keep weeds down.

Colin at Pegasus Bay Winery and the biodiversity trail

A longfin eel was sighted in the pond

Daryl explaining hos philosophy of pesticide reduction and planting natives

Daryl's Bear (the sheepdog) herding merino sheep

Daryl sorting out the sheep

We placed our belongings at the Sleeper Cars Backpackers at Waipara. We then went over to Daryl's for a home cooked meal of lamb, beef, roasted veggies and pavlova for dessert. Incredible! Then we had our traditional lip sync contest - much fun all around. Even had several games of the card game mafia. After dinner, had a cooold night in the sleeper cars

Night night. Dr H

Pingouins en Kayaks

Today we journeyed back to Akaroa, one of the first places we went to on this trip. We stopped for a quick tea time at Little River and made our way to meet up with the Pohatu Penguin Conservation group. Pohatu Penguin focuses on the conservation of the Little Penguin, with many threats to combat such as exotic mammalian predators, invasive plants taking over such as gorse, and habitat loss. Started 30 years ago by Shireen and Francis Helps, they have focused on boosting the population of the Pohatu colony. Kevin and Ben would be our tour guides for the day, greeting us with their friendly faces and French accents. We made the drive to Flea Bay where the real fun would begin. Even though the name sounds hostile, the origin story explains the truth. When settlers first arrived at Flea Bay, it was during the summer which is molting season for the Little Penguins. They shed their old feathers, a process which takes about 2 weeks, in order to have fresh feathers that are more waterproof and durable. During this, the infamous sand fleas of New Zealand take advantage of the penguins long stay on land and show up in hordes. Thankfully we are here in the winter and did not have any visits from sand fleas.

Our new friends!

We were immediately greeted by 3 residents of the area and even had the chance to feed our new friends. After a quick lunch, we began to prepare for our sea kayaking excursion. Equipped with wet suit skirts, lifejackets and paddles, everyone paired up and made the trek to the bay side. Kevin and Ben gave us a safety briefing which included how to paddle, what to do if our boats tip over, and what to do in case both Kevin and Ben are lost at sea. With most of us taking our shoes off and losing feeling in them almost instantly, we sent the kayaks off into the bay. We did our best to keep our distance from each other but also stick close to Ben as he talked to the group about the penguins and fur seals of the area. We were lucky enough to see a pair of penguins up on a cliffs edge, as well as fur seals, a few pied shags, and a giant petrel flew right by us a couple of times. We toured around the cove, hearing about the success story of this Little Penguin colony. 7 years ago there were only about 300 breeding pairs and as of 2016 there are at least 1100 breeding pairs in this colony. With traps put out around the bay in hopes of catching rats, possums or mustelids, the penguins have had a much better chance of survival with the lower number of predators.

Everyone preparing for the cold water

Action shot of the group

We got to see paua shells on the beach!

After the 2 hour tour, we head back inland for the opportunity to see one of the penguins up close. The area has 400 small boxes all over for the penguins to nest in for they prefer to be in dark places such as cliff sides, burrows that they sometimes dig, tool sheds and boxes like the ones they have out. Little Penguins are territorial and need at least 10 meters (about 30 feet) away from one another, so the boxes have been placed accordingly. With cameras ready, Kevin lifted the lid off of the female Little Penguins box and we got about 15 seconds to marvel at her. 

Little Penguin up close

Heading back to Akaroa and bidding Kevin and Ben goodbye, we stopped at the Bach café for an afternoon tea time before making the journey back to Lincoln.

With today being a true outdoorsy adventure, tomorrow we should be having a more mellow and artistic experience.
-Grace

In the Clouds

Our first day back in Christchurch from our Free Weekend and we headed for another restoration project near Birdlings Flat. This project is set on 650 hectares, which also includes 1500 sheep and interestingly enough, is owned by an American conservationist. This piece of property is his own personal project, where hopefully The hills will be restored to native forest from plantings that will grow iinto a seed source which will allow nature to reforest the rest of the surrounding areas.

The variety of different kinds of plants planted displays this, including Coprosma, New Zealand Flax, and Lancewood. This is all part of an experimental process, to which one of the tenants, Rima gave us more information about. Over the last four years, there have been over 4,000 plants planted. These plants have it tough, as the area is near the ocean with lots of wind and harsh temperature changes (some rainy times, some drought), making it a tough climate for plants to survive in. Not only do they have to battle the ocean winds, but they are harsh Southerly winds. These plants also are consumed by hares, and as Rima mentioned, one hare can decimate around 1,000 plants in just one weekend.

Everyone listening intently to Rima while she explains how to properly mulch a plant

Our job today was to help with the not-so-glamourous (far less so than planting) weeding and mulching process to ensure that these plants didn't get overgrown by exotic grasses, or eaten by hares. We focused on pulling out all the weeds under and around the plastic wire cages that enclose the plants. These grasses are dense and hard to eliminate without animals grazing, which causes even more difficult for the natural plants to be able to establish themselves. After pulling out the grasses surrounding the plant as well as around the protective fence of each plant, we were instructed to use dry grass to place surrounding the plant as mulch to ensure that the moisture would stay in and that no weeds would grow through it. We started off on one side of the mountain, working until lunch to pull out all the weeds and mulching a planting site that Dr. Hostetler's students planted in 2016.

Working hard to ensure the plants are free of any weeds

Dylan and his helper, Bonnie, mulching a plant

After having lunch in the clouds (literally), we began our trek down the other side of the mountain where we continued to pull weeds and mulch a one year old site of native plantings. The difference seen in the mulching from both sides was clear, proving to us that this process clearly benefits the plants when done properly.

Eating lunch in the clouds

Once finishing up with our weeding, we had a beautiful walk down that included all of us on the hunt for agate. We finished up our day with a trip to the aqua center, where we all enjoyed the warm relaxation pool, and of course the lazy river. - Tess

Proud of our weeding!

Red Zone Restoration

       Today we revisited the Red Zone to help out with restoration with Dr. Colin Meurk and Scott Butcher from the Avon Otakoro Network. This group was formed in 2015 and does ecological work in the Red Zone by trying to establish a forest park and other vegetation that would’ve existed in this area historically.

The site that we went to is leased to them by the government for about 5 years. This short amount of time makes it hard to do restoration, but the goal is to plant enough natives that eventually the land becomes self-sustaining and there needs to be minimal intervention from the group. They hope that with all the new planting, native forest birds like the Kereru, fantail, and Tui will hopefully come flooding back. In fact, there were several fierce fantails fluttering round our site as we were working, possibly being a positive omen for the future of this land. 

As with most of the sites that we have been completing restoration on, Dr. Meurk reminded us that the central idea for these ecological corridors is to create a stepping stones throughout the city that will provide native wildlife habitat while coexisting with people. The Red Zone is heavily mowed, which encourage the growth of weeds and discourages the growth of native seedlings, and Dr. Meurk estimated that mowing costs about 1-2 million dollars a year. In the end, we ended up planting over 105 native species. This includes coprosma, lancewood, and even some baby totora! 

After stopping for some lunch, we headed on to our next destination. On the way, Dr. Meurk stopped by a river filled with Canadian Geese and other waterfowl. He stopped by a tree with lichen growing on it and let us all try out his handy pocket magnifying glass. He told us about how blue-green aglae fixate nitrogen and that we should all put that small magnifier on our shopping list. 

We then went on over to the Avebury House and met with Tanya the keeper of the house. This large Victorian House used to be owned by the Flesher Family back in the 1850s but is now used as a sort of Community Center. Yoga classes, workshops, and various clubs use this space harmoniously. The house has been threatened many times to be torn down, but the community always assembles and saves it. 

The house also has a community garden that is maintained weekly by citizens of the town and many of the food is either donated or sold. We walked through the native garden, called Koru Garden. It is named after the Maori word for loop or coil, represented by an unfurling silver fern frond. The unfurling fern is a symbol of rebirth, growth, and strength. In fact, a small part of the garden is planted in the shape of a spiral and circulates around a large wooden carving of a fern. Dr. Meurk walked us through the forested part of the garden which is home to large native trees like the totora, lemonwood, and kauri tree. He told us that the canopy cover of the larger trees provides the perfect space for their seedlings to grow. In fact, we stumbled upon two small totora seedlings just beginning their climb towards the sky. 

After saying goodbye to Dr. Meurk and the Avebury House, we piled into the Gator Waka and had teatime at a C4. Tomorrow starts our free weekend in Queenstown, but we will be back on Monday to explore more of the Canterbury region. - Tatiana

Dr. Colin Meurk and the group at the Red Zone

Planting natives and helping to restore the Red Zone

Taking a peak at some lichen growing on this tree

The group at Avebury House

A portion of the community garden at Avebury House that will be donated

The group and Dr. Meurk at the Koru Garden

Learning about the native trees that provide canopy cover to seedlings in the Koru Garden