An early start, a brush with the law and a man with a machete.

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Damien Bush Destroyer

Ok I've been away from Wellington for a few days this week exploring a bit more of this fantastic country. Slept in a different bed, very comfy if a bit creaky and hacked a bit more bush down. But I will get to that later. First we had a bit of excitement on Tuesday.
It was meant to be a normal sailing day. The three new volunteers had yet to go out on the boat so it was going to be a good day. The clouds were down which meant that it wasn't as picturesque as last time but at least the wind wasn't strong. We headed out, or made way as Terry called it and got out into the harbour. After raising the sail, Pernille took over the helm. Three of us were sat on the deck and kept getting smacked by the boom which couldn't decide which side of the boat to stay on. We just thought that Pernille needed some driving lessons. Then however after 5 minutes of going round in circles Toby came forward. The steering line had snapped. It wasn't her crap driving! Being the brave trooper that he is he volunteered to go down in the engine and try to steer from there. Jen and I set up a chain to relay commands back from Terry, our skipper. It was quite funny seeing this 6'4" guy crammed in the tiniest space imaginable. After ten minutes he declared he could fix the problem and we set about handing him tools and listening to banging. When he started pounding on something with a spanner we kind of thought the game might be up. 40 minutes later out crawled a very dirty and sick looking Toby from the hole. No he couldn't fix it and we were going to have to swim! Well not quite we then got to the exciting part. We had to radio the coastguard. This was fairly funny as we were 400 yards from the marina and the radio decided not to work. Luckily with mobile phone to hand we got in touch with the coastguard and they sent three hunky police coastguards to rescue us. Well two of them were fit the other a bit more grandfatherly!
We tied up to them. My starring role came when I had to winch n the anchor. Fortunately not as tricky as it sounds it's all electric and we were towed to our berth. When we got back and the boat was moored the phone rang. It was Colin, the head of the project. Didn't we know that there was a tiller in the boat and we could have come back easily! Well what is exciting about that?
So that was Tuesday and on Wednesday we were heading to Bushy Park. This is a native bush forest up the Western Coast in a place called Wanganui. Which we worked out means big river. It was going to be a 5 hour drive with 9 of us in the van. Squishy! It also meant we had to leave at 7am. This was not fun. Toby couldn't keep his eyes open, not good being that he was our driver, and I was on slap duty to revive him if the need arose.
We were going to be staying there 2 nights in a bunkhouse. The bunkhouse was cosy but the loos were across the courtyard which meant either crossed legs or a quick dash in the driving rain and 100km/h winds. We were meant to be checking for rats in the park but because it was so wet and windy the rats were staying in their beds. Also it was not advisable to walk in the forest when it was so windy. There are huge dead trees just hanging in the canopy. These have a tendency to fall just when you are under them! We had this happen a fair few times but usually because we had the job of pulling them down so the public didn't meeet the same fate. In the forest there is a plant called Supple Jack. It tastes a bit like minted peas when you eat it and looks like asparagus. Well this is a huge thick vine that gets everywhere. It completely clogs the forest and we had to cut paths through it. Not too fun because it doesn't like to be cut and springs about where you least expect it. Also it is the stuff that is holding all the dead trees up. So you cut it and the trees fall down. It was fun stuff! Casey was in his element. He had been given a machete and was swinging it with gay abandon. Toby somehow managed to palm off onto me his blunt loppers so I ending up just beating the trees down. Apparently I can look quite scary when swinging a large steel instrument. Jen, Hannah and I were so impressed with our path building abilities we gave each other Gladiator names. I am now known as Star. This being we could only remember 3 of the girls names.
Our guide while we were at Bushy Park was a Maori guy named Robin. He was a cool guy who could tell a story or ten. He is very proud of his tribal heritage and everytime we were walking or just sat he would tell us another tale. They mostly concerned people murdering each other and tribal war. He also showed us how the Maori used the forest, how they hunted and also how they communicated. We all got to swing his bird caller, which makes an eerie sound meant to sound like birds flying. It draws birds from over 1km away to see what is coming into their territory. He introduced us to the Pepper Tree plant which when eaten numbs your mouth and can get rid of worms. Lovely! Casey ate about 100 leaves but said nothing happened!
One fun thing next to the bunkhouse was a trampoline. You have never seen anything so funny as 5 adults all kneeling up with arms crossed trying to bounce the others off. Mostly we all just laid in a pile in the middle. When Casey and I were on he bounced me so hard I flipped over. This was funny to see I am told but v painful to take part in. My neck is still killing me!
I need to remember that I am not 15 anymore! Or maybe not, it was a lot of fun!
Bushy Park has recently introduced a number of very rare birds into the forest and we were lucky to see them all flying about. One of the rarest is the Saddleback. It is a small bird with a chocolate brown saddle shaped mark across it's back. It has the loudest call for a small bird and we saw them flying about in the trees. They also have 6 kiwis. Ursula and Hannah were lucky to hold one.
Friday saw us hack some more forest down, all in the name of conservation, and then head back to the volunteer house. It was nice to see it and have a little space. We stayed up playing ridiculous games and watching Casey fall over.
Today I am helping out at a festival being held at Toby's house. He lives above a centre for Japenese relations. They are having the annual Cheery Blossom festival and I have agreed to help direct cars. Hope all goes well. At least I get a free lunch.
K x

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