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Archives For 30/11/1999

In the Navy: Raoul Island diary

DOC on Raoul Island —  07/05/2013

By Raoul Island volunteer Katie Grinsted

When there is work to be done on Raoul Island, the most difficult thing is to get the workers to the island. Fortunately for Raoul, the Navy ship Wellington agreed to make the journey.

"E Ihowā Atua..." Flag hoisted to welcome the Navy to Raoul.

“E Ihowā Atua…” Flag hoisted to welcome the Navy to Raoul

Over the last two weeks the population of the island grew, at peak, fluctuating to 33 personnel – that’s more than tripling the population! A party of three GNS (Geological and Nuclear Sciences), two MET (Metservice) and two DOC workers came to complete building work for ten days. Meanwhile, the Navy deployed several work crews to the island for a different training experience and to help DOC out with some track work.

In readiness for their arrival, as with the arrival of any ship to the island, we solemnly raised the New Zealand flag. With a slasher as our weapon of choice we paid homage to her majesty and prepared for the arrival of her NZ Navy representatives.

Late on a Friday evening, the first transmission was heard – “This is Warship Wellington. Warship Wellington calling Raoul Island. Do you copy?”. We copied and from the hostel balcony we watched as the vessel anchored off the picturesque Meyer Islands, the angular grey metal hulk creating a sharp contrast in this place of rugged contour and line.

The Wellington anchored off the Meyer Islands.

The Wellington anchored off the Meyer Islands

This was to be the first of many contrasts. Firstly in communication…

Warship Wellington: “We will contact you on channel one, two, I repeat, channel one, two”
Raoul Island: “But we don’t have a channel one or two. Can you repeat?”
Warship Wellington: “Channel one, two. Twelve! I repeat, twelve!”
Raoul Island: “Ahh, copy that.”

Then in timing…

Warship Wellington: “We will begin operations at sixteen hundred and thirty, I repeat”
Raoul Island: “Sixteen hundred and thirty? Oh, you mean, four thirty? That sounds sweet.”

After sorting out some of these finer details, the unloading of the ship began. The new ‘Civies’ (civilians) set about to their building work. DOC worked hard to build a new quarantine shed…

Biosecurity at its finest! The new quarantine shed.

Biosecurity at its finest! The new quarantine shed

GNS checked their monitoring equipment around the island and completed some building work, while the MET builders slaved away putting new doors onto the ‘bomb shed’ (the place where the weather balloons are released).

What mighty fine doors! The new doors on the bomb shed.

What mighty fine doors! The new doors on the bomb shed

Meanwhile, the ship had kindly invited the volunteers out to the Wellington for lunch. It was a thrill to get up some speed on the boat ride over, as anything over 15k/hr is extreme here!

The need for speed! Speeding out to the Wellington for lunch.

The need for speed! Speeding out to the Wellington for lunch

It was fascinating to get an insight into a totally different way of life. We unanimously agreed that none of us could handle living in such confined quarters.

When the first Navy team arrived we all had to have a little giggle. In ripped shorts and faded t-shirts we Raoulites shook hands with the smartly dressed Navy in their slick ‘GWD’ (General Work Dress).

A well dressed arrival. The Navy arriving at Raoul Island.

A well dressed arrival. The Navy arriving at Raoul Island

After an amount of time taken up with the necessary Navy briefings, the shore crews worked hard and with good humour to carry out their latest ‘deployment’ – slashing and raking of cyclone damaged tracks.

A clear way through. The Navy hard at work clearing Raoul's tracks.

A clear way through. The Navy hard at work clearing Raoul’s tracks

Each team enjoyed the opportunity to eat as many cakes and biscuits as they liked, and even had the chance to have two different kinds of meat dishes for dinner!

Raoul Navy crew take a break

Raoul Navy crew take a break

Although I struggled at times to stop myself singing, “In the Navy, we can sail the seven seas, in the Navy!”, I believe both the Raoulites and the Navy benefited greatly from the experience of the past two weeks. All those who came onto the island seemed to leave with a smile on their face, and no doubt, with as many stories to tell about us as we do about them!

So on Sunday the Wellington departed, leaving eight exhausted Raoulites waving goodbye at the flagpole. It had been an eventful, and at times challenging two weeks. By far the hardest part of it all has been the departure of our dear friend and colleague Dave, who left for home on the Navy ship. He is already sorely missed but we all wish him the best of luck and look forward to seeing him on the mainland. For him, the Raoul Salute.

One final swim off Fishing Rock.

The Raoul Salute – one final swim off Fishing Rock

As the Navy departed we raised a renegade skull and crossbones in tribute to Dave. Ragged and painted on an old bed sheet, once again we saw the contrast to the Navy ship. But, somehow it seems to fit the character of the island and of its inhabitants.

The Danger Dave flag is hoisted.

The Raoul Salute – one final swim off Fishing Rock

Interested in becoming a volunteer on Raoul Island?

DOC is currently recruiting for volunteers for August 2013 to February 2014 now. See www.doc.govt.nz/raoulvolunteers for more information.

In Raoul Island , , , , , ,
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The cruisers of Sunday Island

DOC on Raoul Island —  18/04/2013

Raoul Island is one of the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km north-east of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. DOC have a small team of staff and volunteers who live on the island in relative solitude. Their main focus is controlling weeds on the island, maintaining infrastructure such as buildings, roads and tracks, and carrying out work for Met Service and GNS.

Since the island is so remote, we get these diary entries from the team and post them up on their behalf. Today’s diary is by volunteer Katie Grinsted.

Interested in becoming a volunteer on Raoul Island? DOC is recruiting for volunteers for August 2013 to February 2014 now. See www.doc.govt.nz/raoulvolunteers for more information.

On our way

It has been just over a month since us five volunteers departed Auckland, waved goodbye to the world we knew, and began our life on Raoul Island. I have been to some pretty special places in my life but I think this may just take the cake. We are actually marooned on a (sub) tropical island. We’re stuck here with the volcanoes, the earthquakes, surrounded by sharks and we are lovin’ it!

The journey began with a five day crossing on the sailboat Ranui. Sometime on a Friday morning, the high cliffs of Hutchison Bluff appeared.  We were almost there!

Cripes! Look at this place! View of Raoul Island from the Ranui.

Cripes! Look at this place! View of Raoul Island from the Ranui

It seemed no time at all that we were onshore, after so long at sea firm ground felt like an illusion. Thankfully we were steadied by the welcoming arms of our new island mates. The nine Cruisers of Sunday Island united!

The island itself

Raoul Island is a beautiful place. Everyday as I walk around I try and take a moment or two to look around me and yell, more often out loud: “Woo hoo! So lucky to be here.”!

Despite being located so far from NZ, much of the flora and fauna here is identical or at least very similar, to NZ. The plant and animal life has had a boost with the removal of mammalian predators. The climate here is excellent for growing and everything here seems to shoot up so fast.

This is actually a five-finger tree for those of you who recognize it in NZ.

A five finger tree on Raoul Island.

Massive five finger tree. Woop!

What we do

With the animal pests removed it is now it is up to us to get rid of the other pests on the island – the unwanted plant species. Condemned for their lack of consideration for other plants, and their effects on the habitat of the animal species, the weeds on Raoul Island are the focus of the work here.

Volunteers weeding on Raoul Island.

Weeding – serious stuff on Raoul Island

The forest here is no walk in the park! Sometimes it is even a walk in a volcanic area!

Volcanic landscape on Raoul Island.

Volcanic landscape on Raoul Island

Yep! Weeding can take it out of you!

Volunteers lying on the beach.

Flat out on the beach after a hard day’s work

Downtime

But it is a lot of fun and life isn’t all hard work! There are plenty of other things to entertain your average cruiser. There are the water sports – snorkeling in New Zealand’s largest marine reserve for example…

Three people diving in the Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve.

Having fun in the Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve

And brewing high-quality beverages for another…

Volunteers check on the beer in the storehouse.

Checking out the brew

Then there are the forest sports. The other weekend we spent a night at the wee sky-blue Mahoe Hut before battling our way down a large dry waterfall to the coast. We emerged sweaty and exhausted but none the less, happy.

Mahoe Hut on Raoul Island.

Our weekend getaway, Mahoe Hut

And of course, there is the sport of ‘just cruisin’, a natural and accepted progression of island life…

Who could ask for more?

In Auckland, Raoul Island, Volunteers , , , ,
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Raoul Island Diaries: Batten down the hatches

DOC on Raoul Island —  22/08/2012

Raoul Island is one of the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km north-east of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. DOC have a small team of staff and volunteers who live on the island in relative solitude. Their main focus is controlling weeds on the island, maintaining infrastructure such as buildings, roads and tracks, and carrying out work for Met Service and GNS. 

Since the island is so remote, we get these diary entries from the team and post them up on their behalf. Today’s diary is by volunteer Prue Fairbrass.

Not a cyclone??

Today I am going to tell you about our cyclone in June which, according to the weather office was NOT a cyclone, just a deep depression.

The damaged "bomb" shed, or Met Service shed.

The storm damaged “bomb shed”, or Met Service shed

Well, it was so deep it has made a complete mess of everything here. Trees are down in every available and unavailable space – on tracks, sheds and roads.

Surveying the wreckage

The ‘bomb’ shed where the weather balloons are sent from is now an open air, roofless, door-less structure. The fire shed lost its roof and side and was tipped over, and the fuel shed is no more.

We were trapped in the hostel area with tree fall, some of which we have managed to clear, but it will take months to get it all back to normal. We have no way of getting off the island at present until Fishing Rock Road is cleared, which we are currently working on (not that I want to get off the island, as it’s a fab place here!).

Luckily the hostel itself is okay, although we lost two windows from the hospital. Leaves and branches are piled up all over the place so it is an effort to go anywhere, but each day things are a bit better.

Are we in the outback?

The fuel shed.

The obliterated fuel shed

The saddest thing is the bush –  much of what is still standing has gone brown with the wind and salt spray and whole areas look like Aussie – i.e. dried open bush which is fine in Australia but not here!

The vege gardens are decimated and I had just planted a whole lot of cauliflower etc. The lawns have gone yellow and look as if they have been sprayed with weed killer.  Oh well, at least we were all okay.

The early settlers had several storms as well as rats and goats to contend with. It must have been devastating for them as all their food supplies would be wiped out. Arkwright’s (named after the TV series which I think was called ‘Open all Hours’) is our food store and was undamaged so we can eat ourselves happy!

Shutdowns and sun cards

The upended fire shed.

The upended fire shed

About the meteorological side of things. The buildings here are owned by the Met Service and leased by DOC. We are contracted to do certain weather readings 365 days of the year and send up weather balloons.

This is done by the DOC staff only (as a volunteer I don’t have to do this.) We have a roster for those doing this and also for “shutdown” (which I do), which consists of turning off the computers and putting them in a warmed cupboard as it gets very moist here, turning off the Met Service computer and doing the ‘sun card’.

The sun card is a most fascinating piece. There is a structure with a big glass ball on top. Behind this ball is an area to put a piece of thick paper (the sun card) and each day the sun shines through this ball and burns the card. This is sent to the Met office whenever we can get mail to them which is probably about every six months. It is probably an out-of-date thing to do but I am no authority on this.

Oranges on the ground.

Oranges, oranges everywhere!

Every cloud has a silver lining

There was one good thing that came out of the storm – I had been eyeing up the oranges at the top of the tree (why is it the best ones are always at the top?) wondering how to get them down.

I have picked up nine fish bins of them since the storm with about 150 oranges per bin and the pukekos, ants and tuis are having a ball with the rest.

Raoul Island oranges are famous for their juiciness and taste. They don’t look that great but they taste marvelous. I am making a bucket a day into juice – yum.

Well, this is but one of many experiences I am having on Raoul Island. It is an amazing place and I am having a ball here.

In Auckland, Islands, Raoul Island, Volunteers , , ,
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Raoul Island Diaries: New experiences

DOC on Raoul Island —  08/08/2012

Raoul Island is one of the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km north-east of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. DOC have a small team of staff and volunteers who live on the island in relative solitude. Their main focus is controlling weeds on the island, maintaining infrastructure such as buildings, roads and tracks, and carrying out work for Met Service and GNS.

Since the island is so remote, we get these diary entries from the team and post them up on their behalf. Today’s diary is by volunteer Helen Kay.

A world away

Having been accepted in to the Raoul weed programme as a volunteer, I had a matter of days to organise a flight over to New Zealand from the UK. I knew living and working on a remote island such as Raoul would be different in every way from my usual lifestyle in a city in northern England and it has not disappointed.

The hostel veranda in the sun.

Where we relax after a hard day’s weeding – the hostel veranda in the sun

After spending a week packing gear and training at Warkworth, we departed for Raoul on the Braveheart. Three nights of large swells, the unending feeling of nausea and the constant dread of someone being sick near me certainly made the trip memorable.

We’re here!

Dry land and the warm reception of the team lifted my spirits no end. Having amenities such as a fully equipped kitchen and bathrooms undoubtedly made it easy to settle quickly into island life.

Having said that, there are numerous aspects to living here that are very different from back home; having to keep track of our food usage for example. We are currently left with one tin of mushrooms and are saving it for a recipe deemed worthy. Cooking here is fun, we have to use what’s available whether it be from Arkwright’s (our food store) or from one of the hostel vegetable gardens. Tinned peaches seem to make a common appearance in a lot of meals.

A curious young masked booby looking at us.

Who’s looking at who? A curious young masked booby looking at us

What do I do?

Every week day we walk into the bush and search for alien plant species such as black passionfruit and peach. A large majority of the weeds we find are seedlings, but when you’re the person who happens upon that massive adolescent mysore thorn, it’s very satisfying. Competition does arise when it comes to weeding; it keeps us motivated on those more challenging days.

Very little of Raoul is flat so many of our weeding days are spent traversing (slipping and sliding) across steep gullies and swathes of wind-fallen trees. Naturally this earns some people (including myself) an impressive repertoire of cuts and bruises as well as that well-deserved home brew at the end of the day.

And the weekends?

Weekends provide ample time to do what you want, whether it be walking over to Denham Bay or one of the other huts, relaxing around the hostel, or brewing beer in the Rat & Tui Brewery. When we’re able to, snorkelling is definitely one of my favourite past times on the island.

The view of the crater from Mt Moumoukai.

The view of the crater from Mt Moumoukai

The best bits

It’s awesome living and working in a nature reserve. Being able to boat over to the Meyer Islets is extremely rewarding. Standing in a colony of Kermadec petrels with their tiny chicks or having a masked booby walk up to you completely unafraid are both amazing experiences.

I’m really enjoying learning about the flora and fauna of Raoul, especially the birds. The one exception is the pukekos between four and seven in the morning when they’re at their loudest!

All the new experiences here have impacted me positively in every way. We are half way through our six months here and there is still so much to see and do.

In Auckland, Islands, Raoul Island, Volunteers, Weeds ,
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Raoul Island Diaries: Brooke Connolly realises her Raoul Island dream

Department of Conservation —  07/03/2012

Raoul Island is one of the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km north-east of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. DOC have a small team of staff and volunteers who live on the island in relative solitude, doing research and maintaining the native species on the island.

Since the island is so remote, we get these diary entries from the team and post them up on their behalf. Today’s diary is by ranger, Brooke Connolly, who has dreamt of being on Raoul Island since university.

Tropic bird

Getting to Raoul

After our extensive training and preparation for our stay on Raoul Island we were finally at the Devonport naval base ready to board the HZMS Canterbury.

Our cabin was small and cozy and our voyage was rather rough for such a large ship. We were looked after extremely well by the navy, fed like kings and had guided tours of the engine rooms and up to the part where they steer the boat. I woke up at 6 am on the morning of the 3rd of November; we were due to be at Raoul at 6.30 am. I remember rushing to the flight deck and seeing the island blanketed in cloud for the first time, my dream had finally come true.

Getting onto the island from the navy ship was very fast and bumpy, much like a ride at an amusement park. I was second to set foot on fishing rock to a warm welcome from the current team. Finally; I was on Raoul Island, my home for the next year. I almost cried I was so happy!

White tern

The change-over

The change-over period flew past, receiving and unloading all the supplies from the Sea-sprite helicopter, feeding the mass of 40 people as they worked hard to complete their assigned tasks and creating a new era using solar energy (instead of diesel) on Raoul.

The main task for our team of seven people staying on the island was learning how to run and weed the island. During the change-over period we learnt to grid search the bush for weeds. We also had the opportunity to boat to the nearby Meyer islands to do some tobacco weeding. What a privilege to be in such an untouched ecosystem. I cannot describe how amazing it was to see so many sea birds on one rock. The call of the Kermadec petrel was like nothing else I’d ever heard before.  Yyeeeeeeeooooowwwww  waaahhooo waaahhooo waaahhooo waaahhooo.

Everybody on the island has also been blown away by all the humpback whales up here. Daily we see full breaches, tail slaps and general mulling around the island. 

The island routine

When the boat left, the island was comfortably yet strangely quiet. We were sad to see everybody leave, but at the same time we were all ready to start our own adventure.

We began by giving everything a big spring clean and organising all our food. We are now settling into a routine on the island. We cook together at night time which is somewhat difficult; we have to modify each meal to be meaty, vegetarian and gluten free. All our meals have been great so far and the variety of food is great! 

White tern egg

The plants on Raoul

I love plants! The differences and similarities of the plants on Raoul compared to mainland New Zealand is fascinating to see, as are the plants that are endemic to Raoul, or only occur on some Pacific Islands.

We have been teaching our volunteers about the native plants and the weeds on the island and they are learning to tell the difference very fast and are enjoying spending the day out in the bush.

Weeding has been exciting so far. We have been finding some weeds, which has been good to make sure we are searching for the right ones because the seedlings can be tricky to tell apart. We have also been finding a lot of the native cucumber, Sicyos. It has large prickles and they end up in you!! They are not particularly nice when they get in your ears, or anywhere else on your body for that matter! Some of the weed plot names are very deceptive, Low flat plot 8 is not very low or flat like it suggests, it is very high and steep and full of fallen trees, large bluffs and slips. 

The birds on Raoul

I also love birds! The tui have a rather different call up here on Raoul, and the kākāriki graze on the lawn like sheep, they also graze on my corn seedlings. Grrr.

Black-winged petrels fly over the hostel at dusk. My favourite so far are the white terns at Boat Cove. They fly in pairs or groups on wind draughts up and down cliffs and valleys. They nest in trees, which like the Noddy on the Meyer Islands or other sea birds on the main island, isn’t all that uncommon. But what is rather strange is that these birds lay their green blotchy egg on a flat bit of a pohutukawa branch. It is the most uncanny thing I have ever seen, but also the most awesome.

A noddy (seabird from the tern family)

I can truly say coming to Raoul Island is both the biggest opportunity I have ever had and the best decision I have ever made.

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