Archives For Coromandel

Photo of the week: Sunset on Great Mercury Island

Department of Conservation —  28/08/2013

A $1.5 million plan to turn Great Mercury Island into a pest-free wildlife sanctuary was revealed this week.

To profile this announcement we’ve chosen this photo—taken at sunset in Peach Tree Cove, on Great Mercury Island—for our ‘Photo of the Week’.

Sunset on Great Mercury Island. Photo: Nev10 (cc)

Great Mercury Island (also known as Ahuahu) is owned by Sir Michael Fay and David Richwhite. It is located off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula (seen in the distance in this photo) and is one of seven islands that make up the Mercury Islands. The other six islands are DOC-managed nature reserves.

Photo by Neville10/flickr, used under Creative Commons license.

In Coromandel, Islands, Photo of the week , , , , ,
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Not your typical thieves in gold-mining era campsites

Department of Conservation —  21/01/2013

New Zealand has an extensive history of gold mining. The principal New Zealand gold fields were Coromandel, Nelson/Marlborough, Central Otago and West Coast. DOC has as many as 1000 gold-mining sites on lands it manages, and some of these are currently used as campsites.

Grant Jacobs the author of the blog, “Code for life”, shares a recent experience he had while on a camping trip at a gold-mining era campsite. He writes*:

“[When] camping in New Zealand, small items left lying around are at risk from thieves. I was reminded of this whilst sitting on the foundation stones of what was once an old gold miner’s hut, the iron remains of the roof and perhaps chimney at my feet, reading a novel with my tent pitched on the other side of the clearing where the thief stalked.”

Tent across the clearing at an old gold mining campsite. Photo taken by Grant Jacobs.


Tent across the clearing at an old gold mining campsite

“Some of these camping grounds are now, and probably were then, home to indigenous thieves. As I sat on the foundation of the miners hut, my back against a tree, I became aware that one such cheeky thief was prowling my tent on the other side of the little clearing.”

A weka under the outer fly of the tent looking for items to steal. Photo taken by Grant Jacobs.


A weka under the outer fly of the tent looking for items to steal

“Those not familiar with weka might think that they would only steal food, but stories say that weka will steal seemingly anything portable that attracts their attention. Of the non-edible objects, lore has it that a bit like the gold miners, they prefer shiny things.”

Weka have a bit of a reputation for pilfering small objects. They will take the objects to the nearest cover to investigate them. For this reason it is best not to chase weka but to simply watch where they go and retrieve the objects a little later.

Because of its scavenging habit, the weka can be problematic for conservationists. Some subspecies are threatened, but moving them to offshore islands can disrupt other threatened wildlife species. For example, weka released onto Codfish Island, where they haven’t lived in recent times, threatened the viability of the Cook’s petrels there and had to be removed.

Make sure you check out Grant’s full blog post.

*All text and photos from the blog “Code for Life” are copyrighted content of Grant Jacobs.

In Camping, Coromandel, Historic, Native animals, Nelson/Marlborough, Otago, West Coast , , , , , , ,
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Hunters join with DOC to save huts

Pete Huggins —  16/04/2012
Hunters and DOC Rangers at Motutapere Hut.

Hunters and DOC Rangers at Motutapere Hut

By Pete Huggins

Backcountry hut maintenance is being done by local hunting clubs in the Tauranga area through an agreement with DOC. This is great because it means we can do more, using skills that come from outside the Department.

About seven years ago we were planning on removing some of the old Forest Service goat cullers’ huts from the southern Kaimai ranges between Tauranga and Katikati. There are several of these basic huts along the North South Track. No longer in use by DOC staff, these huts were in bad shape and the plan was to simply remove them.

One of the local Deerstalkers’ Associations really wanted the huts to stay. So DOC embarked on a relationship that has culminated in several hut upgrades and a community partnership to maintain access to the backcountry Kaimai forests. Deerstalkers love these huts and want to protect them.

Motutapere Hut makeover

At the beginning of March this year a working bee was held to make Motutapere Hut weather-tight and improve the facilities for hunters. Members of Thames Valley and Bay of Plenty Deerstalkers Associations worked alongside DOC rangers for three days, removing the old iron cladding and replacing it with treated plywood boards, plus a new roof, porch and chimney. Merlin Rohan (17) and Jordan Ogilvie (18) joined Matt Gyde and Kody Williams from DOC to get the work done.

Montage showing the hut and people working.

Iron cladding was removed, a new porch was built and new cladding fixed

What the boys said

Merlin is from Thames and has worked with DOC before, laying traps in the Kauaeranga Valley. His father is a carpenter so Merlin brings his skills and experience to the job. He told me his favourite part of the trip was the good kai provided by Jordan, who cooked for the lads on the trip.

Jordan took leave from his engineering job to help with the working bee and is passionate about backcountry hunting. He told me it makes sense because access to the bush is free, in a world where most things are getting dearer. He said that the feeling of walking all day and finding the hut at the end is a great, great, feeling. He also said that everyone needs to pitch in.  Jordan’s worst moment on the trip was waiting for the chopper to arrive, but I think he was pretty stoked when it did arrive to ferry him up to the hut!

View of the inside of Motutapere Hut

The hut is now cosier and has an extra bunk space

Job well done

This is the fourth and final local hut maintenance job in recent times, all of which have been joint operations between DOC and local hunters. Just last year the Kauritatahi Hut (with the finest view from any hut in the district) got a makeover including a new deck, roof and cladding. In addition to helping with refurbishment of the hut, hunters are now helping to maintain the track to and from the hut, and are doing regular hut inspections. Kauritatahi Hut is now getting much more use from trampers, who are taking overnight trips just to sit on the deck and enjoy the view. The hut book was full of entries showing that the hut gets good use despite its ageing character. From now on both hunters and trampers will find these huts much more comfortable.

Do you have a favourite DOC hut? What do you like about it?

Steel ladder on the way to Motutapere Hut.

The area around the hut is steep with amazing views of Tauranga Harbour and the Waikato, this steel ladder at the summit is quite a thrill!

Thames Valley Deerstalkers are big on community involvement and DOC is better off for working alongside them on this project. Their President Maureen Coleman told me she has nothing but praise for the way DOC staff have responded to them, saying we are fantastic to work with. She reckons the project has built bridges between hunters and DOC, overcoming some of the “communication problems” in the past.

Are you a hunter? What do you think about DOC huts?

Postscript: Trivia about the hut

Built as a goat culling hut in the 1970s, Motutapere Hut has been moved several times during its lifetime. It was sited at Whakamarama and then on the Te Tuhi track to assist with eradication of goats, before finishing at Sentinel Rock which was a hotspot for goats in the mid 1980s. In those days the NZ Forest Service had a full time team of goat cullers for the Kaimai Ranges. How times have changed!

The hut has four bunk spaces and a rainwater tank. It also has mobile phone reception!

In Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Hunting, Huts, Volunteers, Waikato , , , , ,
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