Today was a wet day. The entire week has been full of rain, and today was no exception. This is not your typical Florida rain that comes down in sheets and sheets, but a light mist that hangs in the air. We did have a slight rain delay to start off the morning as the peninsula was experiencing some Florida like rain (without the lightening). While waiting for the rain to pass we visited Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust, where we met Brooke Turner, who spoke with us about how Kiwis go about conserving private land. BPCT works with local farmers/landowners to help them set aside what is usually unproductive land. Here they use something called a covenant. Once the landowner decides they want to set aside some of their land a covenant is formed that binds the protected area to the title, so that if the title ever changes hands the protected area still exists.
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| Brooke explains Banks Peninsula conservation areas |
After her presentation, and a refreshing spot of coffee, we drove off to Birdlings Flat. There we met Dennis and Annelies who showed us some of the problematic species in the area. We had an invigorating morning collecting weeds in the wet field. Many of us walked away with wet feet and soggy gloves. The problems are not solved, but it feels nice to know we had a hand in bringing native New Zealand back.
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| Say, "Weeded!" |
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| Banks Peninsula in the mist |
After a bagged lunch on a gorgeous rock beach we took a tour down to where the coastline met the hills. Here we climbed on large boulders, found old shark egg sacs, a starfish, and had a grand time doing what we wildlifers and environmental science people do best; explore. It was a small area, no bigger than your average lawn, but we spent hours just walking around, climbing rocks, and taking lots of pictures. As the waves came crashing up against the shore a few of us got wet from the spray; but you didn't hear any complaints from us. While we were out and about we saw a few of the local birds that Dr. Hostetler identified for us. Black-backed Gulls and Pied Shags being the most common. After all this activity, several of us have some sore muscles. The sights we saw and the fun we had more than made up for it though.
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| On the rocks at Birdlings Flat |
As the evening wore down we discovered what a hit our group is with the locals. A fellow Uni student, Brad, came up to us at dinner telling us he lost some bet and had to clear our plates from the table. With his accent and as fast as he talked we couldn't quite understand. When one of group asked him to repeat himself the entire cafeteria broke out in a fit of laughter. Whether they were laughing at us or at their friend I don't know, but it was all in good fun. - Justin
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