New Zealand Nature Program Volunteer Journals

So everyone here pretty much knows that I was originally supposed to be on the Kenya program but I guess fate had another place in mind. So here I am in wonderful Wellington and it’s day 5 and already I know that there are gonna be tears in my eyes the day I that I have to say goodbye. I wish I could stay longer, and I would if I didn’t have classes starting the day after I get back.
Today we did some planting over at a beach about an hour away from the house and yesterday we hiked up [...]

Came back from Coromandel peninsula after spening 2 weeks up there doing conservation work with the Moehau Enviroment Group. The fist couple of days we went hiking in the bush, setting rat traps and rat number monitring. We also helped to clear areas of pest plants to replace with native plants, did shellfish surveys and went on Eco walks so the coordinators could show us what they have achieved since working in the area. Coromandel is beautiful - the moehou enviroment group are aiming to eliminate foreign species of plants and wildlife, like rats and possums that kill the [...]

Today we went with Ray to Eastbourne Sand Dunes to plant and weed. It was a fantastic day. We have had some rainy weather recently so we were so excited to have a little sunshine. For the first part of the morning we dug holes and planted a native beach plant. We took our morning tea at David’s house which is always fun. He coordinates the work on the Eastbourne Sand Dunes and often comes out and lends a hand with the planting. We had morning tea at David’s house which included cheese crackers, little lemon cookies and earl gray [...]

Hey y’all!!!!
It’s been so long since I’ve written in here.  I’ll give y’all a little run down of the past week.  Last Monday, we went to Pautahanui and worked with a senior volunteering group.  Almost all of us were assigned tree planted.  We planted a total of 160 trees!!!!  The smaller group was in charge of looking over a pile of burning weeds.  it was an esay, yet satisfying day.
Tuesday, we went to Rimutaka National Forest and checked the stoat line.  It was a pretty successful day-10 rats and 1 stoat.  We all had fun on the long hike.
Wednesday, our [...]

Monday, I started the Voluntary work here for GVN - Monday we went to Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve, to help plant coloniseing plants to restore the natural shrub species. Helped to plant trees and explored the area slightly.
Tuesday was my first day was in the Office - I had a brainstorming session with Ray, the head of Learning and Leadning, before coming up with a few ideas for projects to work on. I’ve decided to concentrate on the waste managmnent system here in NZ , concentrating on Wellington and the surrounding area. This will expand on my Geography A level project, [...]

Arrived in Wellington on Thursday night, after a long long journey and many delays! Got picked up at the airport by Chirsten, our House adivisor. When we arrived at the house I was introduced to the new housemates (some of the others where out white-water rafting in Kaituna), before crashing into bed and passing out with jet lag.
The next day me, Karlan and Victor all had an iduction and welcome day at the GVN offices in Wellington. I’m going to be working on the Heal the Earth programme, so working in the field with NZNP (new zealand nature programme) a [...]

It has been a beautiful couple of first days!  Today we spent the entire day in the forest, counting fruit from trees and hiking around.  Yesterday we worked at a nature reserve and helped build a bridge path as well as help Reese give doses of meds to birds.  Slightly humorous and terrifying, we would have to duck out of the way while a giant pigeon flew towards us in a small cage.  loved it. The day before was spent at a lovely home of a sweet couple of ladies who gave us tea and muffins.  We released small trees [...]

Today the team was split into two groups, so we were in threesomes, which was a good idea, as there was more work to go around.  Our team, Jamie and Devon and myself landed the Paekakariki gig first, so off we went under the bridge and over the hill.  We were greeted with machetes and grubbers and were informed that we would be making a new track.  Little did we know how hard of work it would be.  We started up off the nice, docile hill and were soon up to our knees in bush.  We were taken aback for [...]

Well today was Nga Manu nature reserve, we arrived around 9:30 and we were greeted by Bob, Reese and the gang, which included a Tuatara and a stuffed brown spotted kiwi.  Bob gave us a nice intro to the nature park and the dinosaur aka tuatara.  We learnt that the tuatara is a very old creature and a species of its own, and was back around when the dinosaurs were alive, some odd million years ago.  They even have a third eye on the top of its head, much like a baby’s soft spot we were told.
After a nice cup [...]

So on Friday we met Jonathan, a local mountain biker and nature conservationist.  We got straight to work…weeding out non-native plant to give the young, native plants room to grow.  After working for about an hour, we had a break for morning tea.  After that, we headed over to a mountain biking trail, where we split up into two groups.  Mckenzie and Jonathan refilled possum poison containers.  The rest of us(Amy, Jamie, Liana, Toby and myself) were given loppas(giant pruners) to help clean the path.  Later, after an hour of clearing the path of superfluous plants, we had another break [...]

Hey ya’ll!!!!
Yesterday, we piled into the van and headed south east to Turakirae beach.  There we met up with DOC(Dept. of Conservation) staff, and were briefed on what we were doing for the day.  While we were there to pick up all kinds of trash, most of it was car parts or broken beer bottles.  WE worked for about two and a half hours.  After our beach cleaning, we headed over to the “driftwood auditorium” to listen to Professor Fraiser( a local professor from the university) talk about geomorphology.  We had a mini-lecture on the geography of the area.  Afterwards, [...]

Hello!
A tous ceux a qui j’ ai promis des nouvelles quotidiennes,  desolee, mais j’ai des excuses.
1. Le voyage. Je crois que je ne pourrais plus jamais reprendre un avion de ma vie. 32 heures, meme sur Qantas, c’est long.  Au dela des 20 heures, la serviette chaude ou la lingette rafraichissante au citron chimique ne font plus effet. J ai mis environ 10 jours a me remettre du decalage, et encore. Je resiste assez mal au manque de sommeil, mais il faut quand meme savoir que la Nouvelle Zelande se trouve a GMT+12 de la France
Le debut fut un peu [...]

Today we returned to Nga Manu, a Nature Reserve on the Kapiti Coast about an hour’s drive from the volunteer house.  Yesterday, two of the group helped out with some weeding on the reserve, and the rest of us worked on the Swan Pond, plastering sand bags that were getting worn down by all the swan and duck foot traffic.  We mixed cement and plastered the banks of the pond from mid-morning until about lunchtime.  We ate outside, watching the ducks, and then went for a walk around the reserve, with a group of ducks in tow (two of us [...]

Hurrah!

13-Feb-2008
So here’s the last few days:
Friday night we all went out for a fancy dinner on the waterfront to change it up a little bit. I had my first taste of famous New Zealand lamb and wine. The next day Angela, Steve, Dave and I went to a 9 hour cricket match at Wellington’s stadium - England vs. the Kiwis or “black caps”. New Zealand CRUSHED England so I got to lord that over poor Dave (the Brit). The next day was hiking and walking in the pouring rain, including a brief trip to the Petone Settler’s Museum which talked [...]

8-Feb-2008
So yesterday (Waitangi day) we ventured into Wellington, and decided we could probably find the One Love reggae festival without first consulting a map. Well, that was a mistake, and we wandered around for several hours before seeing signs of backpacks full of beer, Bob Marley t-shirts, people who hadn’t showered in a while, you get the picture. The concert itself was quite an experience, but I was tired from walking there and decided to leave after an hour of people watching (more fun than listening to the band).
That night, I went for a star-gazing hike. Almost as peaceful [...]

6-Feb-2008
Q: What’s the most hilarious thing in the world?
A: Watching the superbowl with a bunch of Kiwis who keep trying to compare it to rugby.
Pure magic. Yay Giants (only because Tom Brady needs an ego check). We spent the rest of the day at ultimate practice (I watched), and then Rob made us specialty Hell pizzas. Sunday I got the real Christchurch tour, going through the botanical gardens, Cathedral square, and the museum. Christchurch is a really pretty city, and the tourist stuff is nice, but it was also good to be there visiting people who actually live there so [...]

4-Feb-2008
Saturday morning I got up early and took a taxi to the ferry, pretty disappointed because it was cloudy and raining.
Now, when I signed up to take the ferry, I was thinking ferry as in a bigger version of the ferry between Douglas and Saugatuck. Not so much. This ferry was what I imagine a cruise ship to be like - a couple stories, crazy sections of reclining seats, bars, a movie theater, etc. It was advertised as “a destination in itself.” So yeah, pretty nice, but it kept raining so the views were not what I hoped for.
The train [...]

2-Feb-2008
Ok! After eel feeding, we went to the beach. Steve and I bought cheap body boards and it was AWESOME even though I didn’t exactly like the water temperature (surprising, no?) We were surrounded by tons of 8 year olds on surf boards, but boogie boarding was enough for me.
Yesterday after another day working at Nga Manu (trail clearing, fax cutting, weeding) we took a walk to the field in Lower Hutt (showing the new volunteers the long arduous journey down the hill) and played some frisbee and 2 on 2 football.
Last night we went into Wellington for one of [...]

1-Feb-2008
Question: I’m tramping through the bush (hiking through the woods) with a screwdriver, a carton of eggs, and surgical gloves. What am I doing?
Answer: Trying to find dead hedgehogs.
The last couple days have been long hikes, mostly checking and re-baiting possum, rat, and hedgehog traps. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we have come across a couple dead ones, but I have so far gotten out of having to handle any corpses.
What else? More tree releasing, and even getting to see endangered eel feeding.

29-Jan-2008
Today, we looking for dead possums. Not to be confused with the North American opossum, possums were introduced to New Zealand from Australia because the colonists thought that there weren’t enough animals. Since then, scientists have realized that possums eat kiwi eggs (gasp! horror!) and so have been on a campaign to wipe them out. One idea is to introduce an STD into the population (seriously), but right now it’s up to volunteers like us setting traps. Yup.
We also set more traps for rats, and had to wear gloves because we were dealing with big blocks of rat poison. [...]

27-Jan-2008
Awesome weekend. Friday Ben, Angela, Steve and I went for a long hike through Belmont. Lots of uphill, but the views from the top were totally worth it. You could see Wellington harbor in one direction, the ocean in the other, and green hills everywhere else. It was perfect. The hike also led us to a hidden waterfall, creeks to cross, lots of sheep (of course), and beautiful flowers.
Afterwards, Steve and I walked all the way to Lower Hutt and back. Twice. Not on purpose. The first time was to buy groceries and the second we missed the last bus [...]

25-Jan-2008
Today we drove to a town called Otaki, home primarily to the indigenous Maori people, and their university. We got a history lesson, and did some work tree releasing in their wetlands. For lunch, the staff bought us 10 pounds of chips (french fries). It was awesome. Except I accidentally discovered a wasp nest and am now a little swollen up. But this gave Tani and I an excuse to wander around the town in search of an antihistamine.
Once we got back to Lower Hutt, we quickly changed, packed up dinner, and went on an amazing sailing adventure. Terry took [...]

24-Jan-2008
This morning we hiked through the rocks on a seal counting mission. After much searching, we found seven New Zealand native seals (and one dead one). You could only get so close to them before they turned and hurried off into the water, but I got a lot of pictures.
The scenery was amazing. If you looked away from the beach, it was like a desert scene, a lot like Arizona or Utah. But the beach itself looked like the black rock beaches in Hawaii. The water is lots of incredible shades of green and blue, and where we were today, [...]

23-Jan-2008
After the Bushy park adventure, we had a day off, so Steve, David, Ben, and I went into Wellington to mail some stuff and check out the Botanical gardens. In true Welly fashion, it poured on us. And the winds were up to over 50 mph. Still, we had a great time walking around the flower beds, feeding the ducks, and Ben even jumped into the harbor.
More later.

22-Jan-2008
We just got back from Bushy Park! It’s a nature preserve with a million dollar “predator fence” that keeps out rats, stoats, and all other enemies of the beloved kiwi bird. Our first day of work we did trail maintenance (literally, raking the trails, as well as cutting branches), and then slept on the floor of the barn loft. Good times. I even got Steve and Raph to throw the frisbee around with me.
The next day was the annual fundraising festival. Since the gates were open to let in the thousands of guests, our group was assigned to gate guarding [...]

19-Jan-2008
Last night the guys and I decided to venture into “downtown” Lower Hutt since Toby said we had Friday off. First of all, Raph thought it would be a good idea to take a shortcut through the woods to get there. Without flashlights. I’m happy to report that we only ALMOST died.
Once we got to Lower Hutt, we only found ONE open store/bar/anything. It was a combination pool room/karaoke bar/strip club. There were only three other people there. And no strippers. We hung out for a while and then got directions to a second bar. We were literally the only [...]

18-Jan-2008
Yesterday after I got back from my walk, I was attacked with squirt guns and Raphael, Steve and I started a mini war in the backyard. Steve claims to have won. We’ll see what happens in the rematch.
We were the only three at the house all evening, so we decided to go all out and cook a fancy dinner. I spent 2 hours chopping onions, garlic, cheese, beef, and potatoes into a feast of delicious-ness. I was a sous-chef in training. Steve and I even took the table to the outside porch and set it nicely with place mats, even [...]

17-Jan-2008
Yesterday everyone from the house got an introduction to Wellington/Lower Hutt, and then we spent the afternoon cleaning up a beach near the house. It was rocky and windy, but still a good time. Pretty much a treasure hunt - we found discarded shoes, knives, toys, even diapers.
Last night we went to the bars in Wellington - quite a nightlife scene. Yay for Kitty O’sheas!
Today we went to Trellisic Park and did clearing of invasive plants and measuring tree growth.
I’m having the time of my life, even down on my knees in the dirt pulling weeds - there’s something [...]

15-Jan-2008
Monday morning I got up really early and hopped on the bus for a 13 hour ride through almost the entire northern island of New Zealand for my trip from Auckland to the final destination in Lower Hutt, a suburb of Wellington. I looked out the window the whole way and saw some absolutely beautiful countryside. Lots of farm, lots of green, lots of cows, LOTS of sheep. And the cool mountain that they use in Lord of the Rings. It was a lot like driving through American farmland, just greener. Loved it. We stopped a couple times at little [...]