Thursday, July 8th - West Coast Adventures, Part 1

We headed over to Greymouth on the the West Coast via Arthur's Pass.  

Stops along the way included exploring the large limestone rocks at Castle Hill; 

lunch at Arthur's Pass Village with the keas (large alpine parrot); 

 hike up to Punchbowl Falls; more keas; and a taste of NZ honey.

  

We definitely noticed a difference in the vegetation and typography as we traveled from the Canterbury Plains through the alpine forest to the temperate rainforest of the West Coast. Five varieties of beech trees in the southern alps gave way to tree ferns and Nikau palms once we reached the West Coast.

July 7th 2010

Once again, we were blessed enough to wake up to a beautiful scenery in NEW ZEALAND! It was significantly colder and ovecast today but it didnt matter because WE LOVE IT HERE! We assembeled around 8:15 am to listen Craig Pauling, a Maori, give a presentation on Ngai Tahu ( NZ south island Maori tribal culture) involvement with biodiversity conservation. He was amazing! He started off by speaking to us in Maori, describing himself and from where he originated. The presentation was awesome. In it he explained the histoy of the Maori culture and their beliefs. The Maori pesonify the Earth and its features and create characters ( people) that they identify and create a relationship with. These relationships ultimately form a bond with the land, as well as an essence of respect. They are currently working very hard to restore the land. Afterwards, he accompanied us to a nearby wetland where he explained the malignant effects of the dairy industry and its contribution to water pollution. Soon following, we ventured to Travis wetland to perform various bird transects ( a walk or drive across an area during which an observer records the numbers of birds found without deviating from a straight path). During our observations we saw black backed gulls, canadian geese, pukeko, spurwinged plover, and song thrushes, just to name a few. My favorite was the pukeko! Stay tuned!!!

Fun fact: Did you know that insects are cold-blooded, which means that they can't control their body temperature. This means that insects are not very good at surviving the cold. In the winter, most insects go into something called diapause, which is insects' version of hibernation.

Rina :)

July 6

Today was our first rainy day in New Zealand. We began the day by going to Landcare Research to meet up with world renowned botanist, Collin Meurk. He lectured on the natural history of the Canterbury Plains. He covered the effects of precipitation, geography, and wind on the biodiversity of New Zealand.
Next, we all headed down to Riccarton Bush to look at the restoration work that has been done there. We walked through the area, stopping to learn about the various native plants. Some included various the potocarps: Totora, Matai, Kahikatea.

We then went up to the Port Hills at Banks Peninsula. We hiked around the area reviewing some more native plants. Hiking through the Riccarton Bush and through the Port Hills to find different flora was an amazing learning experience. It was great learning about the plants in their natural habitats. When we got to the peak, the sky cleared just enough for us to view the harbor below.

To finish the day off, we stopped by Cup Café for tea time. I got my first flat white and it was great! - Kristin

July 5th, 2010

This morning we were first introduced to the course material in a morning powerpoint presentation by Dr. Hostetler. The power point laid some good groundwork as to what we can look forward to in the coming weeks here in New Zealand and some comparisons to what we see back home in Florida. After having lunch we travelled to Sumner to explore Cave Rock Beach and take a hike up to another cave. The caves were unlike anything I had ever seen.We all enjoyed climbing all over the rocks and exploring the tidal pools on the beach. We were lucky enough to have another day of awesome weather and the view from the cave at the end of our hike was worth the trek. The view looked out over a ridge into the Pacific and the tidal change was definitely something to see. - Seth

The Weather Gods Shine On Us

A society grows great 

when old men plant trees

in whose shade they know

they shall never sit.

-Greek Proverb

We had yet another sunny day.  Perfect for learning how to plant natives at the Mahoe Reserve from our expert botanist, Dr. Meurk, and have a go at it ourselves.  It takes patience and strength to dig through the rocks!  In all, 160 native plants went in the ground to help with restoration efforts.

We found some interesting bits and bobs in what was the old dump site.

Later, we learned how to make whipped cream, and celebrated a classmate's birthday with Pavlova and L&P.

Sunny, Fun Saturday Getting To Know Each Other And The Area

A frosty morning was spent working together on the uni tennis courts (fields were "sloggy") doing low ropes activities.  Untying our Gordian Knot ONLY took 20 minutes, and crossing a "hot chocolate" river with only eight "marshmallows" went relatively smoothly.

Took in the local Lincoln community farmer's market (held only once a month in the winter) with the special theme of "Holidays in July."  The sausage sizzle was a hit with all who tried in, and there were warm drinks and roasting chestnuts to sample as well.

On to busker shows in the street and bag lunch at the Christchurch Arts Center weekend market before heading off to the hills for more exploring...

A small amount of native plant identification up near Sign of the Kiwi in the Port Hills before heading down to the dock at Governor's Bay to take in a mud bath (nice face paint)?

Capped off the afternoon with late tea at 4ish.  Yep, got there right around four as they were cleaning everything up, but there were just enough people to make it worth the Blue Duck Cafe's while to stay open, until “4ish.”

They're Here!

From Left to Right: Warm greetings at the airport; first crew arrives at Lincoln University; safe arrival.

Everyone arrived safely and full of excitement this morning.  Despite jet lag (what happened to July 1st?), our efforts to keep everyone awake until dinner time seemed to work and let us get out and enjoy the sunshine.  No doubt everyone will sleep well tonight.

From Left to Right: Cheers Hokey Pokey Style; On Top - an overlook of Christchurch and surrounds from the Port Hills; Sheep meet and greet; Hike down to Sign of the Kiwi.