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Archives For 30/11/1999

Photo of the week: Biking the Heaphy Track

Department of Conservation —  23/10/2013

Today’s photo of the week is from the Heaphy Track in the Kahurangi National Park.

A three year trial of winter mountain biking on the Heaphy Track has recently finished. The subsequent Kahurangi National Park mountain biking trial 2011-2013 report supports mountain biking continuing.

Biking on the Heaphy Track.

The Heaphy Track passes through diverse landscapes, from beautiful beech forest to expansive tussock grasslands, to lush forests, nikau palms and roaring seas.

It’s a tough ride, and not to be underestimated. It requires advanced mountain biking skills, being ranked Grade 4 rising to Grade 5/expert in wet or otherwise difficult riding conditions.

It takes 2 – 3 days to ride (4 – 6 days to walk) depending on fitness, skills and conditions.

This photo was taken by Jono B.

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Photo of the week: Powelliphanta snails

Department of Conservation —  09/10/2013

Our photo of the week is this beautiful Powelliphanta snail, a large, air-breathing, carnivorous land snail endemic to New Zealand.

Powelliphanta snail. Photo: John Mason.

Their shells come in an array of colours and patterns, ranging from hues of red and brown to yellow and black. Their favourite prey is earthworms, but they are also known to eat slugs. Powelliphanta snails are an integral part of New Zealand’s unique fauna, and were as important in evolutionary terms as kiwi, kākāpō or moa.

Predation and habitat loss are the major threats to this species, although their outlook is improving with DOC undertaking work to protect these snails on the West Coast through long-term monitoring, translocation and captive breeding.

This photo that was taken by DOC’s John Mason.

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Protecting penguins on the West Coast

Department of Conservation —  26/09/2013

By Suvi van Smit, Partnerships Ranger based in Westport

The West Coast Blue Penguin Trust have been busy building nesting boxes for the local population of little blue penguins/kororā.

Volunteers making nesting boxes. Photo: Natasha Perry.

Buller conservation volunteers group helping to build nesting boxes

Volunteer standing with a completed nesting box. Photo: Natasha Perry.

A nesting box ready for action!

Timber and materials were kindly donated by the local Mitre 10 in Westport during Conservation Week and the Buller conservation volunteers group spent a day helping to build the new nesting boxes.

These volunteers are a group set up by DOC. They meet at DOC’s Northern West Coast District Office every fortnight and go out with a DOC ranger to do a variety of work for the day—planting, helping community groups, track maintenance, historic maintenance and an array of other jobs.

The volunteers helped to build ten nesting boxes. The hope is that baby penguins hatch in the boxes and are given a measure of protection against predators.

The boxes were placed out in a penguin colony at Charleston on the West Coast to create penguin homes for when the little blue penguins are nesting. The West Coast Blue Penguin Trust monitors the boxes throughout the year.

It was a great day had by all, bringing together a wonderful partnership between the community, business, volunteers and DOC staff.

Little blue penguin. Photo: Brian Gratwicke.

Little blue penguin.

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Buried treasure on Grey Valley ‘plank roads’

Department of Conservation —  01/08/2013

By Shaun Burnett, Community Relations Ranger, Greymouth

There are still a few old ‘plank roads’ hidden in the Grey Valley on the West Coast. These are wooden ‘planked’ roads constructed for the timber industry in the early twentieth century to help extract timber to the nearest road or sawmill site.

A mountain biker planking along a track.

Planking but not on a plank road

One rainy Tuesday we set out to record one such road on GPS. This particular road was rumoured to have half buried treasure abandoned along its route.

The road was roughly 3 metres wide and consisted of cedar poles laid along it to form a type of ‘boardwalk’ road for the logging trucks.

Walking along the plank road through a corridor in the bush.

Native planks rotting and a faint corridoor ahead

Today, nearly 80 years later, little remains of these roads but the trained eye can still pick a faint corridor in the trees and occasionally you can see the actual logs that made up the road, rotting away as the bush slowly regenerates and claims back its rightful place.

In a swampy clearing, celery pine grows up between the runners, as we stepped carefully between the logs and followed the remains onwards, into the bush again.

Plank road remains in swampy areas of the Grey Valley track.

The remains of the plank road are clearly visible in the swampy areas

After a short 40 minute walk, Historic Program Manager, Jim Staton, led us to his treasured find at the end of this particular plank road: a Marshall portable steam engine!  This old engine was used to drive a winch that hauled logs out of the bush.

The steam engine is in remarkable condition considering it has lain forlornly on its side in the bush for nearly 80 years. The question now is, what to do with it?

A Marshall portable steam engine.

A Marshall portable steam engine

DOC Historic Program Manager Jim Staton is considering the engine’s fate. We could remove it to a local place for public viewing (taking it out of context), or remove it to a place that will restore it to working order, or cut a track to it for public viewing that has an interpretation panel explaining what it was and why its here, or simply forget about it. What do you think should happen?

Marshall portable steam engine half buried.

Small parts have been poached, but it’s mostly intact

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Photo of the week: Mussel love

Department of Conservation —  12/06/2013

This week’s photo of the week was sent in by Teresa James, a ranger in DOC’s Golden Bay Area Office.

Here is a pretty cool heart I found on rocks at Kahurangi Point coastline (on the West Coast of Golden Bay)

Baby mussels formed into a heart shape on a rock. Photo by Teresa James.

These baby mussels are spreading the love, having naturally formed themselves into this shape on the rock. The mussels attach themselves to rocks and solid structures with strong, elastic threads secreted from a gland in their foot.

Send us your photos

If you have a great, conservation related photo you want to share with the world (or at least the readers of this blog) send it through to us at socialmedia@doc.govt.nz.

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