Landcare Research is more than simply an ecological or scientific organization. Their goal is “to both protect and enhance the land environment and grow the country’s prosperity.” They have a Maori elder and one of their lead researchers greeted us with a Maori song. This is a whole different way Read more…
We drove South today for several hours, to arrive back at Auckland, by way of Omaha bay, on the Eastern shore. In Omaha, we had a lunch of “mussels” (which I would have called clams) plucked fresh from the Omaha bay by our hosts, Karen and Tony. Karen used to Read more…
Another day in Kauri forest, but today it was more of a rainforest rather than temperate woods. It seemed damper and mossier. There were a number of Kauri with fused trunks. Stan said there were more active measures being taken against possums. We saw trees set upon by fungi and Read more…
As the sun set tonight over the prairie in what Paul Gruchow lovingly describes as “boring pastels,” so too did it set on my time here at Shortgrass. We will pack up and head out in the morning. I have to keep telling myself that I did what I set Read more…
The Turtle Rock trail is rated easy. It’s a short drive from Laramie, and it’s just crazy I hadn’t hiked until this week. It was a Wednesday. It was finals week, and I didn’t see a single other soul on the trail. In snow, it isn’t always easy to see Read more…