Week One with Conservation Volunteers New Zealand
On boxing day morning, I rose early and met up with my team at the Britomart (big bus and train station downtown) to head out and do some volunteer work. When I got there, however, the huge team I had heard rumoured to be coming had been reduced to myself, a 57 year old man named Graham and our 23 year old team leader Sonia! haha! Everybody else had canceled at the last minute. Sad for them though, because I had a brilliant time! Besides, it meant there would be more food to split between the three of us :D
The first day we went out to Hunua Ranges Regional Park, southeast of Auckland. We were originally supposed to be hiking out to the mountains to clear drainage ways along the trail system, but because we were such a small group we stuck around the volunteer house. We tore down the chicken coup and weeded vines from the trees along the roadside!! go conservation nz!!
This the edge of the volunteer house. The coup was just to the right of the shed, and we removed vines from the trees on the right side of that!:
Sonia and Graham at Hunua Falls
We only spent one day in Hunua, then we headed North past Auckland again and then to the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. Aritaki Visitor Centre, on the way to the Rangers' Station:
The grey sky, was more brilliant grey/blue in real life, but the view can still be admired behind me in the frame. It looks out onto Lower Nihotupu Dam and Big Muddy Creek.
This well endowed Maori Pou(guardian post)(not to be confused with a totem pole, we ain't in North America!) was the centerpiece of the centre, though there were loads of interesting features inside as well.
We got a little lost on the way to the Rangers' station so we pulled into a golf course to ask for help. That's where I spotted this car:
It was raining the day we arrived so we just got to meet the Rangers, Riki and John, and an Arc in the Park activist, John Staniland. We were treated to about 3 hours of information and presentation on what John and others are working on in the area. He told us about the birds he is working to save, where they live and he even made a few bird calls for us! He was a longwinded fellow, but he was brilliant and passionate about what he does. I felt very lucky to have been there to learn and listen. It was the kind of information you pay to learn at a conference or something :) Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him... only this Chicken, who lives at the house next to the Ranger station. He has free reign of the area and just walked freely into the kitchen and had a nap! :
Also in there yard, lived a duck and a Pukeko. The hen had the run of the land, then the pukeko, and finally the duck. It was funny to watch them fight over food!
Pukeko. Also affectionately referred to as the purple chicken, or bird with HUGE feet.
We then got a tour of a good chunk of the park in the 4X4 Ranger Truck. We went along a river, up and down some sand dunes, along a beach and back again. It was brilliant :D Regular old citizens don't get to drive in the places we were. It was very awesome!
The beach we drove along was called Te Henga or "Bethell's Beach." This cliff has a Maori name that I have forgotten but that translates into "Nose of the Ocean." I think it is very aptly named.
Even though the sky was grey, Te Henga was a beautiful place, with a lot of Maori history.
We spent the night in a place called Little Huia. A tiny little nook that was home to less people than Hoolieville (that's the tiny area I lived in on Quadra Island, pop. 112). At first we thought we were staying in the bunk house which was a concrete room with a bunch of bunks, some had mattresses, others had cobwebs, then we realized that the other building behind us was the main house. It was much cleaner and much more comfortable :D!! Thank goodness!
There was farmland all around the house. We braved passing the electric fence to climb the green slope behind the house and get this view:
The next day we spent out on the Waitakere farmlands. They have a paddock along a huge slope that is overrun with thistles and weeds that they are planning to replant with native vegetation, like Native Toe Toe (pronounced more like toy-toy).
We also hacked out thistle bushes with these big scythe like tools! It was great fun! We got to wear "chaps" thick green leg coverings to protect us from the thorns! But we got our revenge on anything that got through... Take that and THAT and THAT!!! Its amazing how thistles ressemble ex-boyfriends and enemies sometimes....
The Rangers were great fun to work with. Riki, shown below in the middle, has been working out there the longest though and had the most knowledge to share about the area and the Maori culture. Which reminds me... he said something about a Hangi sometime soon, I should call him.
As you can tell.. it was absolutely horrible and ugly working out in the ranges. No nice scenic views of rolling hills or.... oh... wait.... It was brilliant!
After they took us out to the Gannet colony at Miruwai Beach on the west coast.
The Gannet colony was so exciting, but it smelled pretty bad. Click on the photo for more shots.
The Rangers treated us to milkshakes/coffees at this beachside cafe. The Ranger who looks like he is tipping his hat is Chris, the ranger allocated to that area:
On the morning of that friday, our last day in Waitakere, we build a boardwalk over a muddy patch along the Lower Kauri Trek through the Cascades Kauri Park. No kauri trees near where we were, but we drove most of the way to the trek access anyways.
It was a brilliant trip and Sonia and I have bonded and are now good friends. We only got in a total of about 8 hours worth of work that week due to the weather and Ranger tour distractions. But it was so wonderful all around. Besides, we definitely made up for it in the second week. That entry is to come soon.
More images from the Little Huia house:
This entry is so long, yet I still feel like I have left so much out from that week alone! Cheers everybody!
The first day we went out to Hunua Ranges Regional Park, southeast of Auckland. We were originally supposed to be hiking out to the mountains to clear drainage ways along the trail system, but because we were such a small group we stuck around the volunteer house. We tore down the chicken coup and weeded vines from the trees along the roadside!! go conservation nz!!
Sonia and Graham at Hunua Falls
We only spent one day in Hunua, then we headed North past Auckland again and then to the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. Aritaki Visitor Centre, on the way to the Rangers' Station:
This well endowed Maori Pou(guardian post)(not to be confused with a totem pole, we ain't in North America!) was the centerpiece of the centre, though there were loads of interesting features inside as well.
We got a little lost on the way to the Rangers' station so we pulled into a golf course to ask for help. That's where I spotted this car:
It was raining the day we arrived so we just got to meet the Rangers, Riki and John, and an Arc in the Park activist, John Staniland. We were treated to about 3 hours of information and presentation on what John and others are working on in the area. He told us about the birds he is working to save, where they live and he even made a few bird calls for us! He was a longwinded fellow, but he was brilliant and passionate about what he does. I felt very lucky to have been there to learn and listen. It was the kind of information you pay to learn at a conference or something :) Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him... only this Chicken, who lives at the house next to the Ranger station. He has free reign of the area and just walked freely into the kitchen and had a nap! :
Also in there yard, lived a duck and a Pukeko. The hen had the run of the land, then the pukeko, and finally the duck. It was funny to watch them fight over food!
We then got a tour of a good chunk of the park in the 4X4 Ranger Truck. We went along a river, up and down some sand dunes, along a beach and back again. It was brilliant :D Regular old citizens don't get to drive in the places we were. It was very awesome!
The beach we drove along was called Te Henga or "Bethell's Beach." This cliff has a Maori name that I have forgotten but that translates into "Nose of the Ocean." I think it is very aptly named.
Even though the sky was grey, Te Henga was a beautiful place, with a lot of Maori history.
We spent the night in a place called Little Huia. A tiny little nook that was home to less people than Hoolieville (that's the tiny area I lived in on Quadra Island, pop. 112). At first we thought we were staying in the bunk house which was a concrete room with a bunch of bunks, some had mattresses, others had cobwebs, then we realized that the other building behind us was the main house. It was much cleaner and much more comfortable :D!! Thank goodness!
There was farmland all around the house. We braved passing the electric fence to climb the green slope behind the house and get this view:
The next day we spent out on the Waitakere farmlands. They have a paddock along a huge slope that is overrun with thistles and weeds that they are planning to replant with native vegetation, like Native Toe Toe (pronounced more like toy-toy).
We also hacked out thistle bushes with these big scythe like tools! It was great fun! We got to wear "chaps" thick green leg coverings to protect us from the thorns! But we got our revenge on anything that got through... Take that and THAT and THAT!!! Its amazing how thistles ressemble ex-boyfriends and enemies sometimes....
The Rangers were great fun to work with. Riki, shown below in the middle, has been working out there the longest though and had the most knowledge to share about the area and the Maori culture. Which reminds me... he said something about a Hangi sometime soon, I should call him.
As you can tell.. it was absolutely horrible and ugly working out in the ranges. No nice scenic views of rolling hills or.... oh... wait.... It was brilliant!
After they took us out to the Gannet colony at Miruwai Beach on the west coast.
The Gannet colony was so exciting, but it smelled pretty bad. Click on the photo for more shots.
On the morning of that friday, our last day in Waitakere, we build a boardwalk over a muddy patch along the Lower Kauri Trek through the Cascades Kauri Park. No kauri trees near where we were, but we drove most of the way to the trek access anyways.
It was a brilliant trip and Sonia and I have bonded and are now good friends. We only got in a total of about 8 hours worth of work that week due to the weather and Ranger tour distractions. But it was so wonderful all around. Besides, we definitely made up for it in the second week. That entry is to come soon.
More images from the Little Huia house:
This entry is so long, yet I still feel like I have left so much out from that week alone! Cheers everybody!
so said Crys at 2:33 PM
:
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