Conservation NZ style

VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Sun 24 Nov 2013 09:23
NZ has an amazing amount of conservation land for a developed country which is beginning to make up to some extent at least for the absolute devastation wreaked on the country by both the European settlers in the nineteenth century and the Maori before them.
On the way from Opua to Nelson around the top of North Island we stopped at Motukawanui in the Cavalli islands on the east coast. This is now an uninhabited Department of Conservation (known to everyone as DoC) reserve of 3.4 square kilometres; and very beautiful it is too. The Cavallis were named by our hero Capt Cook on 27 December 1769 on his first voyage to NZ, he claimed because he was given fish of that name by the local Maori. Cook probably meant trevally, a common local fish (whose Maori nam is araara, so he certainly didn't mean that!).
The islands are nowadays famous as the last resting place of the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace ship blown up by the French Secret Service in Auckland harbour in the 80s during the height of the nuclear testing dispute in French Polynesia. Disgracefully, despite sinking the vessel and killing an entirely innocent man the French state escaped almost entirely unpunished. How long ago it all seems now!  Anyway, today the Rainbow Warrior is an artifiial reef and a superb dive site.
Here is the view from the top of the island looking south:
 
 
Like many of these east coast islands Motukawanui was briefly a sheep farm. Nearly all the native vegetation was cleared and replaced with European grass - a huge task. I can only assume that the savings in not having to erect fences made the project economically viable. But, thankfully from our perspective, not for long. Nowadays it has been bought by DoC who have eradicated mammalian pest species and are allowing the natural vegetation to regenerate as you can see in the foreground above. The island has now recovered sufficiently to be used as a kiwi nursery.
 
There is a single maintained track the length of the island (NZ bush is effectively inpenetrable to humans, so a track is essential for predator control, and this then allows public access) leading to this view at the northern end:
 
 
This is derelict sheep pasture which is returning slowly to native scrub, much more slowly than would be the case in the UK because the local flora has not evolved to colonise grassland - there simply wasn't any for it to practise on! The beach hidden below Ali is glorious pink sand and utterly empty - in fact we were the only people on the whole island.
As is often the case on DoC land it is possible to stay in a hut. Here it is:
 
 
This is typical. Simple but functional. There is a water supply, composting toilet (the green thing with funnel behind the hut to the left) bunk style accomodation and a cooking area, but no electricity and no cooking equipment and, as you can see, a delightful location - the veranda looks out over a beautiful sandy bay. All this is available for a small nightly fee. And as usual in NZ, the whole thing is spotless. I can't help but think that in the UK it would be vandalised, or someone would be squatting in it or it would have been burnt to the ground.