… And the happenings just don’t stop.
Murray Drake came to visit the Lorax Lair and wasn’t impressed. “You need a deck!” he declared and promptly donated $200 towards that end. So what could we do? Martin got on the blower to Andy Cole, builder beyond compare, and work started in earnest:
By morning tea, the planning had been done. What planning?
Ta-daa!
The committee is swinging into gear! The first meeting took place at the Wholemeal Cafe. Of course, there’s a lot to be done to get this project up and running smoothly, but this scribe for one has never seen such a capable, enthusiastic committee. If anything needs to be done, this is the crowd to achieve it!
One of the main aims for the next year is to get Project Rameka covenanted. This will give the natural values of the Rameka property legal protection and help consolidate the goals of recreation, forest restoration and carbon sequestration. Hopefully, the legal protection offered by covenanting will also assure potential supporters that we are genuine in our intentions.
Our number one choice for a covenant is the QEII. They have been covenanting areas of land for many years now, and as far as we know, no QEII covenant has yet been overturned.
Philip Lisaman, the Nelson representative came across on a wintery May morning to assess the property. The photo makes it look like a sunny day, but don’t be fooled. At one stage, snow fell on us while we looked over the land.
And the verdict then?
Philip was absolutely positive about the project. He was extremely impressed by the community involvement and how much had happened already. Way to go, everyone.
The only stumbling block he could see would have to be the 13 hectares of pine trees. We don’t want to be foresters, but the QEII would be even less interested than us in getting involved in a forestry project. Now the challenge is to come up with a really credible, positive and definitive management for those pesky pines to convince the QEII board that we can deal with them without compromising this fantastic project!
Martin Langley has led a few work parties up on the old Rameka Track this month and has it completely cleared all the way to the pines. Here is a photo of Martin, and Spanish cyclist, Ignasi, test riding it.
They are probably the first riders in a century to pedal down this historic section of track, which was once the main route from Nelson to Takaka.
From the pines the track seems to disappear, so Martin has suggested building a new track out to a great look out point.
We will mark these tracks out in late June, when Bronnie and Jonathan head down to Project Rameka for tree planting.
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.
