'Red Shirt' Oracle volunteer Lucy helping to place a plastic sleeve as protection against hares and rabbits
On Friday 20 April we were fortunate to have the help of a group of volunteers from IT firm Oracle, working at clearing and releasing, putting hare and rabbit protection and collars on trees along the track.
As it was during school holidays, we had 10 children from four families along with parents, a group of 16, on a beautiful sunny day.
Lots got done, everyone had an enjoyable time, and afterwards, Des and Neil took the group for a walk to the Rata Clearing and the waterfall.
Thank you Tanya and the 'Red Shirt' Oracle team for choosing Maara Roa for your volunteer day!
Flax Care - before and after
Flax Care - rubbish pile
So when the local weavers requested help on a cleanup weekend 14-15 April 2012, our volunteers were encouraged to join in on our regular Tree Care day on Saturday, 14 April.
To quote the organisers: "The pā harakeke needs a bit of tender loving care, to clear, clean and cut harakeke to revitalise the pā harakeke and remove diseased plants."
A whole heap of work got done!
The walk was cancelled due to the appalling weather.
Well, we all "Met At The Top" – and it was great!
An excellent turn out of fit and interested hikers reached the saddle between the Korokoro Stream headwaters and the Cannons Creek headwaters, on Sunday afternoon 19 February 2012.
This was an Event which had been planned since September 2011.
It involved leading members of the Wellington branch of Forest and Bird, along with our Guides Brenda Johnston and Glenys Evans conducting 15 others from the Takapu Park Entrance, all the way up the open valley floor then up steep ridges to the top of the Belmont Hills.
There they met the other group, led by Forest and Bird (Lower Hutt) and the Korokoro Environmental Group, who started their climb from the opposite side of the Park, at Stratton Street Entrance.
Read more about the walk, the reason for it, and view the photos in our Photo Gallery item: "Meet at the Top" - Guided Walk - 19 February 2012.
See the press coverage for this walk: 13 March 2012, Kapi-Mana News :: Group explores green corridor.
Cannons Creek - as a bush stream
The 11 folk who came to find out about the human history of Cannons Creek itself, enjoyed the easy walk on a warm and cloudy day.
Our three Guides, Dorothy, Gillian and Sylvia led them down the slopes of the dam to show the urban impact on Cannons Creek.
What starts as a pretty bush stream unfortunately gets confined and constrained in concrete pipes and channels.
Working their way back upstream, the group passed the man-made ponds with their ducks and raupo, designed to hold back excess water, but gradually becoming silted up.
Then, walking uphill again, through restoration plantings, to the bridge on the Takapu Track.
Here's 'The Real Cannons Creek' with its clean and shaded waters, treeferns and handsome fuchsia trees.
Although Gillian had gone on ahead with the energetic children, the two groups met up again at the snack stop.
After a snack, everyone entered the bush for the Nature Walk, and safely dropped down to admire the larger trees, taking note of all the vines and ferns now growing in the heart of the bush.
Then last, but not least all viewed the little side stream and its cascade, aptly named Cascade Creek.
As usual, the most frequent comment was, "We had no idea this bush and stream existed!"
And to add to the day's memories, we have acrostic poems written by some about their Maara Roa experience.
View all the photos in our Photo Gallery item: "The Real Cannons Creek" - Guided Walk - 29 January 2012.
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