Archives For 30/11/1999

A new baby in the (DOC) family – Orange-fronted parakeets/kākāriki breed on Tuhua

Sarah Mankelow —  31/03/2011

 

It’s times like these that I am reminded that the organisation I work for can be like a big family.

Sarah, the orange fronted Cantabrian, with two Tauranga chicks, Barb and Janice

Following the Christchurch earthquake and our office being closed, I decided to go back to my hometown and work from the Tauranga Area Office for a few weeks.

They welcomed me with open arms – great bunch of people – and on my first day I was reminded by ranger John H that other Cantabrians also were seeking refuge here. Canterbury’s own orange-fronted parakeets or kākāriki – are currently residing here on Tuhua – an offshore island paradise.

And within a week of being back inside the buzz of a busy area office I was privileged to be among the first to hear – juvenile parakeets had been spotted on the island!

The arrival of new babies are always a happy occasion and these wee parakeets – photographed by John H during a nest-monitoring trip – are no exception.

Orange-fronted parakeets are extremely rare – there are less than 200 left in the wild and only in Canterbury.

Orange-fronted parakeet/kākāriki

To help save this species from extinction, some birds have been reared in captivity by Anne and her team at Isaacs Wildlife Trust in Christchurch. The birds are then released on predator-free offshore islands – including Tuhua here in the Bay of Plenty. They arrived here this summer, and John H has been keeping a close eye on them ever since.

This little kākāriki signals hope for the future – the first confirmed breeding of orange-fronted parakeet in the North Island for over 130 years!

Everyone here – and in Canterbury – is absolutely over the moon with the discovery.

Tuhua, because of its size, could be just so important to the future of this fantastic wee parakeet. Tūhua is a really special place – the ancestral home of Te Whānau a Tauwhao ki Tūhuaand looked after by the Tūhua Trust Board.

I feel so proud to have just been a bystander in this wonderful event. And it reminds me that no matter where we are in the country, we are all working towards the same goals – a future for our own children. Just call me Aunty Sarah!


In Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Native animals , ,
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I’m still standing – yeah yeah yeah!

Sarah Mankelow —  24/03/2011

All is not lost – we are keeping some of Christchurch’s historic stone buildings! One of my favourite places to visit is the Sign of the Packhorse Hut and I was really happy to hear that it had survived the latest Christchurch earthquake. 

Sign of the Packhorse Hut

It’s a beautiful old stone hut in a great location; perched on a saddle offering a grand view of Lyttelton Harbour below and the curve of the Port Hills sweeping around its edges.

Happy memories are attached to that place – my daughter’s first overnight stay in a hut aged only two! The friends we took with us who had also never been tramping before. The bottle of wine we hauled up the hill to drink with our pasta meal, celebrating a new year’s arrival as the sun set. Staying up all night as the kids played up and took turns to keep their parents awake, finally dropping off at dawn for an hour or two of sleep.

Happy memories – my daughter’s first overnight stay in a hut

Sign of the Packhorse Hut lost its chimney and suffered some cracks in the September 4 quake, but it seems to have held it all together OK this time. Its open again to walkers coming from Kaituna valley or Gebbies Pass, but the track to Mount Herbert is closed pending a geotechnical survey.

This historic nine-bunk stone hut was built as part of a planned series of rest houses by Harry Ell for a proposed summit route from Christchurch to Akaroa. Only four houses were ever built, all from locally quarried volcanic stone.

Making memories

Fort Jervois on Ripapa Island has also survived but has suffered some damage and remains closed for now. 

Ōtamahua / Quail Island is safe and open again, another great place for families to go and have an adventure, forgetting about troubles for a while. Most of the reserves on Banks Peninsula are also now open, but reserves on the Port Hills stay closed due to the risks of rock fall.  Godley Head too, is closed – all tracks and even the road is a risky place to be until rock hazards can be managed so stay clear. 

While we keep getting large aftershocks, rock fall danger is very real, so please, keep safe and keep out of closed areas. Updates on track and facilities can be found on the DOC website.

But there’s nothing like getting back to nature to shake off the stresses of every day living – especially in a town that keeps trembling – so get out and about and make some memories of your own.

In Canterbury, Historic, Huts , , , ,
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It’s life Jim, but not as we know it…

Sarah Mankelow —  18/03/2011

The Department of Conservation is back to business in Christchurch.

Yes things have changed since that fateful day Tuesday 22 February when the world bucked like a wild bronco at a rodeo show. We have no city visitor centre. Our inner city offices are cordoned off and will be for some time to come. Some of our tracks and special places are closed. Down town looks a bit like a new and alien world – as Captain Kirk said ‘It’s life Jim but not as we know it’.

Parking is no longer so great outside DOC's Kilmore Street office

Torrens House in the background appears fairly unscathed behind the rubble of neighbouring buildings – but it is off limits for at least six months

But we have picked ourselves up, dusted off our khaki pants and are ready to get back into it.

Want to know about our tracks and huts? Or perhaps get a hunting permit? You can check out the DOC website – we’re working to keep that right up-to-date. There’s even a special section on the earthquake.

Want to talk to us or ask a question? You can email us. You can ring the usual numbers – someone will answer. If you want to face up to a real person, you can call into our two closest area offices at 31 Nga Mahi Road, Sockburn or 32 River Road, Rangiora. The rangers at our two national park visitor centres in Arthur’s Pass and Aoraki / Mt Cook are very helpful and knowledgeable people too. Give them a call or visit – both are great places to get away from the stresses of the city – but not necessarily from quakes as they both sit on the Alpine Fault!

Things may not be quite as convenient or as fast as before – remember all our files are in a building that only guys in hard hats can enter. And while we are a government agency, we are people too, and we were all affected in many ways by the earthquake. Some of us lost homes. All of us are as tired and as stinky as the rest of Christchurch as we deal with aftershocks that disrupt our sleep and water supplies that are not quite back to normal.

My son, William Webb, outside his school in Heathcote – closed for three weeks while they cleaned up the rubble of those buildings that didn’t stand the test of 6.3.

But we believe in the value of conservation and we are back in business. Even if we have to do it in our own backyards.

In Canterbury ,
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Weird and wonderfully wacky plants

Sarah Mankelow —  10/05/2010

Plants that stink, plants that like their food wriggling, plants that live in bird shit and a flower that grows underground – we have it all here in Aotearoa!

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In Canterbury, Native plants , , ,
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Wanted – busman’s holiday snaps

Sarah Mankelow —  20/08/2009

Working in community relations for DOC I am always looking for great photos of people doing cool stuff on conservation land. And this Conservation Week we are running a photo competition called ‘Postcards from a Park’.

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In Canterbury
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