New Year's Eve

Two hours to go until the end of 2011 and what an unforgettable year it's been! My personal journey has seen the realisation of my dream to live a simpler life amongst the birds and native bush - and it's been even better than I dreamt. For others it's been a year of highs (eg Rugby World Cup) and lows (eg the continuing aftershocks and devastation in Christchurch, Nelson floods). I hope 2012 will be a happy, healthy and successful year for all.

I won't be seeing the New Year in as I'm a tad knackered after a day of kayaking in Paterson Inlet (Whaka a Te Wera) - heaps of fun but hard work paddling back into the breeze and choppy water. I then did my rat line so burned quite a few calories today. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera so I can't share the magnificent views or the three blue penguins that entertained us with their antics.

New Year's Eve kayak - red = path out, blue = path back

The following pics were taken on Christmas Eve just before boarding the plane to Invercargill and taken at the Inlet end of the runway...

December 2011 weather stats: taken from http://obanweather.southlandnz.com/
Average temperature     = 13.8°C
Average humidity        = 78%
Average dewpoint        = 9.5°C
Average barometer       = 100.9 kPa
Average windspeed       = 6.7 km/h
Average gustspeed       = 12.8 km/h
Average direction       = 86° ( E )
Rainfall for month      = 1.2 mm
Rainfall for year       = 1728.3 mm
Maximum rain per minute = 0.3 mm on day 29 at time 14:54
Maximum temperature     = 30.4°C on day 12 at time 13:04
Minimum temperature     = 4.6°C on day 19 at time 03:27
Maximum humidity        = 99% on day 29 at time 17:10
Minimum humidity        = 10% on day 25 at time 07:29
Maximum dewpoint        = 18.5°C on day 14 at time 17:14
Minimum dewpoint        = -18.9°C on day 23 at time 07:00
Maximum pressure        = 102.3  kPa on day 21 at time 23:11
Minimum pressure        = 98.7  kPa on day 14 at time 21:07
Maximum windspeed       = 38.9 kmh from 203°(SSW) on day 29 at time 14:54
Maximum gust speed      = 61.1 km/h from 225°( SW) on day 29 at time 14:53
Maximum heat index      = 29.0°C on day 12 at time 13:05
Avg daily max temp :19.9°C
Avg daily min temp :9.0°C
Growing degrees days :145.5 GDD
Total windrun = 4487.5km

Last, but not least, is one of Rakiura's special sunsets from 28 December taken from my house...

Happy New Year everyone!

Christchurch, Christmas and Kiwi

The exhilaration of finishing my three month weed contract was tempered by news that more aftershocks had rocked Christchurch on 23 December. Luckily my flight up on Christmas Eve wasn't affected and I had an awesome weekend with Phil, Jeff and Colin. We spent two nights at The Chateau in the Park (great hotel, yummy food and huge beds) and walked, talked and biked away the hours. Lovely weather, good company, not too many jolts and a fun 18-holes of golf on the Wii made for an unforgettable family Christmas - thanks guys.

Christmas morning walk in Kennedy Bush Reserve

Christmas Day afternoon we walked through Hagley Park into the CBD to check out the new Cashel Mall Re:Start container shops which herald the start of the CBD rebuild. The complex has over 20 shops and was opened on 29 October 2011; great to see something creative amid the destruction.

Cashel Mall Re:Start container shops - a good morale booster

Cashel Mall - love the sunflowers

Cashel Mall looking toward the Bridge of Remembrance -
lots of carparks created by demolished buildings

I couldn't get over how much sunshine there was in the CBD - here's a couple of pics taken from the end of Cashel Mall into the zone that's still barricaded.

On our walk we passed building after building with either yellow (limited access) or red stickers (unsafe, probable demolition) on the door. Liquefaction 'volcanoes' and rollercoaster footpaths from last Friday's aftershocks remind us that Mother Nature hasn't got comfortable yet. Great to see the Canterbury spirit alive and well with residents taking the new aftershocks in their stride - kia kaha :)

I've had a few visitors since I got home...

Whitetail deer grazing on my driveway as night fell

Mother Duck and babes

Kereru atop the rimu

... and yesterday morning a male kiwi called right outside my bedroom window. I was awake when he started and counted 30 bars (whistles) - no wonder he sounded breathless at the end!!

Longest day stats:
Sunrise: 5.48am
Sunset: 9.41pm (takes another hour to get fully dark though)

I've got one more day to get a final post for 2011 - spot ya tomorrow!

A growing garden

So much for frequent postings! I see over two weeks has gone since my last offering so I will have to dredge my memory to play catch-up!

The walk-in greenhouse from TradeMe arrived at the end of November and on the first day of summer the good weather, plus the day off work, gave me the kick in the pants to spend the day in the garden. The greenhouse was relatively easy to put together up to waist height but the 2D diagram didn't really show how the two different ends went but I got there in the end.

Framework complete

Complete with plastic cover

Of course, to be able to put the greenhouse up, I first had to move the veges I had growing there. The brown canvas bags hold about 40 litres of potting mix and I can drag them fairly easily. I was surprised to find fungi growing on the sides and when I scraped it off, there was a strong smell of mushroom. Have checked a few books and websites and think it may be the edible 'ear fungus' - would be good to have that confirmed before I did the taste test!!!

Is this the edible ear fungus??

The pink aqua shield is working successfully as the silverbeet seedlings are growing well although the shield has now flopped over somewhat. It definitely creates a warm environment and worth testing on some other seedlings.

Aqua Shield - the surround is filled with water

The mussel buoys filled with potting mix are also a success - they're not as easy to move as the bags but still do the job nicely. I added some Bokashi compost to a couple of the bags and I've now got a great crop of pumpkin seedlings. I've been warned that they don't ripen here but I have enough seedlings to experiment and hopefully get a couple of pumpkins for winter soup.

Woohoo! I can grow vegetables here!

It's been a lot cooler today after some very hot and sunny days; it was lovely to get rain overnight after more than two weeks of dry weather - I'll be able to see the kiwi tracks in my mud puddles again!

The subtleties of Spring

New Zealand native bush doesn’t appear to have a lot of Spring colour. If you look closely though, you’ll find the most amazing colours, blossoms and shapes as new growth stretches towards the sun. Have a closer look next time you are out. I grabbed the camera one evening and got these photos from near the house.

Puawananga (Clematis paniculata) blooms profusely here in Spring (left). The
male flowers are larger than the female ones and borne on separate vines

Not sure if you can see the detail here so may have to post these as
larger pics sometime

Blechnum fern fronds on left, plantain (middle) and green shades galore
along the roadside

Purple makomako Aristotelia serrata blossom (left and middle),
kapuka Griselinia littoralis on the right

Lime green fern on left, wonderful shapes (middle) and
pate Schefflera digitata on right

I think this is Blechnum discolor - still furled tightly on the right

These white flowers make a lovely display along the roads but I haven't
been able to identify it yet. They close up at night and the flowers are quite
papery - almost like everlasting flowers. ? Lagenifera or Helichrysum spp.

Native kotukutuku Fuchsia excorticata in flower. The pollen of the
tree fuchsia is blue and the flowers change colour from green to purple
to deep red as they age.

I'm sitting out on the deck to maximise my internet connection and can see ducks in the duckpond, a kereru feeding in the flowering broom, a male chaffinch feeding on the seedheads in the grass and my little ngirungiru (tomtit) flitting around - and I can hear the ever-present yellowhammer calling for a mate. The wind is still blustery but it's fine and dry so time to get back to work in my woodshed!

Busy days

It’s a tad wild and woolly outside so a great time to update my blog. Unfortunately the strong southwesterlies are also playing havoc with my internet signal so it’s back to Microsoft Word and hopefully I’ll be able to cut and paste this post later in the day.

The weeks are racing by and my free time is getting squeezed considerably—not just from working but also from all the other jobs around the section that need doing at this time of year. I’m in the process of building 30 rat traps that I can put out in the bush behind the house and give the birds the best chance possible. I bought the materials from SIRCET, the community environmental trust that is a driving force on Stewart Island; the traps aren’t that difficult to make but I need to find some more timber for the baseboard. I have a couple of pallets that will do for a couple of years but haven’t found an easy way to break them up without splitting the board.

Rat traps made with corflute, netting, Victor traps and a timber base

I enjoy stacking firewood but re-stacking it is a questionable waste of time. I made the mistake of stacking the first four trailerloads along the back wall of the shed with subsequent rows in front. This worked fine until I got some more trailerloads of wet wood – luckily I was off-island for a month so stacked those in front of the dry stuff and kept my fingers crossed that it would dry out before I needed to use it. Now I have more wood but it’s ‘green’ so needs to season. I’ve taken the radical step of restacking all the wood but this time making each row go from front to back, rather than side to side. A big job and I’ll have to work out a way of preventing the front from collapsing (? salmon netting) but then I can cycle dry wood first next winter.

Part way through the woodshed re-stack

I had to revise my enjoyment of barberry hunting after last week’s efforts. We’re working in scrubby bush (flax, bracken, blackberry, bush lawyer, grass at the road boundary, moving into more established bush further away from the road) but spending most of the time on our knees dealing to dense barberry plants, from juveniles (above knee height) to adult trees with branches over 8m. Last Tuesday (our third day on this property) we took 7 hours to move 100m before running out of Vigilant gel and energy. Not looking forward to more time here but at least I’ve now got kneeling pads which should make life a bit more comfortable. We move on to Chilean Flame Creeper (CFC) in December so good to mix it up a bit.

The unstable weather patterns lately meant that the island was isolated last Friday with no ferries, planes or water taxis operating. A Search and Rescue operation was instigated after a photographer missed his plane pick-up but it wasn’t until late afternoon that a bigger helicopter could brave the weather to check Freshwater Hut, normally accessed by water taxi. Fortunately, the photographer was there but I wonder if he had any idea of the efforts and resources that went into the operation. It was a busy day in the Visitor Centre with tourists having to spend an extra night on the island and phone calls from trampers that couldn’t make it to the island so needing to cancel their Great Walk hut reservations.

On to more interesting things with my next blog...

Picnic at Dead Man's Beach

Today was Picnic Day; the weather forecast was for a front to pass through at lunchtime bringing rain but the Weather Gods blessed us and we've had a fine day instead. I met Raylene, Nicoletta, Lee and the two dogs, Mac and Snow, at Butterfield Beach and we walked from there to Dead Man Beach via the Horseshoe Point Track. It's a pretty walk alongside Bragg Bay and then through native bush where I've spent many an hour with the barberry team.

Picnic at Dead Man Beach - the white area at the end of the red line!
Photo from Google Maps - looks like the ferry is coming in

At the Visitor Centre there is a folder with how areas got their names and although it doesn't go into details, apparently Dead Man Beach was named because a dead man was found on it!! It's a beautiful white sandy beach, only accessible by boat or a walk and it looks stunning in the sunshine - see a photo here http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-photo/manu_milli/1/1294339106/dead-man-beach-funny-name-for-a-stunning-bay.jpg/tpod.html

We had a lovely picnic spread and watched the dogs dig holes in the sand - just as well the tide was coming in as we might still be sitting there!

The path down to the beach is steep with lots of steps

Picnic time

A well-camouflaged Mac in amongst the sand

Lee's dog, Snow

On the way back to the cars, we came across a horizontal tree trunk smothered with what I think is the native orchid, Earina mucronata. The flowers have a light fragrance and I really needed to have my close-up lens so that I could get a good close-up - will have to go back and try again as none of these are really sharp. A great website for orchids is http://www.nativeorchids.co.nz/

A whitetail deer has been grazing on the grass over by the duck pond whilst I've been writing - I've just had to turn the light on so now I can't see anything outside! Two more kiwi calls this morning; a female at 4.07am and a male at 4.25am. I had the possum trap set so had a quick peek out to make sure they weren't near it. The possum was around the other night and had a feed of silverbeet before coming up on the deck. Luckily I was still up and chased it away, then stayed up for another couple of hours to make sure it didn't come back. My vege garden now looks like Fort Knox with plastic netting surround - unfortunately I couldn't fashion a gate so it keeps me out as effectively as the possum!

Barberry tomorrow and Wednesday with Visitor Centre duties on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I cut down the reeds growing out from the deck with a curved slasher this morning but didn't get around to putting the wood in the woodshed so that's next on the job list.

Have a wonderful week...

All the Ones

Tomorrow is a once-in-100 years occurrence with the date of 11.11.11. According to the Stuff website the last time it happened in 1911, Kansas City had a sudden temperature drop from 24°C in the morning to -12°C by evening, and to a lesser extent in other US states. It was known as the Great Blue Norther and hopefully it won't happen again tomorrow. It's son Jeff's birthday but his 31 years is trumped by Andrew Fearon of Whangaparoa who turns 11. It's also the 93rd anniversary of Armistice Day with 1 minute's silence at 11am on 11.11.11.

I've had a 'woody' week with two more trailerloads of firewood delivered plus a large kamahi that blew down a couple of months ago. My neighbour chainsawed it into rings and I've spent the afternoon splitting it with my new Fiskars axe. This axe is a cross between an axe and a splitter and it's worked a treat on the kamahi.

Two more trailerloads of firewood

Chopped kamahi with still a few rounds to go on the left

I bought a time and tide clock off TradeMe recently; the first one didn't work but Cruising Electronics gave great customer service and replaced it promptly plus arranged freight to return the faulty one. Thanks guys. It's great to know what the tides are doing and all I have to do is find a permanent spot for it once I've decided where pictures and mirrors will go.

Time and tide clock - the red hand moves clockwise but at a
different rate to the time hands. It was 1hr to low tide at 7.30pm

My veges are growing really well in potting mix considering the hail we had last week. I picked my first spinach and silverbeet of the season and the mesclun seeds I sowed last week have already germinated. I'm trying a new-fangled gadget called Aqua-Shield - see the pink 'thing' below.

Aqua-Shield - a plastic surround with a difference

It's a double-skinned self-standing plastic surround split into individual tubes which you fill with water. According to the packet you can add 1 month to the growing season - solar energy warms up the water in the UV-treated plastic and provides a wee hot house for the plants inside. I'll keep you posted on how my silverbeet seedlings fare in this environment.

I'm still pondering on whether to get a tunnel house. One of my biggest problems is not knowing how to garden in a tunnel house so I can't visualise how to fit everything in. I've found a lovely wide tunnel house but I'm not sure if it will fit between the house, garage and water tank. My gut feeling is to make my own frame and get some wide plastic to stretch over it; a magic wand would come in so useful here!! I'll have to do something before deer and possums turn up for midnight feasts.

How about this idea for a small garden with a difference...

Save your large tins for me!!!

Enough rambling for now. Happy 11.11.11 everyone!

Friendly visitors

The weather today is cycling through hail, rain and bright sunshine but the severe weather warning issued on Wednesday seems to have bypassed Oban - or maybe it went through when I was fast asleep! You can have four seasons in less than half an hour here but I'm keeping dry and snug inside with the fire going.

My friend, Jen, left on the first plane this morning after six days visiting and it's now very quiet at home. We've talked up a storm, walked lots and sat outside in the dark listening for kiwi and deer. It's been great to show her my new home and hope it's not too long before she comes back so we can do all those things that we ran out of time to do.

Last Sunday Jen and I went on the 2½ hour Stewart Island Experience Paterson Inlet Cruise:

Paterson Inlet Cruise route

see http://www.stewartislandexperience.co.nz/newzealand/patersoninletcruises/ - this was a new experience for me as well and we both had a ball. Great viewing as we sailed slowly out of Halfmoon Bay and round the coast into Paterson Inlet. Free tea and coffee, an interesting commentary as we stopped at places of interest (including Kaipipi and Price's Inlet) and then an hour's guided tour on Ulva Island. I've been to Ulva several times but having a guide opens your eyes to so many new discoveries.

Ulva Guide, Bevan, pointing out plants of interest

Ulva Island spider orchids

My camera only had a few minutes of battery left so I'll have to do the cruise again and get more photos!! It was a great way to get a good perspective of Paterson Inlet and hear the history of the old boatbuilders and whaling stations.

We stayed in the village after the cruise so that Jen could experience the famous Stewart Island Pub Quiz. We paired up with Rowena and Bruce, and Di and Jim but our six brains weren't good enough for the winners Eh What's Up (DOC guys) or Raylene's team (Ghoulish Delights) which got second. The theme was Hallowe'en and I think we did remarkably well to get any points at all!

Monday was rat line day and I had a very cruisy time watching Jen do all the work! We took some rope with us and tied that to some trees on the steepest section so I now have something to hold on to when the track is wet and slippery. No rats in my traps but five traps (some with rat fur) were sprung so perhaps a weka had pulled any caught ones out.

I chose to sleep in my spare bed in the garage whilst Jen was here and was so glad that I did. The garage isn't lined, hence no soundproofing to muffle kiwi calls! I heard a female kiwi call twice on 30 October (4.33am and 5.26am) and heard the dawn chorus in all its glory. Early Wednesday morning (4.45am, 2 November) I was wakened by a 'growly purr' sound and thinking it was a possum, I jumped out of bed, grabbed a torch, opened the door and shone the torch around. I saw a dark shape move behind the large pots and then caught another movement over by the house steps. I was totally floored when I saw a kiwi standing there, not a possum at all!! I immediately turned the torch to a red light and watched the kiwi walk purposefully down the path towards the drive. Woohoo! My first sighting of two kiwi on my section!

First kiwi sighting over by house steps, 4.45am 2 November 2011

Grinning from ear to ear, I hopped back into bed and a few minutes later heard the male and female duet by the garage doors with about 8 bars synchronised with each other's call. Double magic! Unfortunately, Jen slept right through it and we didn't hear them call again whilst she was here, despite leaving windows ajar.

Jen enjoys the bush and birds as much as I do. I think the card she brought down for me sums up our friendship perfectly...

...thanks Jen for taking the time to visit; it was a pleasure having you to stay.

Back to work next week with a mixture of barberry and VC duties. There's a community Snack and Yack next Saturday (barbeque and stalls to welcome new residents etc) and increasing numbers of tourists signal an end to the 'quiet' off-season.

Anniversary time

Yesterday was my 9 month anniversary of moving here and today I celebrate 46 years since I left England to become a Kiwi. Both of them are significant chapters in my life and a chance to take a different path. I would have missed out on so much if I had kept in my comfort zone!

Work is going well; a nice mixture of weeding and VC work. Last week I had a taste of Selaginella kraussiana (African club moss) eradication. When I did my NZ Native Plants course my first assignment was to identify plants/trees in a patch of native bush and it came as a shock to discover that the moss that carpeted the area wasn't a native. Unfortunately, Selaginella has invaded the residential area here and DOC is working hard to try and eradicate it before it spreads into the Rakiura National Park.

Selaginella kraussiana close-up above

and how quickly it spreads below

Eradicating this moss means getting down on hands and knees and treating every wee dot of this invasive weed. It spreads via spores and stem fragments so could easily be transferred from residential sections to the bush. The weeds team have to spray the soles of their boots before leaving the section but I wonder if I've inadvertently spread it before I started on the weeds team. We spray it with an organic weedkiller but apparently vinegar works too. Read here for more information http://www.weedbusters.co.nz/weed_info/detail.asp?WeedID=44

I've been attacking the weeds on my patch as well; I reckon if I take out all the flowering weeds then at least I will have less seedlings coming up - or that's the plan anyway! I've removed some extra large gorse and broom 'trees' and have another half dozen to go before there's no sign of weed flowers. Well, for a few days anyway!

Whilst I'm on the subject of pests, here's a different ratty that was caught on my Deep Bay ratline at the weekend.

Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) - also called brown, sewer or water rat

The identifying feature is that the length of tail is shorter than its body. This is the rat species that invaded Ulva Island last year - preliminary reports after the two poison drops in August and September are very promising with no rats caught or tracked. Fingers crossed that this will continue so that the island can be declared predator-free again.

I'm still raving on about Spring down here - lovely to see masses of Tātarāmoa blossom, more commonly known as bush lawyer (Rubus cissoides) and Puawhananga, the native clematis (Clematis paniculata). I took my camera at the weekend and grabbed these pics...

Red kākā beak (Clianthus puniceus)

Tātarāmoa just starting to flower

Puawhananga

Puawhananga buds

Kereru (Native pigeon)

To finish off, here's a couple of photos of the village; SIRCET (Stewart Island/Rakiura Community Environment Trust) re-opened their environment centre on Saturday afternoon - they have some fabulous information panels to show visitors what is being done here. The centre is next to the noticeboard, a very important way to disseminate information for locals!

Reopening the Rakiura Environment Centre

Oban noticeboard