Perspectives on Rameka from Corrine

Bronwen - Sep 16, 2024September 18, 2024

After riding the Great Taste Trail and over Gibbs Hill – I landed in Takaka where I stayed for a week helping out at Project Rameka for a conservation vacation.

The first day was a working bee planting some native trees like Rimu, Matai and Totara amongst this immense barberry forest. Barberry looks pretty when it flowers and has really vivid yellow wood, but it’s an invasive species and prevents native species from regenerating in open habitats. There were three different tracks laid out for the planting sites and roughly twenty odd volunteers got stuck in hauling trees and equipment up to get the day started. Another group planted Hinau in places along the Great Expectations track up from the Old Mill Site to help with some stabilisation for the side of the track. It was very steep and slippery in places (even my three years of Pilates classes couldn’t help me balance in the mud here) but the trees went in nicely and should be well protected from the elements by the barberry while they are still young and growing. Years and years from now they will shoot up and be the main canopy of this area and hopefully home to more native birds and invertebrates!

Deep in the barberry grove, there’s some serious discussion going down.

Paul takes out time to check in on a beech seedling

Day 2 at Project Rameka was a slightly damp affair. The rain came in the early morning and so it was a half day indoors at the ranch analysing the weather reports for any potential gap in the rain. Eventually a patch of blue sky appeared and we loaded into the cars and headed to Rameka to tick off a few jobs. The first one was selecting rocks for the trail markers to be put on the Historic Track. This will enable trail users to better report locations for things that may have happened on the track like tree fall and slips and things like that. We picked a selection of rocks from the stream near the Totara Car Park and after a lengthy Bachelor type elimination process ten were chosen to be the trail markers.

We’re looking for flat and large, but not too large.

Alex’s rock in situ, looking every bit the ‘no. 1’

At the 5km mark, there’s Jonathan’s rock.

The next job was planting Nīkau along the bank of the Rameka Creek near the Old Mill Site. The creek was in full flow from the rain and the forest was quite vibrant from the rain drops settling on the leaves of all the plants. There was also some work done on the bridge across the creek and I got some cool long exposures here. Young Nīkau need really moist soil, shade and protection from the elements so this was a perfect spot for planting. They are fairly slow growing but eventually will provide flowers and fruit that will attract birds like Kererū and maybe even Kākā! (There are Kākā in the Abel Tasman which is very close by so it could happen!) After a break for lunch the rain set in again and the last plants were planted and then we headed back to the house to dry off. I went back later on in the afternoon with Ann-Louise to load up the rocks and bring them back to dry out. Strength training for the day done 💪💪

The Sun was out for Day 3 at Project Rameka. To start with, a group of us ventured down to the spur on the Great Expectations track to release trees from the plant guards. This site was one of the main planting sites in 2023 and it was amazing to see the progress of the trees there. The plant guards are put in place to protect the trees from weather and animals and can come off when the trees are about 1m high. The site here on either side has a lot of gorse which I think had a big impact on the growth of some of the seedlings, certainly the ones closest to the gorse were much larger most likely having had a little more protection from the elements. I wasn’t a very good tree releaser in all honesty but it did occur to me I could recreate some of the shots I took last year to see the difference in growth, so I did my very best to do that. I also got a tad excited by the keas calling each other and taking flight around the trees …

After lunch I headed back down to the spur to install the Solar Can with Richard. The Solar Can is a pinhole camera that will take a exposure of the path of the sun. Hopefully it can stay up long enough to capture the summer and winter solstices which should create some awesome effects. I say that with some trepidation though, as I am writing this I certainly hope it is still in one piece given its proximity to the local kea hangout. Richard climbed up one of the pine trees and cleared away some branches to mount the can onto the tree and we used the GoPro to give us an idea of what the angle would look like. I can’t wait to experiment more with the Solar Can and really loved the short exposures I got with the puck while I was there. I think it’s such an interesting form of photography.

After the installation was completed we headed down the track to the planting site from the first day where the rest of the group had been cutting back some of the barberry to let more light in for the seedlings. After a bit of time here getting some monitoring photos my ride was leaving so I had to go, but it had been a productive day all round!

Day 4 at Rameka was another scorcher and plenty of work to be done around the place. Today we focused on planting at various places at the top of the road and the driveway. Before we cracked into it I quickly made my way down to the GE Spur to see if the Solar Can had survived the night. Phew what a relief it was still there in one piece. The first lot of today’s planting was just down a bank off the gravel road. I actually mucked in and got my hands dirty here and planted some Rimu, a Totara and a Miro then my shovel disappeared so I helped the resident Weka inspect everyone’s work and I was also pretty good at delivering some of the supplies down to the planting areas thanks to my handy quiver.

Richard, Nicole and Jonathan in the 350 site checking out the growth of a tōtara planted in 2009

The next area of planting was along the driveway up to the huts. I planted a couple of Rimu here and did the plant guards for some of the Rimu and Beech further up. I had a great conversation with Paul who gave me some tips to remember the different trees. So Totara is the spiky one, Miro looks similar but the leaves are flat and he remembers it by saying Miro Miro/Mirror Mirror (because a mirror is flat) then for Mātai it’s like you look at it and go “what’s the mātai (matter) with you” because mātai grow outwards and look kinda weird. I thought it was a really cool way to remember things anyway. Paul is an avid tramper and clears a lot of the traps around Project Rameka. By keeping pests out it helps the native birds and trees thrive.

After a bit of tidying up, Jonathan wanted to show us one of the first sites they had planted back in 2009 which had seen some amazing growth. Thinking back to the photos that showed the whole area used to be pasture it was really awesome to walk amongst the Totara that had grown so tall. The largest Totara was about 8m high with many more scattered around. The crew got to work cutting back some of the mahoe to let some light into this area for the smaller trees. Amazing to think some of those tiny plants will grow to this size and even bigger over time.

A no-plastic Easter 2024

Bronwen - Sep 16, 2024September 16, 2024

The long Easter break is a great time to get away to Rameka. This year’s holiday was no exception. Jonathan, Bronnie, Nicole Benkert and Richard Mansfield caught a ferry from Wellington to Picton and then hired a car to go across for a week. They had three goals.

To take monitoring photos showing the change in vegetation
To build barrier fence around two deep tomo beside the historic Rameka Track
To achieve zero plastic waste for the week.

The most interesting challenge was trying to avoid buying anything (mainly food) wrapped in plastic. We were sick of getting to the end of a trip with loads of plastic rubbish, so we decided to go cold turkey. That cuts out the majority of products sold in supermarkets, and ironically, most of the longer-lasting food supplies. It’s a first-world challenge really, as you won’t starve if you only eat fruit and veges, and bread and cheese wrapped in paper. It did involve a fair bit of pre-thought and cooking before we went away though, as the cooking options at Rameka itself are fairly limited.

At the end of the week, we walked away with only the wrapper from a bunch of bananas that we hadn’t thought about when we bought them and our ferry luggage labels.

The photos to follow and their captions explain the two other goals.

This area was planted out in 2009, mostly by students from Motupipi Primary School. Fifteen years later, and it’s looking quite different, as you will see from the next photo below.

The kids who planted these trees in 2009 will be in their mid-20s now. We hope they get back to see their efforts some time soon.

Here’s Murray in the thick of it all, standing next to a tōtara planted in 2009 that would have started out about the height of the tree guard in Murray’s left hand!

This photo of the top entrance to Project Rameka was taken in 2010. Check out what it looks like now …

There have been over 1,000 trees planted around this entrance. A forest is on its way, and the birds love it.

Here are Richard and Murray working on one of the tomo fences. These are deep tomo, and we’ve always been conscious that one misjudged step or pedal stroke might see someone tumbling into one of them, with potentially fatal consequences.

For many years, Fil and Albie Burgers would come up and stealthily paint the bridge each season, but last year, they finally handed across their paint brushes and paint pails, and it was our turn to give the bridge a spruce-up. It was harder than we thought, so double thanks go to Fil and Albie for their help in years past.

Great weather and great company made the week fly by. Thanks to the core group from Wellington, who were also joined by Murray Drake from Nelson. Good times!

Our last big tree planting effort

Bronwen - Dec 31, 2023

Since 2008, every winter at Project Rameka, we’ve been calling in the troops to plant out large swathes of abandoned paddock in native trees. Fifteen years down the track, we find ourselves running out of large areas.

In the last audit by Jonathan and Matt, it was hard to find areas large enough for a big group to spend time planting – they did, but only just. So, barring drought, fire or slip, 2023 marked the final year of mass plantings at the Rameka Carbon Forest! This is good news; it’s fantastic! It means our trees have taken hold; they’ve taken up the challenge, and many no longer need our help.

In future, we’ll be focusing on ’boutique’ planting of some of the more delicate, slow-growing climax species, such as rimu and matai, under the shelter of the workhorse species that are doing so well.

Bronnie standing in front of 2m tall totara planted in 2008/09 — *Bronnie standing next to some totara that were planted in 2008/09*

So, the last week of August 2023, marked one final Herculean planting effort, with over one thousand trees being put in the ground. Thanks to everyone who grabbed a spade and gave the native seedlings a new home.

Some of the sites were challenging, as the first photo taken from a drone by Phil Castle shows. The rest of the photos are by Corrine O’Connell, who joined us for the whole week and did a great job on her first ‘conservation vacation’.

Thanks to: Paul, Max, Forest, Max, Rumi, Enzo, Amaru, Sam, Erina, Brett, Helen, Chris, Phil, Corrine, Nicole, Richard, Mark, Marie, Tony, Karen, Bronnie, Jonathan, Christian, Simon, Geoff, Ann-Louise, and last but not least Matt, who prepared the planting sites.

Planting out the steep spur on the 'north face' — *Drone photo by Phil Castle of the Great Expectations spur site – we planted 600 trees down this spur.*

*A naughty kea chomped into a bike seat as soon as our backs were turned. Photo by Corrine O’Connell.*

Planters in the sun on a steep site — *Hard at work on the Great Expectations spur.*

Planters placing plant guards around newly planted trees. — *Infill planting on the upper section of the historic track. The soil was nice and deep.*

*Planting on Rata Spur, so named because we planted a dozen northern rata there a decade ago, and in the last few years they have shot away. Bloody rocky in places!*

*And now on the Poplar slip site. Fingers crossed we don’t have another slip here – third time lucky!*

weka among the newly planted trees — *A curious weka inspects our work, looking for an easy snack.*

Thanks to Corrine O’Connell for taking so many great photos. It was so interesting to see Rameka through a different lens.

A karearea comes home to roost at Rameka

Bronwen - Dec 31, 2023

Rameka was once home to the native falcon of Aotearoa, karearea. Locals can still recall the fearsome flyers chittering as they hurtled down from the bluffs along the escarpment.

karearea landing on tree branch — *Karearea 80 photograph by Kurien Yohannan*

Such sightings are long gone though, with clearance of native vegetation reducing the bird’s habitat and pigs, possums, cats and mustelids decimating both chicks and adults. But at Project Rameka, we’ve just reintroduced our very own karearea – one made from stone by local sculptor Jocelynne Bacci.

The sculpture is made from local Takaka marble. She weighs a tonne … well, at least 40 kg. And of course, we hadn’t chosen the easiest site to sit her on. It was going to take some planning to get her on site without serious mishap. Nicole helped out with the dummy run …

Nicole being pushed on the sack barrow by Jonathan. — *Jonathan transported Nicole to site on the sack barrow first. We figured Nicole wouldn’t break so easily if she fell off.*

Once we were comfortable our method could work, it was time to load up and wheel down to site first the plinth and then the marble sculpture.

Jonathan wheels down the sack barrow with Richard holding a rope from behind to act as a break. — *When it came time to carry down the plinth and finally the sculpture, we used the same technique. Jonathan wheeled, and Richard acted as a brake from behind.*

A rope and a safety rope helped haul the sculpture up to its final site. — *We used a rope and a safety rope to help haul the sculpture up to its final site.*

Jonathan and Richard held the karearea in place while Jocelynne guided her onto her spot on the plinth.

Jonathan and Richard hold the karearea in place while Jocelynne guides her onto her spot on the plinth. — *Jocelynne guides our karearea to her new home.*

Jocelynne and Bronnie sit behind the installed karearea. — *Jocelynne and Bronnie take a breather after safely installing the sculpture beside the historic Rameka Track.*

Mountain biker riding past the karearea sculpture — *Wendy was the first person to ride past the karearea sculpture.*

The next time you ride or walk down the historic Rameka track, remember to keep an eye out for our lovely sculpture – we hope she’ll be calling home more karearea to join her at the Rameka Carbon Forest.

Margaret’s patchwork cottage

Bronwen - Dec 31, 2023

Some things are worth the wait …

Photo of a car and trailer being directed up a grassy driveway. — *Ricky drives the pieces of Margaret’s patchwork cottage up to the site.*

Imelda Margaret Cahill passed away in March 2020. A year later, we received a call from her solicitor. Margaret had left a bequest to Project Rameka.

We knew Margaret would want us to use her donation on something really useful for the project, but there were so many things that could be useful. In the end, we decided to split it three ways. The first project was to build another sleepout that volunteers could use when they came to help. This would provide more space for people to have a bit of alone time in comfort.

Andy Cole standing on site to check the measurements for the hut — *Andy measuring up the site for Margaret’s patchwork cottage*.

We hired local builder Andy Cole to come up with a design that could incorporate Margaret’s love for children alongside the practicalities of a building that would have to stand up to strong winds, lots of rain, and the occasional curious kea.

Andy wasn’t that keen on spending all his days driving up to the project to build the hut on site. Instead, he came up, measured up, and then proceeded to build the structure down in his own backyard, making it in a kitset form that could be transported onto site on the back of a trailer.

And in early January 2023, it was ready! Ricky, Corina, Andy and a couple of mates dismantled the structure from Andy’s backyard (Corina had the forethought to label each piece as it was being removed, thank goodness) and drove the whole thing up to Project Rameka. Jonathan, Bronnie, Murray and Frida helped carry the floor and walls up to the site and reconstruct it.

Jonathan and Ricky holding up the sides of the cottage — *Jonathan and Ricky held pieces in place while Andy figured out how to rejoin them all.*

Then, over the next two days, they painted it to match the fairy-tale design Andy had envisaged. We think it’s exactly the kind of thing Margaret would have loved, and now many others will be able to enjoy as well.

Margaret's patchwork cottage all finished a painted — *Bronnie in front of Margaret’s patchwork cottage (the MPC)*.