28/29 April 2008
Settlement day is Tuesday 29 April. Eeks!

The nights bring heavy rain, the mornings bring grey but still skies.

We’ve arranged with the original landowner, Dave Edmonson to get on site early – before settlement date. We want to remove some pine trees from the clearing where we propose to plonk the Funky Shack.

Jonathan and Bronnie have been here before, but it’s all new ground for Bruce Craigie and Simon Johnson, who are going to be doing the tree felling. Simon has even bought a new chainsaw especially for this job.

Bruce and Simon study the trees in silence. They’re bigger than the two men expected. Fourteen-year-old pines don’t grow this fast down in Otago, which is where the pair have spent most of their time dealing to wilding pines.

The mission starts. It’s like a highly-organised secret-service strategic campaign. Drop Tree 1 in this direction, and it should clear the way for Tree 2 to be felled in this other direction … The planning has to be meticulous. If we get it wrong, at the very least, it means a whole load of effort removing limbs and hauling away a tree fall from the area that we want clear; at the worst, it could leave a person squished under a misplaced pine tree.

The weather is surprisingly kind to us. What looks like a day for spending in front of a coffee at the Wholemeal Cafe turns out to be a calm, if clouded and misty afternoon.

We work on the tree felling for two days and then step back. Ta-daa! Fifteen trees have been dropped, and we now have the perfect site for a nice wee hut. We can even see a smidgen of the sea from where we think the Funky Shack will sit.

Simon loves his chainsaw. He wants to sleep with it at night … we don’t say anything, we don’t catch his eye. So long as he and his chainsaw are dropping the trees, we can’t really protest. We just give him a wide berth.

28 April 2008
We get a phone call from the Bay. “Uhmm, … You know those doors you sent down for the Funky Shack? Do you have a key for them?”

A key! Who would have thought to check a set of recycled French doors for a key. Who indeed! Dave the builder merrily constructed the hut, finished it off, and closed the doors … Now we have to work out how to get in.

Good one Martin! We always suspected you had skills in many areas. Now the proof lies in the photo. A small sum of money should guarantee that no word of this leaks down to the constabulary!

The Rameka Open Day consisted of two parts – an eco survey in the morning followed by track building.

Over 100 species were counted on the property, with the greatest biodiversity down in the valley, within 50 metres of Rameka Creek (including some really interesting looking snail shells but no snails).

The survey was conducted by Karyn, Karen, Bronnie, Jonathan, Matt, Seamus, Garry and Barb. We weren’t sure of everything we found in the survey, so there is still some work to be done.

The eco survey results from May are entered below.

Project Rameka – Eco Survey

3 May 2008 F = Valley Floor (within 50 metres of the ford) T = Top (above 400 metres elevation)

Native Plants (T)

Native Trees and Shrubs Ake ake Karamu (Cop. Robusta) Kanuka Kaikomako Mahoe Marbleleaf (putaputaweta) Totara Wineberry Ongaonga (stinging nettle) Native passion vine Native bidibid Divaricating shrub (three types, possibly coprosma) Tussock (silver and brown) Bracken fern Lace fern (Paesia scaberula) punga

Introduced Plants (T)

Barberry (not Darwins) Californian thistle Fox glove (ditalis) Gorse Himalayan honeysuckle Pines (radiata) Spanish heather Sycamore Wild rose Woolly Mullein

Native Animals (T)

Small bird with yellow head (?) Kereru (wood pigeon) Fantail Tomtit Pippet Hawke Tui or bellbird (heard, not seen) Grasshopper (black with large head)

Introduced Animals (T)

Possum Pigs Yellow Admiral butterfly

Native Plants (F)

Coprosma grandifolia Coprosma (divaricating, small leaf) Coprosma propinqua? Hebe (koromiko?) Hoheria Kaikomako (duckfoot) Kamahi Kanuka Kawakawa Karamu (Cop. Robusta) Lancewood Lemonwood Mahoe Mapou Marbleleaf (putaputaweta) Oleria rani Pigeonwood Rangiora Red beech Seven finger (Pate) Totara Tree fuchsia Tutu Wineberry Ongaonga (tree nettle) Poroporo Native passion vine Native bidibid Silver tussock Brown tussock Green rush Asplenium flaccidum Asplenium (species?) Asplenium oblongifolium Black tree fern (Cyathea medullaris) Bracken fern Blechnum capense? Button fern (pelleae rotundifolia) Hounds tongue fern Lace fern (Paesia scaberula) Fern (Blechnum novae-zelandiae) Pigfern (Pteris tremula or macilenta) Pyrosia serpens (climbing fern) Sheildfern (Polystichum richardii or vestitum) Tree fern (Dicksonia squarrose or fibrosa) Rata vine (Meterosideros diffusa) Bushlawyer (Rubus parvus or schmidelioides) Muehlenbeckia australis Astelia Gaultheria (probably antipoda) Lycopodium Snowberry (Gaultheria) Orchid (one dark green leaf) Green moss Lichen (grey white) Shaggy inkcap fungus

Introduced Plants (F)

Amaranth Barberry (not Darwins) Black nightshade Blackberry Buddleia Californian thistle Canadian flea bane Cape gooseberry Dock Fennel Fox glove (ditalis) Geranium (fernlike leaf) Gorse Groundsel Himalayan honeysuckle Hypericum Pines (radiata) Ragwort Rye grass Scarlet pimpernel Scotch thistle Spanish heather Sycamore Wild rose Willow weed (Pylygonum) Woolly Mullein Yarrow

Native Animals (F)

Snail shell (brown, 40-50mm across)

Introduced Animals (F)

Possum Pigs Yellow Admiral butterfly

Miscellaneous species seen around Rameka

Hares – seen all along Rameka Road Sheep – removed on 29 April 2008 Cow pats on top driveway Deer reported Goats – several seen 2 km away