Camping Adventure

Hello everybody!

We just got back yesterday from a four day camping trip on Banks Peninsula!!

When we first arrived in Akaroa, we went on a dolphin cruise around the harbour. We saw a few Hector's Dolphins (the smallest and rarest dolphin). They were so cute! We also saw a few penguins, lots and lots of seals, and some albatros.

Then we went to Wainui to our camp. We put our headlamps to good use and played sardines in the dark. Camp wasn't heated, except for a log fire in the dining hall, and the showers were pretty crappy, so I spent most of the week with icey toes. But, besides the cold feet, I had an excelent time!

We spent most of the second day in the rain and hail doing herbivory work. Also we went on a little hike on a peninsual and talked to a nice man about protecting the native species from exotic pests such as farrets. Then that night the Lincoln University students arrived and we had a fun quiz and my team won. Ginger chocolate. So that was fun.

Saturday we all went to set up weta motels. The motels are basically pieces of wood with holes drilled in them so that the wetas can hide. We wired them to trees, and in a few years they're going to be checked to see what kind of weta is living in them. To give you some background: there are many different types of weta. Two of them, H. ricta and H. femorata live in the Canterburry area. They have always been found in different locations, but recently hybrids of the two weta species have been found. So we're trying to see where each weta species is now found. ANYWAYS, after setting the weta motels at that cite, the NZ kids went to do more weta work, and we did our last herbivory site.

That night we had a campfire, ate New Zealand smores, and played warewolves.

Sunday we packed up and headed back to Lincoln. On the way back we drove up into the hills to see previously set up weta motels. It was snowing a lot, and the vans couldn't make it up the icey hills, so we had a snowball fight instead. Then they decided that we could just see weta movels back in Akaroa. So we drove there and after a long hike up the hill in the rain we got to the motel site... and found a H. femorata weta! YAY!

It's nice to be back in heated buildings, but tomorrow we're heading back to the snow in the mountains! I'm way excited about that!

For now,

Hilary.