Temple Basin trip-July29th and 30th

Thursday morning we met up in front of the dorms, gathered in the gator waka, and headed out once again towards Arthur’s Pass National Park. Our destination this time was to Temple Basin, a ski lodge in the Southern Alps. On the way, had tea time at the ever popular café in Arthur’s pass, where curious Keas are easily spotted. Soon after we made it to the area where we began our strenuous hike straight up the mountain side and to the lodge. The hike was tough, and making it to the top was a great accomplishment. It was worth the effort though, the view of the mountains around us were breathtaking. 

Temple Basin

Once there, we settled in and signed up for our ski gear. A few of us had never skied before, some had experience and the rest were able to snowboard. It was a bit of a challenge for those who couldn’t ski but all in all everyone had an exciting day. Afterwards, we went in for dinner and hung out in the main hall playing ping pong and cards. 

Friday morning we were up and ready to hit the slopes once more. While the others went to the other side of the mountain to ski, Kristin, Dania, and I decided we would take skiing lessons. Our instructor was a really cool Kiwi named Alex. He was very patient and encouraging. He made skiing much more enjoyable for us three Floridians. We all became very confident in how to side step in the skis, how to slide down slopes, and how to direct ourselves. 

After a morning of fun skiing, we all went inside for lunch before it was time for us to leave the lodge.  We gathered up our things and headed down the mountain, trying very hard not to slip on the icy ground. In the end, we all had a great time staying a night in the Southern Alps, and once again had an amazing adventure in the land of the long white cloud. 

-Julianna

July 28, 2010- How to change the world

Dr. Will Allen was born on a small family farm on the North Island of New Zealand. Little did he know that on July 28th, year 2010, he would give a talk that would change the lives of 10 American students. He titled it "Solutions for Creating a Sustainable Culture." All joking aside, it was a very informative talk. We learned many things about the way that people make decisions and changes in their lives. It is not possible to create change in a community that is disjoint. When one side of the community wants to build a ditch to prevent flooding and save their houses, they don't understand when environmentalists say no because it will harm fragile freshwater habitats. Talking with and educating the people of a community about the environmental issues is as important as discovering researching the issues themselves. In the photo above we see our teacher acting the veritable Vanna White while Dr. Allen explains how everyone has a different idea of what a sustainable culture would look like. In one group activity, Dr. Allen told us to write down 10 words that defined conservation to us and then to share them with our group. We are in comparable studies, but no group came up with one similar word to define conservation. So if people with similar mindsets can't define this the same way, how would we expect a whole community to do so? The message sent here today was that we have a long way to go to become a sustainable culture, but that hopefully one day, it will actually be possible. So these 10 American students left with a higher knowledge and an even greater longing to change the world.

Kira

July 27, 2010 - Cricket!

This morning we learned how to play Cricket.  The Tuataras took on The Snipe Hunters in a rousing game that was played in a strong southerly wind with scattered showers.  Despite the cold and damp, we all had a good time and were thankful that the match only lasted a few hours instead of the few days that traditional play would.  That left plenty of time to have lunch near Poplar Lanes and spend the afternoon exploring Christchurch.

Looking up at art in The Lanes, Christchurch, NZ

Banks Peninsula Conservation

Today we met Pam Richardson, a landowner in Pigeon Harbour (Banks Peninsula). She is living proof that the community can make a lot of change when it does its share. She has many hectares of land on which she grows crops and raises sheep and cattle. What she also does on this land, which seems to be a rare contribution so far among landowners in that area but a very admirable one, is populate the hills with native plants. The pastures across the harbor and most that I have seen here in New Zealand are either infested with gorse or completely bare with no plant life but grass. Pam and her family have planted natives all over the hills and they are taking really nicely to the land. The shrubs and trees provide shade for the grazers and shelter from the wind as well as restoring the biodiversity back to New Zealand. Pam is part of the Conservation program and takes part in many discussions about different plans for Banks Peninsula. There are only fifty people living in that region which is why it is so important for the landowners to all share their ideas with each other and spread knowledge. The hope is that as more people hear this method of conservation and see it implemented, they will follow along. It was really cool to see the sheep ultrasound images when they were checking to see if they were pregnant with one or two. We also got to see a mussel farm there and they showed us the different kinds of wool, and the picture included is of a Keruru, or New Zealand Wood Pigeon. Later in the day we went to Birdling's Flat and saw sand dunes; the beach is so beautiful.
Katie Black

Free weekend July 23rd-25th

 Mitre Point at Milford Sound

View of Queenstown from the gondola

Woke up extra early on Friday along with Seth, Ashley, Kirstin and Dania at around 6am. It was worth it though because we had to catch an early morning flight into Queenstown from Christchurch. After a very generous ride from Meryl, we got on the plane and about 45 minutes later we were in Queenstown. We spent the day walking around the shops and checking into our hostel. Queenstown was very unique. I loved how everyone walked around either carrying a snowboard or skis, making it an ideal skiing town. While Dania set out to try her hand at rock climbing, the others and I took the Queenstown gondola up a mountain to where we had tea time in a café.  Seth, Ashley and I tried out luging which was so much fun. That night we ate at the famous burger restaurant, Fergburger, and it was the best burgers we've all ever had.

Riding in the gondola

The next day, Saturday, had to get up extra early again in order to get on the coach ride to Milford Sound. It took a good while to get to Fiordland national park from Queenstown, but the scenery on the way was amazing. On the way we made one stop at Lake Te Anau, New Zealand's second largest lake, to have tea time. Driving through the national park was breathtaking and the tour bus made a few stops so we could capture some photos of the natural landscape made up of beech forest and snow-covered mountains.

Lake Te Anu

Fiordland National Park, largest national park in New Zealand.

When we made it to Milford sound, we hopped on a cruise that took us out in-between the mountains. It was definitely one of the most spectacular things I’ve seen. At one point we were directly under a waterfall. It’s so fascinating to think that that region was once a valley covered by a glacier. Sunday was our flight back into Christchurch and we basically just spent the afternoon relaxing from a wonderful free weekend. 

  

Cheers! -Julianna

Thursday July 22nd Rainy Day Lectures and Visit to Addington LID Project

Kia ora koutou,
     Today started off with two lectures at Landcare Research. Our first lecture was from Dr. Dean Anderson on mammal pests in New Zealand.  He discussed how a lot of the pest mammals were introduced by British Acclimatization Societies to help make New Zealand feel more like the home country. Pest animals include possums, deer, rodents, etc...and non-mammals like Canadian Geese, certain fish and some reptiles. Current methods of control include 1080 bait drops and trapping. Dr. Anderson stressed the fact that biological research and technology need to advance new (and hopefully more "humane") ways to eradicate and/or control the pests for successful future preservation and restoration of New Zealand's unique biodiversity.  Robert Watts presented our second lecture on Christchurch waterways. The city was built on a swamp and waterway management originally consisted completely of drainage projects. Mr. Watts has been instrumental in convincing the city council to use a values-based approach to waterway management and shown by the example of Corsers Stream how natural treatment and day-lighting of waterways is an asset; costs less to maintain (and sometimes develop); and increases the value of the property.  
         After lunch at Lincoln, we traveled to Addington, a suburb of Christchurch.  Peter Wehrmann showed us how the city retrofitted an existing, dilapidated subdivision with different styles of experimental rain gardens to create an LID (low-impact design) development. It was interesting to see the differences between American-style rain gardens and Kiwi-style which result from different management preferences and different ecological challenges. The project also included a green corridor to help treat, reclaim, and transport stormwater in an artful way that becomes an amenity and also helps educate the community.   

Lastly, we went to see the Addington Bush and Mike Peters of the Addington Bush Society. In the early 90's, a group of neighboring landowners decided to all donate a piece of their connecting backyards to create a small bush reserve. Through great debate and hands-on learning, they created a now-protected reserve in the middle of the city. It's a wonderful example of how enthusiastic and hardworking people can recreate biodiversity out of vegetable plots and turf. No one in the group had any substantial knowledge in the subject originally! Though they are mostly in a management stage now, they hope to continuing introducing native plants and begin to monitor the wildlife that also uses the area. All in all it was a very educational day. The next three days are free time for the group, with five of us going to Queenstown and Milford Sound and the rest taking day trips from Lincoln including activities like skiing and rock climbing!
A tōnā wā e hoa.

Arohanui,
Ashley

July 21, 2010

Kia Ora!
     Our day started off early with a trip into Christchurch for a few presentations. Our first stop was at Environment Canterbury, or ECan, for a talk with Wayne McCallum, the Regional Biodiversity Coordinator. His presentation revolved around the Canterbury Biodiversity Strategy (http://www.canterburybiodiversity.org.nz/). Wayne discussed why there was a cascading order of biodiversity strategies and how they are used in their projects. What stood out the most to me was how ECan has been able to get the community involved in everything they do. Hopefully we can have the same community involvement and enthusiasm back home!

     Once we finished at ECan, we headed to the Christchurch City Council offices for a few more presentations. First up was Trevor Partridge, who spoke to us about managing biodiversity in urban areas. He talked about the regulatory framework and governance structure behind planning in the city. It was made clear that implementing biodiversity projects is not an easy process. Zoe Dewson spoke to us afterwards about managing waterway biodiversity in the city. In the past, Christchurch waterways were primarily managed for the comfort of its residents. Now they are managed for multiple values: ecology, landscape, recreation, heritage, culture, and drainage. This change in management practices results in higher biodiversity and better water quality. The overall message I got from today's lectures was that projects that aim to increase biodiversity require a lot of planning and community involvement.

      After dinner, Mark drove us into Lyttleton to watch a local band, The Eastern Family, at a place called Wunderbar. It was a really cool and funky bar that looked as if it used to be a thrift store. The entire band wasn't performing but the music was still great. We even bought their album! Altogether, it was a fun way to end the day.

The Eastern Family

-Dania

July 20 - Kaikoura Day 2

After breakfast we headed off for another full day of activities.  Half of us went whale watching under beautiful clear skies and calm waters, 

while the other half set out to see more seals and learn about the Hutton's shearwater project where a predator-free colony is being established to help ensure survival of this bird species that has only two breeding locations left in all of New Zealand.  

We all met up at lunchtime to share experiences and explore the town of Kaikoura before heading back to Lincoln.

July 19 - Kaikoura Day 1

Today we traveled three hours north along the east coast to Kaikoura. After lunch we watched seals at the Ohau seal colony and their babies in a secluded waterfall just 10 minutes inland.  The New Zealand Fur Seals are a protected species.  Seeing them so close was magical.

In the mid-afternoon, Kira lead our party onto the Takahanga Marae for a Maori Welcoming Ceremony.  We listened to the beautiful spoken word of the Maori language as our host acknowledged the natural and human world and welcomed us in this sacred ceremony to their marae.  We sang "Boys of Old Florida" as part of our required response in song of the ceremony...not in four part harmony, but not too bad.  Once inside, we learned the history and story of the iwi of this particular marae through the ornately decorated walls, prepared our sleeping area, and partook in a delicious meal.

Sunday, July 18 - Quail Island

We took the ferry from Lyttelton Harbor to Quail Island to take part in a work day.  We certainly eared our tea as we helped relocate silver tussock from areas where it would not grow well (under forested areas) to hilltops where it will thrive.  It was hard work carrying the transplants uphill, but rewarding to know that our efforts will help with native plant restoration efforts on the island as it continues to transform in the years to come.

Saturday, July 17 - Graham's Farm, Christchurch Natural History and Art Museums, Botanical Garden

In the morning we visited a non-so typical NZ farm.  Graham's farm of fruit trees sports all the latest high-tech, energy-wise gadgets from the U.S.A. - solar panels that power his home, led lighting, a windmill, Stirling Engine fan on the wood stove in the kitchen, etc. He even collects rainwater for all his home water use (i.e., drinking, flushing toilet, and showering).  We enjoyed our lesson that there is much we can all be doing in our own country to be oil independent and low impact on our environment.  We also really enjoyed feeding Jr who was born just a week earlier, and having tea with Graham and his wife, Karen.  Special thanks to both for their warm hospitality and for Karen's yummy baked goods.

In the afternoon, we explored the Christchurch Natural History and Art Museums and then toured the NZ native plants and urban native planting demonstration gardens at the Botanical Gardens with Colin.