Planting Day for Paparoa Wildlife Trust at Atarau Kiwi Sanctuary
At Breakers we have a few community groups we support – usually through a monetary donation but also through Stephen’s photography and our time when we can. One of those groups is The Paparoa Wildlife Trust and the work they do with the Great Spotted Kiwi found here in the mountains behind us.
Recently they called for volunteers to help with their native tree planting day at the Atarau Kiwi Sanctuary – Kiwi creche inland from Greymouth. It is a completely predator proof sanctuary where juvenile Kiwi spend the first year of their life in a safe environment where their growth and health is monitored until they are around 1kg in weight and fit enough to be released back into the wild of the Paparoa mountains where the original egg was taken from.
Armed with our trusty shovels we rocked up to join an enthusiastic group of volunteers. After a short introduction at the entrance of the sanctuary we were led through the native bush to the base for a safety briefing. We then split into two groups – easier ground for digging or the hardcore rocky terrain. The family groups mainly chose the easier terrain while a smaller group of us chose the rocky terrain and we all headed off to our allocated planting site.
It was an overcast day so perfect conditions for digging holes. Jackets were soon thrown to the side as the hard labour took its toll. No need to go to the gym when you can do this for your workout.
Soon enough it was lunchtime and both groups reassembled at the main base for some good chats over our sausage sizzle and home brought lunch treats. Great way to meet new people and make new friends.
Enough sitting around though – there was work to be done with the job not yet finished and more trees still to plant. The initial aim was 500 trees – or so we thought but that number had managed to morph into 700…. mmmm crafty organisers lol.
The sun made an appearance and our small group were soon back hard at work on our shovels. Good team effort and it didn’t take long before the final tree for the day was planted. We managed to get the planting done in good timing, finishing two hours ahead of schedule.
Fabulous day out with a wonderful group of enthusiastic volunteers and great organisers in Kirsty and George. Look forward to coming back out for another working bee soon and checking the progress on the growth of our new “babies”.
