Sun, Plants and Cricket

We woke up today to an unusually warm and sunny morning. The beautiful weather was a welcomed break from the cold days we have been having. 

We started our day at Styx Living Laboratory Trust to do a planting. We first had Antoni and Jackie from the trust give us a presentation about who is involved with the trust, the trust's goals, and the history of the river of the challenges facing the river today. 

The goals of the Styx Living Laboratory Trust for 2040 

After the presentation, we got to wear cool neon vests for our walk over to the planting site. We decided to walk there so we could see part of the river and Antoni even took us to a pretty spring along the trail and explained how they have worked to create a boundary of wetland around the spring to protect it.

Debriana and Haiden stoked about their sweet new vests 

Us all admiring the spring! (It reminded me of our springs back in Florida)

   

We met some horse friends along the way 

We walked along the road in a line like duckings (quack)

Once we arrived at the planting site we saw that we had a muddy task ahead of us. The planting site was along the banks of a pond off the side of a motorway. We were shown how to plant the grasses and trees that were scattered along the land by Gareth and Hugh from the trust. Gareth let us know that we had a large task ahead of us with over 600 plants to get into the ground. We all got a bit muddy and the thistles poked us a bit, but we accomplished the planting with daylight to spare.

Nico and Ryan working hard getting the grasses in the ground 

Maya shows off her muscles she grew during our restoration days 

All of us showing off our muddy hands at the end of the planting

After we finished planting we headed over to a nearby park for Dr. Hostetler to teach us how to play cricket! We modified the game to play with only 11 people and it took a few minutes of Dr. Hostetler explaining and re-explaining the game for us to understand, but we ended up getting the hang of it. We divided up into two teams, the Kiwis and the Wekas. We played two rounds and the Weka won the first round and the Kiwis won the second, so it ended in a draw, so there were no real losers today, only winners! 

The Kiwis up to bat

The Kiwis doing a celebratory stomp 

The Wekas doing a celebratory squawk

We all enjoyed learning how to play cricket!

Kia ora

-Ashley 

Quails, Geckos and Wētās, Oh My!

 Today was our trip to Quail Island in the middle of Lyttelton harbour. We took a short ferry to the island with our tour guides of the island, Mike Bowie (Lincoln University), Pat (Volunteer), and Ian McLennan (Quail Island Ecological Restoration Trust). 

Haiden and Veronica enjoying the views from the ferry

After the Capitan of the boat expertly maneuvered us onto the dock we hopped off the boat and had a quick photo op with the island namesake sign

Colin posed in his signature spot, on the ground 

We weren't able to do a planting today because Quail Island currently has a deer problem, so any planting we would have done would likely be eaten up by the deer; so we got to do a tour around the island instead. We first saw Pou Whenua, which was beautifully decorated. We also met some new friends along the way, including a Canterbury gecko, a striped skink, and a tree wētā. Mike also showed us one of the methods they used to track predators in which they put bait and ink on a piece of paper in a tunnel and look at any footprints left on the paper.

We posed in front of the Pou Whenua to show the scale of it

The Canterbury gecko I loving named Curtis

Mike demonstrated to us how the bait tunnels work

Veronica beaming while holding the wētā

Debriana holding her gecko friend 

After we met all our new insect and reptilian friends we did the trail around the perimeter of the island and saw some incredible views. Around the end of the trail, we even saw some quail, which felt more than fitting considering the island's name. At the end of the trail, we had some extra time before our ferry came back to pick us up and we got to explore the shores a bit and saw some crabs and starfish

The beautiful harbour

Nico found this starfish on a rock 

A cute chubby quail butt! (people say I scared the quail away with my squeal of excitement, but I think otherwise)

We ended our day back at Coffee Culture for another tea time, then went to New World grocery store to replenish our snack supply 

We all enjoyed our day trip to Quail Island.

See ya again tomorrow for another restoration day.

- Ashley 

Travis Wetland Restoration

Today the crew woke up ready for restoration! We piled into the gatorwaka and headed back to Travis Wetland Nature Heritage Park. 

Nico attempting to dry his wet sock from the wind 

At the park we met up with Donna and Eleanor and we walked to where we were doing the restoration. Our day consisted of weeding the area and then planting new natives in the soil. 

Weeding the area 

Maya posing with her tool of destruction 

The planting begins 

Ryan aka “mat boy” 

Nico putting in the hard labor to weed the massive plants out 

Two plants I successfully planted (the mats go around the baby plants to reduce weeds)

Group photo after a successful morning 

We had a little tea time while watching a brief slideshow presentation of older pictures of the park from the year 2000 

Before leaving the park we lured a long finned eel with some sandwich meat 

Our day ended early so that we could work on our journals and catch up if needed. Tomorrow we’re excited to go back to the farmer’s market, visit the botanic garden, and the museums! See you soon, blog! 

Kia ora, 

~Hanna 

Prickly Plant Restoration!

Restoration with Banks Peninsula Trust

 Today we worked with the Banks Peninsula Trust on a restoration project. After a scenic ride in the gatorwaka, we met Sophi and Wayne who work with the trust. They gave a brief lecture on covenants and how land in New Zealand is protected for conservation purposes. We also got to meet Wayne’s dog, Tui! 

Tui the dog 

Wayne and Sophie explain our work for the day

We then went to battle with the invasive plant barberry. Armed with handsaws, ‘loppers’ and ‘cut n paste’ we spread out amongst the forest to cut down down these invasive trees. However, the trees fought back. They were incredibly spiny and would jab you if you weren’t careful. Luckily, we all made it out (mostly) unscathed and did considerable damage to the barberry population. Exhausted, we loaded up in the gatorwaka to head to teatime. 

Ashley smiling instead of working 

Nico and Ryan putting in work

Defeated barberry with paste to prevent regrowth

Lunch break! 🥪 

Success!

Teatime at the Store

On the way back to our dorms we stopped at a little shop called ‘The Store’. We got a variety of snacks and drinks and had a good time relaxing after our manual labor. Afterwards, we headed back to the dorms. It was a short but sweet day and I’m excited for what the future will bring. 

Teatime 🫖 ⏰ 

- see you tomorrow 😀✌️ 

Ryan 

A day of restoration projects

 Today the class participated in two ecological restoration projects. Our first stop was the Red Zone area in east Christchurch which was damaged from the earthquakes ten years ago. Many in the community turned out to plant native species and contribute to this ecological restoration project, Greening the Red Zone. We helped plant many trees and had lots of fun getting to know the locals. 

It’s a group effort to plant so many natives

We also found bricks and rubble from the previous neighborhood 

Next the class took a tour of the  Landcare Research facility in Lincoln with Colin. We toured the newly renovated building and learned all about the work and research that Landcare does for the Country in environment, biodiversity, and sustainability. 

Our wonderful tour of Landcare Research in Lincoln

After lunch we headed to Mahoe Reserve, located just south of Christchurch in the town of Lincoln, for another restoration project. The class met with the founders of the reserve and learned about the high school that made the reserve (once a borrow pit for rocks and then a landfill) what it is today. We helped local volunteers with planting, mulching, and weeding. 

Grow big, little plant! 

Our new friend Moana 

After the full day of work, the class is tired but happy. We went to a fish and chips shop for dinner then back to the dorms to pack for our first away trip tomorrow and get a well deserved rest. 

-Charisse 

A day in Riccarton Bush and Downtown Christchurch

 We started off the day with a presentation from Dr. Colin Meurk (local Kiwi and expert botanist) about the natural and cultural patterns of Canterbury. The class learned about the various habitats of New Zealand and the broad bioclimatic zones which make it so unique. We also learned about the astonishing biodiversity of the area and the surprising adaptations to an ecosystem without mammals (including giant insects that can take on the role of small mammals!) The class discussed the many ways to connect people and nature, one of the most important parts of restoration projects and learned about the three thresholds of ecological restoration. 

Learning all about the ecology of Aotearoa

After the lecture, the class traveled to Riccarton Bush where we explored a predator-free forest with a guided tour by Colin. The class learned about the importance of predator-free fences to keep out introduced mammalian predators like possums, stoats, hedgehogs, and rats. Delving into the forest, we discovered ancient podocarps and saw many new plants like Rohutu, Poataniwha, Khikatea, and Mikimiki. The class got to touch, smell, and even taste several plant species that are endemic to New Zealand. 

Taking a walk in Riccarton Bush 

Learning about Podocarps and other native trees

Several invasive mammal predators that threaten native ecosystems

We found orange mushrooms!

A picnic lunch at Riccarton Bush

After a picnic lunch, the class traveled to downtown Christchurch. In downtown, we admired the street art,  and architecture at the public library, wandered around the library, and played at the fabulous Margaret Mahy Family Playground (where we met some very friendly black swans.) The class also visited the famous Christchurch cathedral and had tea time at a local coffee shop. Everyone loved the visit to downtown and is looking forward to coming back. 

Group photo in front of street art in downtown

Reading about Christchurch cathedral 

new library architecture 

At the playground

Our new friend 

Nico and Ryan with some city sheep

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Tea and busses at local coffeeshop



In the evening we got to go to a Matariki celebration. The celebration honors the start of the Mauri new year and celebrates the appearance of the Matariki star cluster which consists of nine stars. The class got to see a song performance retelling the story of the Matariki as well as a fire dance performance which we were all impressed by. 

                                         Watching the fire performance at the Matariki celebration

Its been a busy day full of learning and fun. We can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. 

- Charisse