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

July 16 - All that Quail Island but not one quail

Today we left at 8am to catch the ferry from Lyttelton Harbor to Quail Island. On the way to Lyttelton, we pass through a tunnel.  A very long tunnel. Isabella (twice - once each direction) held her breath through the entire tunnel - for 2 minutes and 28 seconds the first time (and way too long the second time).
The windy start to the day was met with some intense spectating on the short boat ride to potentially spot a Hector’s Dolphin (unfortunately no one did). Once we arrived on Quail Island we meet more formally with Quail Island Conservation Trust Chair, Ian McLennan, who gave us a brief history of the island and the work being done there, as well as the volunteers who come out twice monthly. 
The Quail Island Conservation Trust partners with the New Zealand Department of Conservation to manage the 85 hectare land by trapping invasive species of various mustelids, cats, and rodents, as well as planting native trees and grasses to attract native fauna back to the island; as of now, the trust has planted up to 90,000 trees! The island itself has been in use since 1850 when early settlers came in for farming, and then was used as a quarantine station in the 1870’s and eventually became a leper colony in the early 1900’s. In 1975, Quail Island became a recreation reserve that is now safe to the public and is a favorite summer destination for kiwis since the beaches are sheltered from the wind. The Monterrey Pine and Monterrey Cypress act as a shelter belt and remain in a few places on the island for historic reasons, while the native plants like Karamu, or Coprosma robusta, attract native birds like silvereye, bellbird, and the wood pigeon. The planting program that the trust follows is to help the forest spread since the non-native pasture grasses present on the island will not allow for it.

            Our role in helping the trust was in potting 338 starter plants of Silver Tussock. We used an assembly line system to keep the process moving. The process was messy and entertaining at the same time. After some growing, in about a year, our work will be able to finally be transferred to a more permanent home in the ground! After our morning nursery work, we had lunch and went on a hike around the island to reinforce our native NZ plant identifying skills, and look for the Canterbury Gecko. As we walked we got to see views of places we have been around the Port Hills the past few weeks. The hike was around 4.5 km, and we finished by walking along the beach near the site of the dog kennels once used to train dogs for Antarctic expeditions. We left on the ferry after that, and finished the day with a nice tea time at Dr. Hostetler’s favorite place in Lyttelton – Coffee Culture.

Quail Island directory

No one can stop the machine

*Restoration intensifies*

Family picture with our new Silver Tussock babies

Quail Island has some pretty interesting cliff sides - this one was once climbed by Maori boys as a coming of age test to get eggs from the nesting birds

By next year our 338 starter plants will be in Combi-Guards like these shown here - they protect the native plants in them from weeds, wind, and browsing mammals

Canterbury Gecko

One of the many trade ships that became a victim of Quail Island shores… "get shipwrekt"

Tupelo and Isabella, "mud sisters", walking out into the cold mud at the beach at low tide

-Camila