DOC’s group of fresh-faced interns recently went ‘out of the office’ and boarded a ferry to Matiu Somes Island for the annual Intern field trip.
Continue Reading...Archives For 30/11/1999
The curious adventures of a California Kiwi! Come behind the scenes and into the life, the job, the challenges and the highlights of Wellington ranger, Amy Brasch.
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Ever wondered what DOC rangers do in a typical busy day? Well, Rangers Daryl and Keith help look after a wonderful piece of New Zealand’s bush very close to Wellington.
Ranger Daryl making sure Papatahi Hut is up to scratch
Rimutaka Forest Park is a 40 minute drive from Wellington city.
From the Catchpool Valley (the most popular entrance to Rimutaka Forest Park) you’re only a 2-3 hour easy tramp away from six awesome DOC huts, with full kitchens—including cookers, cutlery, crockery, and firewood. One hut even has a gas BBQ, inside flushing toilet and a hot shower.
The trusty DOC ute
As these huts are very busy someone has to make sure that they are always in good working order.
This is where Ranger Daryl and Keith come in.
Every month they load up their trusty DOC ute and spend 3-4 days at the huts, making sure everything is spick and span.
They have lots of different jobs to do. Some are fun (cleaning the toilets), and some are less so (having a nap on the bunks to make sure the mattress is comfy).
Off-road
Their day starts early, loading up the ute with all they think they need, from soap and toilet paper, through to firewood, gas and chainsaws.
Checking the water supply
Once they are at the hut they have an extensive list to go through to make sure the hut is okay:
Clean the loos, the gutters, the floor, wash the decks, check the cookers, check the water in the tanks, check the water pipes, check windows, check all the walls of the hut, a visual inspection of the roof, check no bush is too close to the hut, check the animal traps, check the signs, remove all rubbish and of course sign the hut book!
This is done for all six huts. They also walk the main tracks and check for windfall and track damage. I’m tired just thinking about it all.
Last and not least some advice from Ranger Keith:
“Empty wine bottles do not make good candle holders as they can fall over and start a fire, so please take them home with you.”
And if you do take away empty wine bottles, Ranger Daryl guarantees that:
“You will get good tramping karma and it will never rain on your tramping trip ever again.”
Water tanks
So, the next time you spend a night in one of our wonderful backcountry huts think about these rangers who spend their day making it comfortable for you to use, and make sure you leave a nice comment in the hut book.
The six huts in the Rimutaka Forest Park can be booked on a per night basis and sleep 4-14. They’re perfect for families and people wanting to know for sure that they have a bed for the night. They are also sole occupancy huts (meaning you don’t need to share with anyone else!). These huts can get busy, so it’s best to book early.
Haurangi Hut | Jans Hut | Turere Lodge | Raukawa Hut | Papatahi Hut | Boar Inn
By Daniel Deans, DOC Intern
Recently the summer interns at DOC had the opportunity to ditch the spreadsheets, stretch their legs and get out of the office for a two day excursion on Kapiti Island.
DOC Interns on Kapiti Island
Every summer, DOC takes on a small group of interns to work in various roles. This year saw the largest contingent of interns that DOC has ever dared to take on at once, with a group of 11 wannabes working for three months in DOC’s National Office.
Hard at work
Having had enough of us after two months, our managers sent us across the sea on an unseasonably stormy day to spend two days volunteering on Kapiti Island. Home to one of New Zealand’s treasured native bird sanctuaries, we were to spend two days working with local ranger Gen on various island maintenance tasks – getting the hands on work we’d been craving after weeks behind a keyboard.
Weta
The first day involved an invigorating walk to the summit of the island (a surprisingly high 521 metres), where we were greeted with a stunning sight of fog and rain, as well as the occasional weka attempting to steal our lunches.
The journey back down the hill was no less invigorating, having been tasked the glamorous job of clearing drains.
With mechanised street sweepers unsuited to a steep gravel track, clearing the drains involved shovelling dirt and leaves with your boot heel, and bending down to scoop it all up with your hands.
Needless to say the group arrived back to the accommodation rather damp, muddy and exhausted, but entirely satisfied with some good physically demanding labour (who needs a gym when you can do squats clearing drains?). While some retreated to the hot showers, the more adventurous among us thought that the howling wind and rain was the perfect weather for a swim. The sanity of these individuals is now missing somewhere off the coast of Paraparaumu.
Enjoying nature
During the evening (after several increasingly ridiculous games of Articulate), we were treated to a kiwi spotting tour with Gen the Ranger. While ‘spotting’ is perhaps a bit of an optimistic term in retrospect, we did hear the calls of several kiwi in close vicinity, as well as stumbling on giant weta and other wildlife.
Geckos
The dawn of day two saw Juliet and team leader Shannan up at a ridiculous hour – running to the top of the island to catch the dawn chorus. The rest of us dragged ourselves out of bed to have breakfast with the cheeky kaka, who were entirely unfazed by the human invaders to their home.
With the sight of the well needed sun, we set out on the morning mission – weeding the tracks. As it turns out, Kapiti Island is quite the ideal working location, with the crew being treated to the melodic sounds of the native bird population as we laboured. Along the way the ever-knowledgeable Ranger Gen pointed out each bird’s specific call, and succeeded in selling the job of Kapiti Island ranger as a very tempting career move.
Curious kaka
But unfortunately the trip had to end. With soggy socks and heavy hearts we boarded our boat back to the mainland, having had a fantastic taster into life ‘on the ground’ as part of DOC – an invaluable experience for all of us!
By Alastair Meehan, Department of Conservation Intern
Between Christmas and the New Year two friends and I decided to give the Tararua Southern Crossing a crack. 23 years living in Wellington is too long, we decided, to have never done perhaps the most iconic tramp on our doorstep.
The most iconic tramp on Wellington’s doorstep
Despite battling through Boxing Day traffic, thunderstorms, blisters, cramp and the long trudge down the Marchant Ridge, it was a fantastic, albeit tiring trip.
The crossing of the alpine tops section from Table Top to Mount Alpha had amazing views to the south of Wellington Harbour, the Marlborough Sounds and the Kaikoura Mountains.
A large wooden cross erected as a memorial to trampers who lost their lives in World War II
It’s easy to forget the joys associated with the backcountry as the trips become increasingly sporadic, and this was a great reminder of just how enjoyable a few days away can be.
