Grassy Knees and Licking Trees

This morning began with a relaxing stroll through the Riccarton Farmer's Market. Pies, sweets, breads, and cheese were the main fare along with fresh fruits and veggies. A violinist raising money to record with a band, a high-school trumpet player fundraising a band trip to America, and a man playing the harmonica near the entrance serenaded us as while walked among the tents. 

Maddie and her donut-thing

Maddie and Eliza enjoying the morning

Soon, we were all gathered around this bench watching the ducks swim past with our various purchases. Jámm finally got his baguette, Cole got some good cheese, and I got a beeswax candle. There we were, minding our own business, when suddenly... 

He was not enjoying the market

this guy shows up uninvited. Shaking his tail, bobbing his neck aggressively, and hissing at our baguettes and cheese, we fled the scene just in time for tea. On the way to Darfield Bakery, we had a lively debate about Devin's so-claimed "lack" of a belly button (he has one). At the bakery, we could get a drink AND a snack, a luxury much appreciated since Lincoln's breakfast start-time and our depart-time were relatively close together this morning.

(There were open seats)

After that, we completed our drive to Trevor and Heather Taege's farm. Trevor is one of the first farmers to begin planting natives on his land. The blocks are spread across the farm between sheep and cow paddocks. We walked through them and assisted Trevor with pulling dead natives that didn't survive the season and trimming some of the trees and bushes in the way of the path. In a deal with the local city council, Trevor provided the land needed to plant this native bush and bought even more plants to put in after fencing in the blocks himself and saving some of the money he got for the project.

Broadleaf, Matai, Pokaka, Totora, Black Beech, Coprosma, Kohuhu, Kanuka, Golden Akeake, Fuschia, Kowhai, Whauwhaupaku, Kahikatea and some BIG New Zealand Flax were some of the plants growing here.

A Jámm for size reference

We were also delighted by the presence of Trevor's lovely sheepdog. 

This is Pete

Eliza may be a little less enthused than the others.

"Did this all come from Pete?!"

Maddie and Emily also shared an intimate Hongi before we broke for lunch. 

"I am in your bubble"

After that, Trevor told us more about the animals he keeps on the farm. Currently, there are about 170 sheep and 75 cattle, but with the birth of lambs and the change in seasons, those numbers bump up to 500 and 100, respectively. He also selectively breeds the ewes to give birth at a certain time to ensure that the lambs have enough grass to eat around the farm. Then we got a demonstration of herding by Pete, who is a heading sheepdog.

Pete, being the best boy

They seem a little nervous... 

After that, we went inside to watch Trevor shear a sheep. If you have never seen the process, I have a video of that for you as well! Little did we know that we were spending the day with a champion sheep shearer, his record is 350 sheep in 8 hours!!

Just look at that wall!

After shearing, the wool gets sorted into the good fleece, the belly wool, the head and neck wool, and the miscellaneous bits and pieces. From then on it is shipped off to be processed and sold.

From left to right: belly, bits, and neck

The good fleece

We then toured one last part of the native bush before playing some cricket. 

"Can I ring the bell??"

Little did we know that the Tuatara's crushing defeat against the Hungry Keas was attracting an audience.

The curious cows watch on...

They were obviously Tuatara fans

Our last stop for today was the Lords Bush Scenic Trail, where we licked honeydew from Black Beech trees. A scale insect eats the sap of the black beech but can't process it, so excretes it. This excretion is what bees take to make honey and what we ended up licking. 

All of these pretty little beads are sweet little bug poops

And, to close, a collection of us licking trees:

1 lick

2 licks

3 licks

4,

normal

honey's

such

a

bore!

Thank you Scale Insects of the world!

-paige

I Got 15 Animals (They’re All Named Bob) – Wednesday, July 25

Our day started off with a trip to Pegasus, a green development including native plants and a good use of water drainage. There, we visited Pegasus Beach and were entertained for ten minutes following the lines of a stick pulled by Eliza. Well, some of us were. If that wasn’t exciting enough, the rest of us were exhilarated by yet another group photo!!! (Not pictured)

The eel didn't look this blurry in real life

Our next stop was the Pegasus Bay winery, where we walked a trail that was part of the Greening of Waipara project. The natives there were planted in 2008 and have grown a lot since then. But native plants weren’t the only things we saw; we also were able to coax native eels from the depths of a shallow pond using salami!

Cat!

Cat does not enjoy being held

Sleeper cars

We had lunch at the winery (eels were not on the menu), then continued our way up the road after stopping briefly to unload at the Waipara sleeper cars. We met Daryl, a local farmer who talked to us more about the Greening of Waipara project. This project is meant for education, bringing back native birds, and attracting insects that help control pests.

A talk from Daryl

Bear demonstrates his sheep herding skills

The one and only... Bob (the huge sheep with his tongue out)

After his talk, we drove a little ways up the road and Daryl unleashed his sheep dogs, Sis and Bear, from the trunk of his car. The dogs herded Daryl’s sheep into a smaller paddock, where we enjoyed petting Bob (his daughter’s gigantic pet sheep) and learning about some of the different types of sheep.

The wine tasting group

The card playing group

The grand trophy for the 2018 lip sync contest

After that we went to another winery, Waipara Hills, to taste and learn about wine making. There, I made the grand prize for the lip sync; a microphone-ish thing made from only the finest ingredients (cardboard, chocolate wrappers, and lots of sparkly duct tape).

Coco thinks it's been a long day

Then it was off to Daryl’s house for dinner and the long-awaited (and dreaded) lip sync contest! But first, there was plenty of time to cuddle with his adorable pets, play cards, and eat a delicious dinner and Pavlova (courtesy of Daryl and Allison). And play a game of mafia.

But finally, it was time for the lip sync contest. According to the judges, the bar was raised with everyone’s performance. Even Jámm improved from his previous wordless lip syncs and one-word songs by actually lip-syncing nine words (and in his encore performance, more than five verses!). It was a close decision from the judges, but first place for bragging rights and the microphone went to Devin. Corinne was a very close second, and I got third place.

After all of the excitement and dancing, we crashed at the Waipara Sleeper Cars. Despite the lack of heat amongst other things, it was very cool to sleep in old train cars and cabins. Most of us slept pretty well, but some unnamed people snoring (*cough cough*) kept some of us up.

Cheers,

Tupelo

Rolling Hills and Rocky Roads

We're getting back to it today after a long, but fun weekend. It was a bit of a cold start this morning and with some rain, we got to see a rainbow. It luckily stopped raining shortly after we arrived for restoration with Rima. Windbreakers and boots donned, we took the rocky road up to our restoration site. 

Looking up at the restoration site

But the Gator Waka and Piwakawaka couldn't make it up without four-wheel drive. Rima and her team shuttled us in their trucks across the Birdlings Flat stones and we reached our destination. While we waited for a few more of us to be picked up at the bottom (pictured above), Rima explained the Maori connection to lakes Forsyth and Ellesmere. It all started with a cloak and a woman. She had put the sacred Maori cloak on and started a civil strife. In the ensuing conflict, many Maori chieftains were lost (along with 98% of the local population). Europeans arrived and began to buy land from chiefs who didn't even own the land. Yet, the water was never sold and remains critical to their culture. Eels inhabit the lakes and provided fats to keep them warm during winter months. 

Rima talking about the lakes (Lake Ellesmere in distance)

Lake Forsyth (Wairewa) looking a bit green

Rima and the others living on the property have a huge task ahead of them at this site. Since gravel closed the lakes off to the ocean and runoff has caused algae to grow, eels are truly threatened. A canal has been made in the meantime for them to continue their journeys between the lakes and the ocean. The part we were involved in is creating a seed source for a future forest. In another eighty years, we may see the grassy hills turn into a forested landscape. Our job was to remove the weeds (grass) in and around the fenced-in native plants. The fences discouraged invasive rabbits from trying to destroy the future forest. Even the plants had their own defense: some actually played dead!

 Pulling the grass

  

Before weeding

   

 After weeding (different plant)

To join us, we had Bonnie, a peppy dog who just wanted love. Even though we got a bit distracted at times, the job was finished and we completed the work started two years ago by another UF study abroad class that planted them (Editor's Note: Around 300 plants that are having a 95-98% success rate because of the TLC weeding). In the last three years, around 3,000 plants have been planted. However, the threat of drought and severe oceanic winds still haunts the hillsides. So the plants Rima put down needed special care while we worked there.  (Editor's Note: Follow-up weeding is the not so glamorous part of planting natives.)

Eliza and Bonnie

Group photo after we finished!

So we made our way back down the hills and across the stones until the cars got stuck in a rut of rocks. We all got out and walked the short distance back to the Gator Waka. Luckily, Rima's team lived on the side we had just come from. And while we waited for the next group of students to get picked up from on the mountain, some of us tried a balancing act on the playground. After that, we had tea time at Coffee Culture and headed back to our dorms where Dr. Hostetler looked at iNaturalist with us before we called it a night.

Until the 'morrow,

Devin