Saturday, July 22, 2017

Saturday, July 22 - The Journey Home and Beyond


Our Iwi 2017
Kia Ora.  Having been immersed in Kiwi and Maori culture for the past five weeks will now make the journey back to American culture another adventure.  Our students will take with them lasting memories of the challenges and opportunities of what not only New Zealand faces, but what the rest of the world faces as well.  Preserving biological diversity, conserving resources, and maintaining a balance between natural and human built environments are key to a sustainable future.  And, it will take all of us with our diverse backgrounds to come together in many different ways to help make lasting change for a bright future.

Dear students, we hope that what you have experienced with us in New Zealand will help shape the decisions you make for our future in exciting and positive ways.  We thank you for giving of yourselves openly with your hearts and minds so that our time together could be such a special learning opportunity for us all.  We have really enjoyed being with all of you, touring the wop-wops, and sharing a daily cuppa. Sweet As!


From the land of the long white cloud, safe and happy travels!  See you in the land of the flowers (La Florida).  With a Hongi and hug to each of you, Mark, Meryl, Jámm, and Tupelo


This afternoon at the airport

Friday, July 21, 2017

Friday, July 21 - Winding Down

Student Journals from the past 5 weeks recounting both scientific information and personal responses to our experiences were due today, and we celebrated the course end tonight with time together with the folks who have helped us along the way and a slideshow (cramming as many photos as we could of over 4,000 photos into just 170 slides).  We have done so much – worked hard and had a lot of fun! Thank you for the good memories All.

Sweet Dreams, Meryl

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Thursday, July 20th - Day Out In Christchurch

Sadly, we have only a few days left.  Our five week journey seems to have gone by so quickly. We started our day with student’s choice - a morning out in Christchurch where the students had time to sightsee, shop, and/or do journal work.

We spent the afternoon and evening at Willowbank.  Willowbank is a wildlife reserve where we had a chance to see up close both exotic animals that settlers brought and cause problems here in New Zealand (everything from deer to rabbits to wallaby, etc), as well as native animals which the reserve is trying to rehab, educate the public about, or help with repopulation efforts (kiwi, kaka, etc). In addition, we had a Ko Tane or Maori experience where the “gals” got to try Poi Balls  and the “guys” got to try a haka Kapai! Afterwards, we gathered in the restaurant to have a hangi  which is food smoked in the ground. Very tasty!



Cheers, Dr. H and Meryl

Since the time of early settlers, exotics have posed problems for New Zealand. 
Adorable, but a pest. 
Colin with Kea 
Ko Tane performance
Pavlova and Hokey Pokey for dessert : )

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Washpen Falls and Double Tea Time

     Today we had a relatively late start at 9:30 a.m., when we piled into the Gator Waka for an early tea time at Coffee Culture in Lincoln. Once we were all suitably caffeinated/warmed with a hot drink, we resumed our journey to Washpen Falls. We stopped along the drive for a photo op and an impromptu irrigation lesson. Dr. Hostetler explained the evolution of irrigation systems from water races to pivots, informing us of the pros and cons of the newer pivot system, which, although more efficient, also encourages dairy farming in regions that would previously have been unsuitable to the dairy industry.
     We arrived at the trail head for the Washpen Falls hike.  The one-and-a-half-hour hike took us around two and a half hours because we stopped for lunch and because it was seriously windy, especially on the bluff. Along the private trail, we saw manuka, hounds tongue fern, kowhai, and bush lawyer, among others. Our observations weren't just limited to flora; we also saw quite a few bellbirds and a stray wood pigeon.
     We came across numerous numbered trail markers which corresponded to numbers on the free trail pamphlets we were given at the information centre. These markers identified such sites as a volcanic boulder, a hand dug pond, and a cave site which was used to shelter Maori hunters as they hunted moa. We also passed an old military target practice site that dated back to the Second World War and was serviced by New Zealand's Home Guard – the rough equivalent of our own national guard. We were also reintroduced to sooty mold, honeydew, and the scale insects we first saw yesterday at Lords Bush Scenic Reserve.
     After breaking for lunch at Stone Lake, we continued on to the end of the trail and then drove back to Lincoln, stopping for a second tea time at The Hororata Cafe along the way.

 The photo op stop, where Dr. Hostetler explained past and present irrigation systems. 

A trail marker; this one shows the Radiata Pine, an exotic wilding pine that fuels much of New Zealand's modern timber industry.

Erika holding up bush lawyer, a native bush with thorny hooks that snag the skin and never let go (hence the common name bush lawyer).

An example of high ropes, a team building exercise a step above the low ropes we performed at the beginning of the course
Douglas Fir forest – all exotic and all problematic, since the plant is shade tolerant and grows rampantly in New Zealand. 

Group photo atop the lava boulder, which the pamphlet says is 89 million years old and was bared by glaciation during the Ice Age. (Not pictured, Ali. She is a little under the weather and resting in the Gatorwaka.)

The WWII target practice site – the target is still visible today because it was made by a lead-based paint.

View of Canterbury Plains from near the bluff. Note the prevalence of exotics from cliff to sea shore. 

Lucy's Lagoon, situated beneath the Washpen Falls.

Stone Lake, where we stopped for lunch. The pamphlet informs us that the lake was manmade and created by Tom Stone in the early 1920s. 

A humorous sign found near the end of the trail.

The Hororata Cafe, where we stopped for our second tea time of the day. The cafe takes its name from the nearby Hororata River, one of whose tributaries forms the Washpen Falls.

Erika and Tatiana enjoying their tea time with bonus wontons.

~ Anna

Sheep Shearing and Sweet Secretions

In the morning we left the Waipara Sleeper Cars and headed to Springfield to meet with Trevor and Heather, whose property is part of the green dot program. The farm is located in an area known as Kowai Bush, which means "between the waters" in Maori due to the fact that they're located between the Kowai river and the Waimakariri River.

Once there, Trevor gave us a brief overview of how they came to be a part of the green dot program and what kind of work they do on the farm. After hearing about the subsidies being offered by the Selwyn District Council for people to plant or regenerate native bush, they had an ecological survey done on their land to identify the native species growing there. A surprising 50 species of native bush were identified, so they applied for the funding and were granted money to install fencing, buy more plants, and provide labor for the plantings. The first block was planted about six years ago and they've been able to create two more blocks through money saved by installing their own fencing, getting a local Lions club to help plant the plants, and increasing the space between plants in each block (to spread them out). The plants they buy are from the Department of Conservation nursery because they use locally sourced seeds instead of seed imported from other parts of the country. Trevor estimated 6,000 plants have been planted on the 61 hectare propertyan impressive figure, I'd say. The farm is primarily used for raising sheep for wool and meat production, however Trevor and Heather also give farm tours throughout the week.

After their talk, we got into our first task of the daytrailblazing. We tramped through the first block with loppers and chainsaws a blazin', clearing out any overgrowth on the trails. Then, some of us were tasked with removing leftover CombiGuards from the plants in one of the blocks. We took a short walk through part of the property to identify some plants (such as black beech, silver beech, red beech, and golden akeake) before taking a lunch break.

Our next task was planting 50 silver tussocks in another block on the property. Through some efficient displays of teamwork, we quickly got that job done and went back to the paddocks to watch Trevor gave a sheep herding demonstration with his dog Jack. The real treat came when we gathered in the main building to hear more about wool. Trevor explained a bit about the type of sheep he raises (Romney Texel) and what the wool is used for (carpets, mainly) and then he pulled out a live sheep for an up close and personal shearing experience.

We took a quick walk to the Waimakariri river to try out our stone skipping skills before saying our goodbyes to Trevor and company. Not far down the road, we stopped at Lords Bush to have a taste of honeydew, a secretion made by scale insects on the bark of beech trees. The honeydew is eaten by nectarivorous birds (and us) and creates sooty mold on tree bark.

Our last stop of the day was near Lincoln to check out Graham and Karen Rogers's sustainable kiwi home. Graham works at Landcare Research in addition to owning 4.5 hectares of stone fruit orchards. The couple has several solar panels installed that are plugged into the main power grid and provide their home with most of the energy it needs. Graham talked a lot about how the solar panels work, how wind turbines work, how batteries workwe basically were in a live episode of "How It's Made". After a full day of learning and fun, we finally headed back to Lincoln to get ready for tomorrow's adventure!

Trevor telling us about the restoration project on the farm


Marta blazing that trail


Sheep herding


A live sheep shearing demo


Trevor and Heather's grandsons teaching us a new haka


Skipping stones on the water



Tatiana trying the honeydew


-Isabella

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Monday, July 17th - Trip to Waipara

We started out the day at Pegasus Town, a semi-green development and learned about some sustainable practices. We briefly visited the beach there, then continued on to Amberly for tea time. From there we drove to the first winery (Pegasus Bay winery) to learn about the Greening Waipara project. Wineries planted natives on their properties to promote native bush in the area; at Pegasus winery we walked the biodiversity trail and fed beef jerky to some eels in a nearby pond. The eels didn't really like the beef jerky, but one of the eels was very interested in Dr. Hostetler's GoPro (waterproof camera thingy) and "booped" up against it on video. 

After this, we went to another winery (Waipara Hills winery) where students learned about winemaking. From there we went to another winery participating in the project and looked at the native plants on their Greening Waipara trail. We met Daryl (a local farmer) and watched his dog (Sis) muster sheep around the pasture. We leaned about sheep farming. We also got settled into the Waipara Sleeper Cars (owned by Daryl's brother), where there was a cute little dog (about the size of a baby bunny rabbit) that I was terrified of and an old calico cat named Krissy. 

That evening we returned to Daryl's house and had a delicious homemade NZ dinner and pavlova for dessert. We played with their dog, Coco Channel, and one of the cutest kittens ever, Simba. And then it was time for the lip sync contest! Everybody did great, but the judges (Colin, Daryl, and his daughter, Kate) decided that the winner was my dad and I. The runner-up was Allison and Isabella, who preformed a very spirited version of "Africa" by Toto. Good job everybody! 

Cheers,
Tupelo :)
(with a little help from Dad)

Pegasus Town
Pegasus beach - another group photo
Tea time in Amberly
Pegasus Bay winery

Dog!!!

Greening Waipara trail

Eel!!!
Artwork at Waipara Hills winery
Learning about winemaking
Dr. Hostetler (a.k.a dad) pointing out a plant at another Greening Waipara  trail

Sis (the dog) rounding up sheep at Darrel's farm

Waipara sleeper cars
Dinner at Darrel's house
 Scenes from the lip sync contest