Little Wellington

I thought this little video of Wellington City by Michael Joost pretty cool.
It was taken during late winter in 2012
Follow this link:

http://vimeo.com/63500144

Wandering the Wellington Waterfront

There is always something happening on the Wellington Waterfront. Now I am not heading down there twice a week for dragon boat practice I decided to go for a leisurely walk instead.

There are pieces of art everywhere, hidden and obvious.I took photos of the ones that attracted my attention.
The bronze man 'Solace in the Wind,' standing on the edge of the waterfront, leaning into the prevailing wind is a favourite of many people. He receives many a friendly pat from admirers giving his bottom a rosy hue. Next to him workers were in the process of  removing and replacing rotten piles from under the wharf.

Writings by Wellington authors are scattered haphazardly about - verses pertaining to Wellington mostly.

Pieces of machinery showing the wharf's past are left as reminders and are attractive in their own way.






The newest sculpture is a set of kina or sea-eggs placed half in and out of the water and are yet to settle in and look part of the place.


A seagull perched on the top of Len Lye's 'Water Whirler.' It was going to get a surprise when it started up on the hour and began gyrating.

                        The Water Whirler looks at its best by night.

Looking up and back to the city I could see "Fruits of the Garden'  cradling the logo of the Datacom Building.


The large bronze statue of Kupe the great explorer, his wife and his tohunga  is important to me as I remember seeing it as a child before it was bronzed, standing in the foyer of the Wellington Railway Station and being intrigued by it during a school trip to the Capital.


By the museum Te Papa are tempory art displays on plinths. At the moment there are rotting plasticky things in glass cases.





The bubble man was out by The Lagoon using the damp warm atmosphere to create huge iridescent bubbles for his own pleasure and that of passers-by. People cannot help themselves and even busy suited types are encaptured and forced to slow down and watch for a while. Behind him I could see 'The Albatross,' a water sculpture that has at time proved a handy place for me to rinse off after dragon boating in lieu of a shower.

The Albatross - a  handy place for a shower after dragon boating!

The only thing I can't relate to is the lobster toilets. They are in a funny out of the way place and despite their usefulness they just don't fit somehow. They are just weird!

Taken Personally - Marianne Muggeridge's Exhibition at Shed 11

The weather has finally broken. After an unusually dry, warm and windless summer rain has finally arrived to break the drought. Time to choose an indoor activity, I thought as over  summer I had neglected the wonderful indoor opportunities Wellington has to offer.
I chose to visit 'Taken Personally', an exhibition by Marianne Muggeridge being held in The Portrait Gallery, Shed 11, which is in an old converted warehouse on the waterfront, making it easily accessible from the Central Train Station. I came in on the Johnsonville line, always a lovely if short trip as you travel through the Ngaio Gorge then emerge from tunnels to a vista of the Harbour.

I had a very pleasant hour in the gallery. Marianne Muggeridge grew up as I did, in Taranaki and her paintings resonate with me. The surroundings of her subjects are things I know and her subjects look familiar. When I looked out of windows I saw the dominating presence of Mt Egmont and so did she as a child. Later on when she returned to Taranaki Mt Egmont is often a part of her paintings, and at times is the subject.
Marianne Muggeridge also spent a part of her life in Wellington and her paintings of that time reflect the city I know.
The people she paints, their dress and their surroundings look all very familiar. She captures an essence of ordinary New Zealanders and their developing culture. Her eye for fabrics and incidental objects surrounding the sitter fascinates me. They never look staged but they are always somehow relevant.
I asked for permission to take photographs which of course do no justice to her work - you need to see it in person and I recommend that you do. The exhibition is running till mid June.

Self portrait 1975

What was on the table caught my attention

The decorations, home made by children are perfect!

Self portrait 2011

 Links:http://mariannemuggeridge.co.nz/index.php?/ongoing/biography/

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2548638/playing-favourites-with-marianne-muggeridge

Monitoring Tracking Tunnels

A female putangitangi testing the waters

Today I took on a new activity at Zealandia. As ship tours, kaka nest box monitoring and transect cutting jobs decline, other work needing to be done springs up in their place.
I was to work alongside another volunteer to learn the ropes and while I waited I strolled over to the bottom dam to see if any ducks were hanging out in the area. I was not disappointed and saw an extended papango or scaup family watching over one chick. The females seemed to be having a gossip while two males shepherded the chick. A couple of pateke were lurking near the grassy overhang and a shelduck pair were ambling along the dam getting ready for a morning swim.

A family of papango

Seeing my partner turn up I walked back to the task at hand.

What we have to look for

Preparation and monitoring of tracking tunnels is done twice a year and is under way at present. I was to tag along and learn the ropes before heading out on my own later in the week or when the weather dictates.
The route we were allotted was on tracks I knew well - a climb up to the eastern perimeter then down the pylon track, around the lake track and back along the Beech Track to the main track and home.

A tracking tunnel - later on a poison or trap will be inserted if necessary.

Every two hundred metres or so we would find an oblong wooden box. Our job was to take the lid off and check the run track inside. The track consisted of a piece of bait in the middle, and two ink pads plus two absorbent blotter papers on each side.
First we checked to see if the bait had been taken or not. This bait is not poisonous. It is an attractive food such as peanut butter, rabbit jerky or fresh meat to encourage pests to enter and leave their footprints behind. It allows us to know what is roaming about in the Sanctuary. Hopefully we will find nothing nasty but we cannot afford to be complacent. If a footprint of a mammalian predator such a rat is found something lethal will be put out to get them. The majority of New Zealand birds cannot thrive alongside mammals as they have evolved without their presence until the arrival of man and his four legged imports. All it will take is a few rodents to find their way into Zealandia to threaten many species unless they are dealt to pretty swiftly.
And that is where staff and volunteers come in. It takes constant vigilance to prevent breaches of the fence plus checks in case something makes it through.

Bait gone, lots of little foot prints, conclusion: mice have been visiting.

The papers showed that indeed a mammalian pest was frequenting our tracking tunnels but it was not a surprise. The bait was gone and there were lots of little footprints. Mice! This is the one pest that has proved impossible to keep out. A small distortion of the fence will open up a gap big enough for a baby mouse to squeeze through. Ruru, and falcon could drop a live mouse inside.

A tracking box with fresh bait, fresh blotter paper and nice wet ink pads to collect footprints

We then removed the papers and replaced them with fresh ones. New bait was added. The food of choice this time round was rabbit jerky which is quite easy to handle. New ink was applied to the ink pads. This was the trickiest bit as the ink does its job well and attaches itself to fingers with the slightest encouragement.
No one seems to manage a round without inky fingers. We dated the used blotter papers and placed them in a notebook so that they could be checked again in case we missed a significant footprint.
We continued around the route finding evidence of mice in some areas but not in others. There were little scratchy prints caused by invertebrates such as weta. In one box there was a funny sort of smear. 'Tuatara,' said my companion. So if you come across a tuatara with a blue or pink tummy when visiting Zealandia, you'll know why!

Almost finished we passed by the tuatara fence. There clinging to it was a lovely large Wellington forest gecko. This was the second time I have seen one in the Sanctuary and it is such a thrill as I have never seen one outside Zealandia in the wild.. Our efforts at keeping predators at bay not only help the birds but also our skinks, geckos and invertebrates. He - well, I think it was a he - was a large beautiful specimen with chevron patterning in a variety of greys. We stopped to take a photos of him then continued on our way to put back our gear in the Ops Shed and for me to escape for lunch.

Pencarrow Lighthouse

The gravel road out to Pencarrow.

Biking out to Pencarrow Lighthouse and beyond is a pleasure on the right day. Going out is always a pleasure but cycling back into a stiff northerly is never fun and best avoided.
As the day was calm I took the opportunity to give my mountain bike a run. The track is at the end of Eastbourne which is a seaside village on the opposite side of of Wellington Harbour and the city. It is open to walkers and bikers only and is a flat ride all of the way which adds to its attraction. Cars are allowed in with a permit. The metal road is rutted and potholed in places so a mountain bike is a good option.

Looking over to Mirimar Pensinsular

The start of the ride piqued my senses. I was assailed by the smell of flax, gorse, lupin, decaying seaweed and salty sea smells. The noise of my tyres through the gravel was loud and my body jarred constantly even though my bike has great suspension. The sea was gentle and the sky clear enabling me to see across the harbour to Mirimar Peninsular and North Wellington in the distance. Matiu/Somes Island looked very inviting and I made a promise to myself that I would visit it in the near future.

Somes Island in the distance

The light houses in the distance, one perched high on the hill and one on the rocks below.

As I wound along I saw the two Pencarrow lighthouses in the distance. There are two because the first one built high on the promontory in 1859 was often surrounded in fog making its light difficult to be seen by ships. Another lighthouse was built lower down on the rocks in 1905.

The Lower Pencarrow Lighthouse built in 1905

The first lighthouse was ordered from England in 1858 and arrived on the Ambrosire in 480 packages including the light.

I am always attracted to lighthouses as my early ancestors were lighthouse keepers. Charles Hepburn Robson arrived in the 1860s  and his son Charles Hepburn Orlando Robson also took up the trade after him.

Lighthouse Keeper Charles Hepburn Robson, my great great grandfather.

Charles Hepburn Orlando Robson with his wife Rose, my great grandparents.

The first Charles struggled to make his way in his new chosen home of New Zealand. Lighthouse keeping in those days was a tough life. A book, 'Always the Sound of the Sea', by Helen Beaglehole documents the lives of early New Zealand lighthouse keepers and quotes from the second Charles' diary in quite some  detail.

I have several copies of letters I obtained from the Alexander Turnbull Library from the first Charles and a couple mention Pencarrow Lighthouse as the poor man writes to Dr Buller in the hopes that he might be able to help him:

May 19th, 1880.
My Dear Doctor Buller,

After sending me to Godley Head to take charge of the Light there in place of the Principal Keeper who was to be removed to Pencarrow Head Wellington, on Thursday last a Telegram was sent to inform me that I was to proceed to Wellington per Stella on Friday and go thence to Cape Maria Van Diemon  as Assistant Keeper.
I and mine are now in Wellington and under these orders. Pencarrow Head is now vacant and they are playing a trick to get me away from my friends and drive me out of the Service. It is not Capt Johnson's doing and I am sure if you could move Major Atkinson he would in a moment give me Pencarrow.
Cape Maria is the most isolated station in N.Z. and quite unfit for me to go to. Besides, they are trying to keep me as an Assistant and are promoting men who are only a few years in the service over me. I feel sure Major Atkinson does not understand my case and I do not know him. Will you write a telegraph to him so as to get him to see me in person? It will be in time for me to do so till Saturday.
     
He writes again the next day:

Wellington
May 20th 1880

My Dear Dr Buller,
I wrote you last night a very hasty note asking you to do something for me with Major Atkinson so as to stop my banishment to Cape Maria van Dieman. I would much prefer to be sent as assistant to Godley Head to going as Principal Keeper to Cape Maria. I am growing too old for such a place and the way in which I am being used is most unfair.
It has been blowing very hard all day and I have been away in the Stella all day trying to land stores at Pencarrow Head but without success. It was blowing too hard. It is now half past six and have no time for a word more. Hoping to hear from you soon,
Yours truly,
C.H.Robson.

Poor man!  I thought of him as I continued cycling along. He collected bird specimens for Dr Buller while being posted at lighthouses around New Zealand and was clearly hoping for a return favour. I found no further correspondence on the matter so haven't any idea if he was successful in his pleas. Both these letters contain references to birds he had collected, or ones he hoped to collect for Dr Buller.

The sky started to cloud over as I reached the end of the road. Well - it was not the end of the road as I could see it continuing winding around the coast, but a locked gate and fencing prevented me from going further as it was Private Property and I was to keep out. Like many New Zealanders, I feel the strip of land next the the coast should be accessible to all so I was not happy to be thwarted.

The coast here is still rugged and raw with no development

Somewhat aggrieved  I turned around and headed back. The wind had got up a little and  rain showers harried me back to the car park. I observed a solitary surfer catching waves, and a group of skin divers who must have got permission to bring their vehicles in. As I left I saw other people starting out, determined to have their walk despite the rain.
I was pleased I had started out early and had got the best of the day.

A surfer dodging the rocks to catch a wave