Working on Maungatautari Mountain

Here is some information about the mountain which is being protected. My mum helps out once a month to set traps to keep pests out. Below is part of her blog entry about her work last week and some photos.

http://www.maungatrust.org/

Yesterday my friend and I did our monthly trip to Maungatautari Mountain, where we replace cards in monitoring tunnels, around a section of the 47 km pest proof fence, which encloses the exterior of the 3,400 hectare mountain. These tunnels are placed 50 metres apart, right round the interior of the fence. Every second tunnel is just inside the bush, with the others right up against the fence. The section we do involves 40 tunnels. These tunnels have a white card in them, with about 8 inches of sticky black ink in the centre. In the middle of the ink section we place peanut butter. This attracks any mice, rats or other vermon, and once they have walked over the sticky black ink, to get to the peanut butter, they then walk out leaving their foot prints on the white section of the card. Once these prints are detected, traps are set close by to try and catch the offenders. Last month 44 mice were caught.

Bait trap.

Our native Kiwi were the first to be brought back to the mountain, and to date about 22 chicks have hatched. Kaka, a very squawky parrot-like bird, are also breeding well, even though the first six released from the aviary all flew away, but they are gradually returning to the mountain, as their leg tags have shown.

$18 million has been raised to actively save New Zealand's threatened wildlife from extinction on this mountain, and to date the results are proving positive. A large number of volunteers work tirelessly, along with a few paid staff, to make sure this valuable project is a success, not only for us, but for generations to follow, and the future of our country.

http://www.maungatrust.org/

Poll Results May 24

The results of the past week's poll are in.

Everyone who voted thinks this year's rainy season will last less than two weeks. I hope the poll result is accurate.

This week's poll has been updated, so cast your vote.

Trees Are Our Friends

You may have seen in today's Chunichi newspaper about tree climbing at Chubu University yesterday with John Gathright.

My son took part and climbed up about 5 meters by himself - he's only six years old. He had a great time, along with everyone else, even though it was quite a challenge for the little kids.

My son is wearing the blue helmet in this photo. Next time I want to have a try, too. These days we need to look after our trees and nature, and tree climbing is a great way to have fun and challenge yourself, while at the same time, appreciating what Mother Nature provides for us. Check out www.treeclimbingjapan.org

New Additions

You may have noticed some new parts to the site. If not, have a look around while reading the entries.

1. Twitter entries - follow us, ask a question or just let everyone what you are doing.

2. Links - some favorites to share with you. I'll add some more you may find useful. Let me know if there is site you want to link here.

3. Poll - I'll ask a question each week. Vote for the answer of your choice and see each Tuesday which is the most popular. This week asks about the upcoming rainy season.

Looking forward to blog entries, comments or tweets.

By the way, the colorful wall above can be found near PARCO in Sakae.

'Before' Picture of Motorcyclist

Here's what the motorcycling skeleton in yesterday's video looked like before he lost his skin.

And here are some photos to go with the post from mum about her hike last weekend.

----Looking out from the top of Mt. Pureora towards Mt. Ruapehu in the middle of the North Island. Can't see any snow, but won't be long and it will be all white.

----A magnificient native NZ Totara tree, 40 meters high and estimated to be between 1750-1850 years old.

Tramping in Pureora Forest - NZ

Last sunday I travelled to Pureora Forest, with the Te Kuiti Tramping Club, for a day in the bush. Pureora is a 2 hour drive from Te Awamutu. Our first stop was at Link Road, and from here we walked up through the beautiful bush, crossing a couple of small creeks, heading to the trig at the top of the mountain. The birds were singing loudly in the trees above us. These were mainly Kaka, Tuis and Fantails, all natives of NZ. And occasionally we would here the familiar swishing sound of a large fat pigeon flying from tree to tree.

Eventually we came out of the bush into the open spaces, and there in our view was the trig. To-day the weather was very kind to us - no wind, no rain, no clouds and no sleet, all of which we experienced on our last trip up this mountain. Needless to say, the view in all directions was exceptional. Mt. Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe in the centre of the North Island, looked almost at our feet. Mt. Egmont, further down the west coast, stood out looking very much like Mt. Fuji, and to the north were Maungatautari, Kariori, Kakepuka and Te Aroha. The view was so magnificent we decided to make it our early lunch spot.

Reluctantly, we decided it was time to head back down the mountain, then we drove to a tall lookout tower, which has been built in the bush, allowing people to climb up 8 flights of very steep steps, and look out on the canopy of the bush. The large old totara trees still towered above us, but we could look down into the centre of ponga trees.

From here it was a short drive to see another very old, and large totara tree. This old giant was estimated to be between 1750 - 1850 years old, and had a girth of 4 metres. Fortunately, this one managed to escape the bushmen's axes years ago, when they felled and milled a large percentage of our native trees. Today these trees are protected, and incur a hefty fine for anyone caught felling them.

And then it was time to head back to the cars, kick off our tramping boots, and make our way back to Te Awamutu. We all felt reluctant to leave this beautiful bush on such a perfect day, but promised ourselves we would return again, and hope that our next visit would be as perfect as this day was. Thank-you weather gods. You got it right this time!

Watch out for motorcyclists!

Fresh fun sent from my mum in NZ. No its not her riding the bike - she's way more lively. I'm not sure which country its in, but they don't speak English. Doesn't matter anyway. I think this is how they stop people writing graffiti on the cemetery wall.

Twitter your time away

As you may see on the side of the blog, I've set up the M.E.C twitter account. Let's follow each other, but try not to go round in circles. Any messages, long or short are more than welcome.

Thanks, also for the comments. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night. We had a good Golden Week. The picture in last night's blog is of Harry (maybe not his real name) the sea turtle at Toba Aquarium. Very cool place and nice to visit Toba again after 21 years. Looking forward to a boat cruise and swim in summer.

What the.....?

Missing in action for almost six months, Mark returns to the blog realm to kick-start things, thanks to motivating students.

There's been lots happening recently, particularly the startup of new independent classes with a great bunch of students.

To keep up with the new burst of life, we're going to start tweeting, so let's keep things moving fast and fresh. Share your photos or long stories here, or follow us with a quick message on Twitter (once we've got it up and running soon).