My first field trip with Ekos started in the beautiful small town of Taihape, North Island with colleagues Narendra Chand and Mark Allen. During the trip, we tackled a 141-kilometer journey by foot, 4WD, helicopter, and flying fox. Our objective was to carry out a forest inventory for our client ORME & Associates on Aorangi Awarua Trust land. Trustee Jim Barrett helped us along the way. This land use capability class 7 land (non-arable – most suited to forestry) was abundant in natural forest with the predominant taonga species being Manuka/Kanuka.
My adventure began on the drive to the Mangaohane station through to Horse Paddock hut where I pitched my tent and suited up ready to endure the ~7,660 hectares of native bush. Once we had swapped our mode of transport to the 4WD buggies we made way to our first sample plot where we took the first of many height and diameter measurements. Although mid-summer, the altitude of the site meant many layers and hot drinks – but the distance between plots enabled us to warm up fast.
At the end of each day, we thoroughly enjoyed a hearty meal and cuppa to fuel ourselves for the next challenges. When the forest inventory of the mild sloped areas was complete, our next task was to tackle the 35-degree sloped land that comprised our final 3 sample points. We entered the helicopter around 9am after waiting for the cloud to burn off. As I was strapped in, I was excited as I was about to experience my first helicopter ride. We flew over the most incredible and untouched native forest, landing on a small ridge where we hopped off and made our way to Bivvy hut.
From here we continued to our first sample point. The steep slope together with the swampy environment made it a fun challenge on the way down. Before we knew it, the time had come to strategize how we would get back. Instead of going back up to the hut, we decided to walk down the track to the nearest helicopter pick-up point, which (little did I know) had a thrilling exit. As I reached the bottom of the hill and looked behind me, I felt utterly satisfied. The last push was crossing the river via flying fox, watching the water run beneath me. As I pulled myself across to safety, I took in Te Taiao and this amazing experience that I have been lucky enough to enjoy.
Keep an eye out for the next newsletter where I will share details of forest inventories and forest age assessments and their role in the production of verified New Zealand Units (NZUs).
Te Taiao – natural world that surrounds us
Taonga – native/special species