It was the first full day with all the new crew members on board Tara and everyone was fresh and excited for the trip ahead to New York. It was a relaxing start to the trip with a 12 hour delay before passing through the Panama Canal. Many swims were had in the sun,...
It’s a tricky job summing up an experience like what we’ve just had. That kind of learning is not easily written down in a short blog entry, that’s for sure! However, several things really stood out. The experience of being at sea for the first time was something...
The final week’s goal was to do predator monitoring at Lake Rotoroa and replace more traps on the St Arnaud Range. We assembled at work with our overnight gear and sand-fly repellent, then drove over to the top of the lake with the larger boat Kehu on the back. The...
Tuesday 12th I spent my two flights up excitedly chatting away to everyone seated around me. Just before the plane landed in sunny Nelson there was a shout out to the New Zealand Volunteer Firefighters on board from an emotional flight attendant, whose house had come...
As Aidan and I head towards Nelson Lakes National Park, Jen (a DOC worker) points out the scorched hills where massive fires have raged for weeks. Although I am lapping up the beautiful sunny weather here, the land is in desperate need of some rain. We arrive in St...