Destroy to save?

I just read of how a hydro scheme on the lower Waitaki is going to benefit the local ecology because part of the project is going to do some habitat restoration. (Read here on Voxy). Habitat restoration = good. But it is flawed logic to say that hydro scheme = good because it happens to come with habitat restoration, no?  If I give you a kick in the teeth and throw in a free lollipop, it doesn’t make the kick in the teeth good.

Similar free lollipop promises have been made in the Mokihinui river damning project applications. Read Meridian here – the dam is not just a dam, it comes with 16km of new tramping track free! Green Party and Forest and Bird appear unconvinced.

I understand that the economics don’t really match in my silly metaphor – a kick in the teeth can’t fund a lollipop like electricity generation can fund good stuff – but surely those damn projects shouldn’t get approved because they promise some relatively minor sweeteners.

Arg, feeling even less eloequent than usual now but I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say.

Mokihinui at sunset, as seen from flickr

Pouakai Circuit at Mt Taranaki

God Save the Queen. A few weeks ago we got a day off school to celebrate the Queen of England’s birthday, and celebrated her majesty’s birth by walking the Pouakai Circuit at Mt Taranaki, Egmont National Park. If you were in NZ you might remember it snowed on the beach in Chch, and in Wellington city, and was generally prett

Team Awesome and the mountain

y miserable. The Naki was no exception, but walking through blizzards provides a good reminder that you are alive. And it makes the hut that much more welcome at the end of the days… and luckily the Pouakai Circuit is straightforward and short enough that the end of the day was usually only a couple of hours after the beginning.

Don’t have many photos from the first two days as the weather wasn’t encouraging to get cameras out, so all these are from the Monday, which was clear, calm, and perfect. The mountain was proud and snowy and, again, perfect all day, the sun shone through the trees and onto the snow, the birds came out to play, and it was magic. I’ve spent only a few days over the years in the Taranaki but not seen the mountain through the clouds for more than a few minutes at a time, so to see it all day and in all its glory was fantastic. It’s perfectly formed but with all sorts of different detail standing out and I can’t wait to go back and walk round it or up it (the original plans for this weekend) one day soon.

Oh, the fun we had

Curling on a frozen tarn en route

God save the Queen.

For Dan’s coverage (and some of the same photos) read his blog here.

World Oceans Day fun

Yay, blogging again. I just celebrated today, World Oceans Day, by writing a letter to our Minister for the Environment. Oh, what fun. Don’t be fooled by that huggy-feely fishing industry propaganda that’s on during Flight of the Conchords, we need to save our seas. This is the message I wrote:

Dear Minister,

I am writing to you to advocate for the formation of Marine National Parks in New Zealand.

As you may be aware today June 8 is World Oceans Day. It provides an opportunity to reflect on the fact that though much of our land in New Zealand is officially protected in various ways, little of our sea is. I – and indeed most New Zealanders – take great pride in the degree to which we protect large portions of our land from development and human pressures, but am concerned with how little we do with our sea areas. I am sure that you are aware as the Minister for the Environment of the very real threats to many sea creatures that live within New Zealand’s waters. The creation of National Parks or equivalents in our oceans would be an important step towards protecting them. Given the huge area of New Zealand’s oceans I do not believe that setting significant portions of it aside for conservation purposes would have a detrimental economic affect, and I am sure that in the long term it would only have economic benefits, as well as the environmental.

Yours sincerely.

I’m not exactly sure if that’s the format or tone you’re meant to use when writing to a minister, and I’m doubtless missing some honourable sirs or other appelations, but luckily he’s meant to listen anyway. Didn’t get a response last time I emailed Mr Smith but I’ll let you know if I do here.

The Guardian has an interesting British-Euro centric article on oceans and fisheries here.

Frogblog an NZ perspective here.

Abel Tasman NP in kayak

Way back at easter time went down to the Abel Tas National Park on the mainland, and paddled promptly off it. I’ve heard from endless foreigners who’ve visited NZ how great the park is so it was time to see it for meself. It did seem a bit silly that they’d circled the globe to find it, and I’d never been. Luckily all them strangers were right; it is great. We kayaked for four days in this tropical slice of the South Island, camped over in idyllic bays at night, spotted lots of seals and birds, swam, walked, played the usual beach sports, and it was fun. Was not a wilderness experience, with trampers and kayakers and watertaxis and whatnot (even giardia) all over the place, but still outside, peaceful and beautiful. Here are some photos of Dan’s, shamelessly stolen:

Mt Matthews

Day after that penguin business we went for a day walk up Mt Matthews, in the Rimutaka Forest Park, over the harbour from Wellington. Another great escape from city life, and another perfect Autumn day. This was my fourth time up there but first for a couple of years and experience and rememberance don’t diminish the good times playing in nature.

First hour or so is walking along easy tracks to the Orongorongo river from the Wainuiamata entance to the park, then next hour walking up the river and watching the right bank for the trademark big orange triangle. And after that, up, up and up. Not too long later views open over the south coast and then the seaward Kaikoura mountains of the south island loom large. Awesome. Then it’s a long and twisted ramble along the ridge and through the forest to the summit proper.

One of the team had a GPS which I’d previously have scorned a little, but look at the data it gives after!! Maps of where we’d been, and even an altitude map. Shows the steepness quite clearly. It’s not very high, a cool 933m from memory, but starting from close to zero makes for a good day walk, especially these shortening days.

This is near the summit. If you look closely at the map above you’ll see a circle where we lost the track then found it again but went the wrong way (don’t tell anyone). You can see why with the thick forest in the photo below… though seeing the sea on the wrong side should have been a good clue… A pretty embarassing mistake for six somewhat experienced outdoors-people to have made.

There was a massive slip on Mt Matthews a couple of years ago, and the track does wind around it. We took the alternative route across the top however, which was a good opportunity to practise the “don’t look down” principal. Luckily it was strangely calm (for Wellington) this day or a few of us could have been blown a long way away. On the way down someone quietly suggested going the long way round and everyone agreed so quickly it was obviously on all our minds.