ISSUE 6, SUMMER 2012

Welcome to the 2012/13 summer edition of Behind the Scenes, where you can catch up with what has been happening with Conservation in Fiordland. In this summer edition we celebrate 25 years of the Kepler Challenge, learn about Hollyford heritage, and catch up on some of our favourite species. Don’t forget to stick the Fiordland Summer Events programme (back page) on your fridge and come along with your family and friends.

Cuddle a kiwi — the ultimate play dateWhat would your idea of the ultimate play date be? For four-year-old Lilli Hiatt from Te Anau it is playing hide and seek with kiwi and this is exactly what

she got to do thanks to her winning entry in the Kids Restore the Kepler ‘Cuddle a kiwi’ competition.

Six Haast kiwi chicks are growing strong on their Lake Te Anau island refuge. Probing the ground every night for grubs and bugs, their Māori

name tokoeka translates to ‘weka with a walking stick’ and describes their fossicking behaviour beautifully. Lilli and

her mum carried out a health check at the end of October, finding their hidden daytime bunkers in amongst thick shrubbery.

Far from being docile cuddly creatures, Lilli discovered that kiwi need a strong firm hand. Lilli was incredibly patient as DOC ranger Hannah Edmonds located each kiwi using a special aerial. This picked up a sound from the transmitter attached to each kiwi’s leg.

To read back-issues or subscribe to future issues of this seasonal newsletter, visit www.doc.govt.nz and search ‘behind the scenes’. For a printed copy visit your local Southland library, or contact the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre, phone 03 249 7924, email fiordlandvc@doc.govt.nz.

Continued on next page

Lilli Hiatt and DOC ranger Hannah

Edmonds health check a kiwi.

Behind the ScenesConservation in Fiordland

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Lilli said it was just like playing hide and

seek! All six kiwi were skilfully located, with some even found sharing the same burrow. Lilli watched as the kiwi under went a routine health check to ensure they are putting on weight.

Young kiwi are regularly transferred from the West Coast and kept safe on this protected island until they reach about one kilogram in weight. Kiwi are highly vulnerable to predation until they reach this size, so allowing them to grow up on a predator free island gives them a great start in life. They are then transferred back to the West Coast, or given a new home on protected islands such as Pomona Island on Lake Manapouri. 

The recent ‘Cuddle a kiwi’ competition asked kids to share their best idea for a play date with nature. Connecting children with nature in their everyday lives is the first step in the Kids Restore the Kepler project, as children will want to protect what they understand and feel connected to.

Visit www.kidsrestorethekepler.co.nz to see the latest list of ideas for play dates with nature. DOC has also just published a great little booklet designed to give families practical ideas for exploring nature, whether it be in your own backyard or out and about in local parks and beyond. http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation-week-home/teachers/exploring-nature-with-children/

Kepler Challenge 25 years oldThe Kepler Challenge has just celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Held each year on the first weekend of December since 1988, this event has become New Zealand’s premier mountain run. The Kepler Track was not even complete when three keen teachers from Fiordland College suggested a run to mark the centenary of the Milford Track. The logistics of organising an event on the Milford Track proved too difficult, so the Kepler Track was suggested as an alternative and the race was organised. The first race was hailed a great success; the community got in behind the event and volunteered for many roles. Under the Kepler Challenge Race Committee this 60 km challenge and the shorter 28 km Luxmore Grunt has grown in both national and international status with places filling up within minutes of opening.

Community support for the race has been magnificent from the outset with over 200 community volunteers giving their time to the event. It generates a huge sense of pride for the DOC staff behind the construction and maintenance of the Kepler Track to see their hard work being central to such a great event. On a practical level, despite initial concerns about the impact of a high number of runners on the track, there are minimal negative effects. DOC even makes an effort to have all the water tables cleaned out on the zig-zag track leading to Iris Burn Hut prior to the race so that runners help compact the cleanings into the track. Better than getting a roller up there!

The Kepler Challenge Race Committee has set up predator control for stoats and rats around the track, which has been paid for by a percentage of each runner’s entry fee. Members of the Race Committee past and present, plus volunteers and competitors are involved with the monthly trap checks throughout the year.

Congratulations Kepler Challenge on your 25th Anniversary. With the predator control managed by the race committee and the recently funded Kids Restore the Kepler project happening in the area, in 25 years runners may just have to give way to the many ground-dwelling birds and race times may be impacted! Here’s hoping.

To mark this momentous occasion the committee commissioned the long-time race commentator, Noel Walker, to write a book. “Calling them home — the Kepler Challenge Story” is available via the Kepler Challenge website. It’s a cracking read whether you’re into the challenge or not to buy a copy visit www.keplerchallenge.co.nz.

Continued from previous page

Anchor Island kākāpōDOC scientist Ron Moorhouse has headed to Anchor Island to count fruit on rimu trees — this information helps predict if kākāpō might breed this summer. On the mainland, mast years (a year when heavy flowering, seeding and fruiting of native trees occurs) now feed a population of unwanted introduced pests, but Anchor Island is pest free, which means mast years make great food for the native birds! Kākāpō are more likely to breed if they think there will be plenty of food around, so the size of the mast affects the size of the breeding seasons. Chicks hatch when the rimu fruit crop begins to ripen. The kākāpō team will update us next edition on how the summer season is going, and if breeding on Anchor is likely to occur. Watch this space …

DOC scientist Ron Moorhouse counting fruit on rimu tips.

‘Calling them Home’ by Noel Walker – a fun-fi lled look at New Zealand’s premiere mountain race

book on sale now from www.keplerchallenge.co.nz

Published by the Kepler Challenge Committee to celebrate 25 years

‘Calling them Home’ by Noel Walker – a fun-fi lled look at New Zealand’s premiere mountain race

book on sale now from www.keplerchallenge.co.nz

Published by the Kepler Challenge Committee to celebrate 25 years

calling them home

calling

them

ho

me

the kepler challenge story

the kepler challenge story

Told by Noel Walker, Race Commentator

Noel W

alker, Race Com

mentator

celebratingA book for all‘Calling Them Home’ is a uniquely personal book. You may be mentioned but don’t be offended if you’re not. A compelling tale for all, this delightful, anecdote-fi lled, story was conceived as a celebration of the serious and social Kepler Challenge which has unfolded atop the spectacular Fiordland landscape every one of the 25 years since its inception in 1988.

Told by Noel Walker the longtime race commentator, its quirky tone will be recog-nisable to any who have heard Noel’s Kepler commentary. He recounts the efforts of the ‘elite runners, recreational joggers and even fast walkers – anyone who wanted to extend themselves by covering 60 kms in a day’, and of their supporters, the volunteers and sponsors (big and small).

But beware, even if you’ve never been involved in the Kepler Challenge on any level, reading this story may well tempt you.

2249127804739

ISBN 978-0-473-22491-2

calling all...runners, volunteers, sponsors, and the just plain curious!

Long-tailed bat. Photo: James Reardon

Harp-trap for catching bats.

Darwin’s Barberry in flower. Photo: Sue Lake

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Kepler Track Hotspot for BatsLong- and short-tailed bats are New Zealand’s only remaining native land mammals and are in desperate need of protection, with both species now ranked as nationally critical and nationally endangered respectively. And guess what!? A colony of rare long-tailed bats was discovered in our backyard in 2011, right beside the Kepler Track Great Walk!

The Department of Conservation, with support from Distinction Hotels and the Fiordland Conservation Trust, made the remarkable discovery after setting up automatic recorders. It’s a significant achievement for bat conservation, and will hopefully allow protection work to be undertaken to preserve this colony so close to Te Anau.

Following the discovery of the roost trees in the Iris Burn Valley, the size of the long-tailed bat colony was estimated by watching the bats leave their roost in the evening. At least 69 bats have been seen so far, but the population may be closer to 100. This summer, the Department of Conservation have been monitoring the long-tailed bats in the Iris Burn Valley to get a better understanding of the size of the colony and the location of their roost trees so they can better direct predator control to protect the colony from local extinction.

Bat colonies are at risk from predation by stoats and rats, especially during plague years (triggered by a mast year). And unlike birds, once the bats are

gone they cannot be returned, as techniques have not yet been developed for successful bat translocations.

The project runs along side the Kepler Challenge’s predator control line and the Kepler Backyard Birdsong Project (supported by Kids Restore New Zealand and the Community Trust of Southland) that aims to bring back the birds, and now hopefully the bats, to the Kepler Peninsula.

Garden escapees threaten native bushWeed control teams have been hard at work removing Darwin’s Barberry from many areas around Te Anau and Manapouri, as it has jumped the garden fence and become an unwelcome weed.

Ever since the first settlers arrived in the Te Anau basin, people have been nurturing special plants for food or to beautify their surroundings. These early garden plants needed to be tough to handle the harsh conditions, and some of them had all the attributes needed to make successful weeds. They reproduced freely, were not fussy about where they lived and they were survivors! A weed is simply a plant growing in the wrong place.

Darwin’s barberry (Berberis darwinii) has the potential to take over large areas of our native bush and park lands if it remains uncontrolled. The best way you can help get rid of this plant from the local area is to search for and destroy it. An evergreen shrub, sometimes grown as a hedge, Darwin’s Barberry can reach up to 4 m tall and has small, dark-green holly-like leaves and sharp thorns. It flowers in spring displaying distinctive, bright orange-yellow flowers, and its seed is spread by birds.

The best way to destroy Darwin’s Barberry is to cut each stem near the base and immediately paint the cut stem with herbicide paste — this will prevent the stem re-sprouting. Ask your local garden centre or rural suppliers for what herbicide options are available.

Weeds are a major threat to New Zealand’s unique native species, ecosystems and conservation land. The weed problem is one where all New Zealanders can make a real difference. Check out the Weedbusters website for more information on how to identify and control weeds in your area: www.weedbusters.org.nz.

Mountain biking at Mavora

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Ever wanted to be a DOC ranger for a week? Charlotte Thomas did, and being such a conservation wonder kid won her the What Now ‘Whio in Fiordland — Ranger for a Week’ competition, supported by Genesis Energy.

The ranger experience started with a helicopter ride with ranger Max Smart and newly trained whio dog Oska to the Ettrick Burn in the Murchison Mountains to search for whio. With success!

You may remember that the Milford Road was closed because of a slip during this time? Although Charlotte would have been happy enough spending the day rummaging through Max’s freezer of dead birds, Real Journeys were kind enough to change the sponsored Milford Sound cruise on the second day to a Doubtful Sound day trip. Here she saw kea, a little blue penguin,

Fiordland crested penguins, Australasian gannets, pied shags and New Zealand fur seals. All of which Charlotte was able to identify and rattle off facts about. On day three Charlotte helped feed the birds at the Te Anau Wildlife park and then visited the 13,000-year-old glow worm cave across Lake Te Anau.

In Charlotte’s spare time, she makes jewellery, ornaments and decorations from recycled wire. She gave these away to many people she met along the journey, and the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre was not left out! Charlotte made a range of whio figures, which now sit displayed in the Visitor Centre. Some of these are for sale for $10 each, linking with whio on the $10 note. All the proceeds go to the Whio Recovery Programme in Fiordland.

Thank you so much Charlotte.

What’s your favourite plant?The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network was established in 2003 with the vision that ‘no indigenous species of plant will become extinct nor be placed at risk of extinction as a result of human action or indifference, and that the rich, diverse and unique plant life of New Zealand will be recognised, cherished and restored’.

Network members collaborate to protect and restore New Zealand’s indigenous plant life and their natural habitats and associated species. The NZPCN are launching a new website this December, so check it out here: www.nzpcn.org.nz along with all their fabulous resources, information and tools, such as making your own plant ID book.

This summer they open the ‘NZ’s favourite plant’ competition, which runs for 5 weeks. Have a look online to cast your vote for New Zealand’s best plant, and see what everyone else is voting for! What will be 2013’s plant of the year!?

2012’s Ranger for a week

One excited girl getting ready to lift off …

Dad giving Charlotte and her deer skull a piggy-back ride across the river.

Charlotte and her wire whio on sale for $10.

Discover your inner camper at MavoraEveryone has an ‘inner camper’ and you can discover yours while exploring one of over 200 DOC campsites around New Zealand. We know one size doesn’t fit all, so DOC caters to a range of campers and camping styles, from lush forest settings, to sandy beaches and shimmering lakes. Camp in scenic surroundings from as little as $6 per adult per night.

Do you want that quintessential kiwi summer camping experience but you’re not too sure how to make it happen or where to go? If you’re in Fiordland, go to Mavora Lakes Park! The Mavora Lakes are located on State Highway 94 between Mossburn and Te Anau. You will find an impressive landscape of mountains, lakes, forest and tussock grassland, and it’s an area recognised as part of the Te Wāhipounamu/South West New Zealand World Heritage Area — well worth checking out.

The campsite is set amongst mountains, beech forest and grasslands at the south end of Mavora Lake. Look out for toutouwai and kārearea (robins

and falcons). Walk, tramp, mountain bike, horse trek, hang out with friends or go trout fishing for brown and rainbow trout. You can even take your dog for a walk there. A friendly DOC ranger is in residence over the busy periods and there will be plenty of new friends to meet. So what are you waiting for? Find the camper within!

Riding along Hollyford Track, 1941

The original Hidden Falls Hut, 1941

Lake Alabaster Hut

DOC Ranger Scotty at Lake Mckerrow.

Heaps of mud, which will become a nice new track.

Workers building new paths along the Chasm Walkway.

Building the Martins Bay Hut extension 2009.

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Trainee Rangers learn in Fiordland

The mammoth job of maintaining and developing Fiordland’s many huts, structures

and tracks is undertaken continually by DOC. Over the last 10 years for example, most of the huts

within the Hollyford Valley have been replaced or upgraded, and are all amazing huts well worth a visit.

This summer four trainee rangers from

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology

will be working in Fiordland alongside the DOC team. Their first trip will be an ‘ice breaker’ into the Hollyford Valley to learn the basic skills required.

After this they will get to experience life as a Conservation Ranger on the Great Walks. They will be painting huts, undertaking minor repairs, re-netting bridges, clearing vegetation and establishing drainage along the tracks. The trainee rangers will also spend time talking to the public about conservation projects happening in the area.

Chasm pathway upgradeThe Chasm Track, a 15 minute circular walk from the Milford Road, has been undergoing an extreme makeover. The track crosses the Cleddau River to offer dramatic views of a series of powerful waterfalls and water-carved rock formations. The site is so spectacular that visitors were taken there as early as the 1890s. The current track is 50 years old and estimated to have had over 5 million pairs of feet walk over it! Track upgrade work started in July and is scheduled to finish in late 2012. New foundations, viewing platforms, renewed safety fences, and widening of current bridges are

some of the new features. Next time you’re on the Milford side of the Homer Tunnel, make

sure you stop and check out the new track and the amazing waterfalls it provides

viewing access to.

Hollyford Heritage trackImagine if you could walk the tracks our early settlers walked and get a sense of what it might have been like to live remotely in the bush in early New Zealand. Well, you can! The Hollyford Track is one of the oldest tracks in Fiordland. It started life as access from Lake Wakatipu to Martins Bay Settlement in the late 1860s, and is still there for you to explore today. DOC, Hollyford Valley Guided Walks, and

conservation volunteers work to keep the track and facilities maintained and allow us access to this isolated and beautiful part of Fiordland’s heritage.

Conservation volunteers, transported to Martins Bay by Hollyford Valley Guided Walks, will be walking out on the Hollyford Track this summer, helping to keep the huts and facilities maintained. These volunteers will be doing what has been done since the 1800s along this route — trimming back native vegetation to allow a clear passage for travellers, as well as sharing advice and knowledge about the area with trampers they meet on the track.

Martins Bay and Jamestown settlers developed the original track along the north side of Lake Mckerrow. However, failure of the settlements meant track maintenance stopped, it overgrew with vegetation, and Davey Gunn’s cattle musters started to call it ‘The Demon Trail’. In the 1990s DOC re-cleared the track and it was found to be exceptionally well formed — over 12 feet wide and level in many places. The original stone placement to give cattle grip can still be seen and this section of track remains as a great tribute to the original settlers.

The track is used year round as it has no avalanches or high alpine passes. The track has a history of guided walkers, with the first guided walks being set up by Davey Gunn and A&W Hamilton’s Sport Shop in Invercargill. They used horses to assist with equipment supply, while now helicopters and jet boats are used to move people and equipment where necessary.

Access to the track has been greatly helped by transport packages. To find out more about these, contact Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre. The Hollyford Track is a real gem.

Why not head out this summer and explore a part of Fiordland’s heritage.

A number of groups undertake trapping to protect birdlife in this area. Look out for an update on these projects in the next edition.

Testing water for Didymo.

Didymo cleaning station.

Paris Harcourt captivates Fiordland

Kindergarten kids with her knowledge

on bugs.

Mararoa School’s ‘Junior Rangers’

create challenging meals for the kea

and kākā to break into! Kea and kākā

are incredibly intelligent birds and need

challenges like this to stimulate them

and keep them active.

Junior Ranger Cole Hegan, from Mararoa School puts his kākā meal challenge to the test!

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All hands on deck to prevent didymo spreadWe need your help to stop didymo spreading! Didymo was confirmed in Southland’s Waiau and Mararoa Rivers in 2004. Since then the pest algae has spread to at least 46 other waterways in the region, as well as being recorded in many waterways throughout the South Island. When blooming, didymo forms thick mats that smother waterways and exclude the growth of native plants — it can badly affect the entire aquatic ecosystem. Over summer selected waterways around the Te Anau Basin and Fiordland will be sampled for the invasive pest, also known as ‘rock snot’.

Cleaning stations have been set up at lakeside huts located around Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau. These are for park users to clean their gear before venturing into potentially unaffected tributaries, to help stop the further spread of didymo.

If using Southland waterways you are urged to ‘Check, Clean and Dry’ between each catchment. This involves checking gear that has come into contact with fresh water and removing any obvious clumps or signs of algae; and washing gear with a 5% solution of dishwashing liquid to water and leaving the solution on it for at least one minute.

Alternatively, didymo can be killed during the drying process. Gear must be dry to the touch, then dried for a further 48 hours to ensure all spores are completely dead. These measures are effective at killing didymo and they will also help prevent the spread of all aquatic weeds, which pose a risk to Southland’s waterways.

Summer is a great time to get out and enjoy the water but remember to keep your own safety and the health of the waterway in mind.

Clean gear certificate and cleaning station locationsTo fish almost anywhere within Fiordland National Park, anglers need a ‘Clean Gear Certificate’ from an approved cleaning station, as well as their current sports fishing licence. To obtain a certificate, evidence of clean gear is required, as well as a cleaning kit to take on trips to nominated waterways.

Anglers will have to wash their gear at one of the approved cleaning stations, or show that it has been dry for longer than 48 hours.

Approved cleaning station locations:

• Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre in Te Anau

• Borland Lodge• Manapouri

Motors• Outside Sports

Te Anau• Fish & Game

in Te Anau and Invercargill

• B&B Sports in Gore

Kids Restore the Kepler update

Restoration of the Kepler is in full swing. As well as traps to catch the pests, poison bait stations have been activated and are taking effect. The number of stoats caught has remained fairly low since the first knockdown, but rat numbers peaked in August with over 200 individuals caught. This figure has been dropping with each subsequent check and recent tracking tunnels picked up no rat movement at all. This is a very pleasing result. Approximately 295 possums have been caught between April and November. For full details on catch results visit www.kidsrestorethekepler.co.nz.

Fiordland College students have been out and about checking their own trap line, and some have also assisted with

bird monitoring. As part of the education programme, Year seven student Paris Harcourt accompanies Fiordland Kindergarten’s ‘Nature Discovery’. With her specialist knowledge on bugs, she is a wealth of information for the kindy kids and a wonderful addition to the programme. 

Keagan Maynard from Te Anau School has begun giving tours of Te Anau Wildlife Centre to school groups. This is the result of Keagan’s interest in the birds and the many hours he has spent up-skilling himself. 

Six kids from Mararoa School became Junior Rangers for the day, helping out at Te Anau Wildlife Centre before venturing on to the Kepler to check tracking tunnels and traps. They were also able to put their bird call identification skills to the test — something that has become part of every day at school for every child involved in this project. For more information visit: www.kidsrestorethekepler.co.nz/index.php/kepler-area/meet-the-locals.html

Island mohua. Photo: James Reardon

Hamilton takahē. Photo: Ross Curtis

Three- and four-year-olds from Southern Stars Early Learning Centre get up close to a local resident. Getting a feed is made more challenging for the kea by hanging the food from a wire.

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Mohua settling in to new island homeIt looks like mohua are settling well in to their new Resolution Island home with frequent sightings of small groups of the birds by hunters and trappers working on the island, right at the entrance to Dusky Sound, Fiordland.

Sixty mohua (yellowhead) were transferred to the island last year from the Landsborough Valley in South Westland, thanks to a Fiordland Conservation Trust initiative, sponsored by Peregrine Wines.

Mohua are the first native bird to be returned to the island since Richard Henry’s pioneering transfers in the late 1800s. Henry transferred over 500 native birds to Resolution Island in an attempt to rescue them from the invasion of introduced predators. Unfortunately his efforts were thwarted with the arrival of stoats on the island.

In 2008, DOC took up Henry’s mantle and began a massive undertaking to restore the island. With stoat control holding stoats to a low level, the transfer of mohua to the island marked a momentous step in conservation — the first return of native birds to the island in over 110 years.

Once DOC staff were confident mohua were doing well on the island, a second transfer of birds was planned, supported by the Mohua Charitable Trust. However, bad weather has now delayed this transfer until spring 2013. This ‘top-up’ transfer will be mohua from the Catlins Forest and will help to increase the number of transferred birds to a level where a genetically robust mohua population can establish.

Takahē Hatch, Match and Dispatch

Farewell HamiltonHamilton, a ‘gentle bird’, and a real takahē character who loved ‘his’ people and was in turn a favourite of many takahē fans, sadly passed away earlier this year at the grand age of 22 years. Hamilton hatched at Burwood Bush Takahē Breeding Unit on 18 December 1992, from an egg gathered from a nest high in the Dana Peaks of the Murchison

Mountains. He was hand reared at Burwood and consequently enjoyed the company of people as well as other takahē.

Hamilton spent most of his life at Burwood where he fathered 15 chicks

and acted as a foster parent to 51 others before retiring in 2010 to a ‘quiet life’ in the suburbs of Christchurch at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. He and his friend Guy spent their twilight years as fantastic ambassadors for takahē. When asked how Hamilton had coped during and immediately after the Christchurch earthquakes, Willowbank staff commented that Hamilton’s biggest problem was the absence of his adoring fans.

New homes for takahēOraka and Orehou are two pioneer takahē who in mid-September travelled boldly where no takahē have gone before — at least in the last few hundred years — to test the living space at Cape Sanctuary in Hawke’s Bay. Hopefully it will turn out well and we can soon send more takahē to what will be a great new breeding site for takahē.

And speaking of great new sites, nine takahē undertook a marathon journey earlier this month from the wilds of Southland to central Auckland and beyond. Starting at 6.30 am, the birds entered transport boxes before catching a lift to Queenstown airport with a couple of DOC rangers. They were then provided with a seat each in the cabin, and introduced to all other passengers by Takahē Programme Manager Phil Tisch. Another car ride and a boat trip took them to their new home on Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf where they joined four other takahē to form the founding birds of what could one day become the largest population of takahē outside Fiordland.

Published by: Department of Conservation, PO Box 29, Te Anau 9640

Event Details Date & time Location Cost

Milford Track memories

Ray Willett, MacKinnon Pass, Milford Track

Famous local Ray Willett will delight and enthuse with his tales from the Milford track, which he first guided in 1950 and still does today! Don’t miss this entertaining evening talk.

Thursday 3 Jan 2013

7.30 pm

Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre

Gold coin donation — no booking required, but turn up early to ensure you get a seat!

Breakfast with the birds

Kākā

Family fun at the Wildlife Centre. A wonderful opportunity for bird lovers of all ages — come face to face with some of New Zealand’s special birds and feed them their breakfast. Learn how they survive in the wild, where they live and what is being done to ensure their future. There will be games for kids. Come and join the fun.

Friday 4 Jan 2013

9.00–11.00 am

Te Anau Wildlife Centre — meet beside the public car park

Free — no booking required

Above the bush line

Professor Alan Mark above the bush line

How do different plants survive the extreme conditions in our mountains? What influences where they will grow? Why are so many of them only found in New Zealand? Professor Alan Mark will reveal Fiordland’s alpine vegetation secrets.

Friday 4 Jan 2013

7.30 pm

Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre

Gold coin donation — no booking required, but turn up early to ensure you get a seat!

The alpine world

Guided trip to Mt Burns

Learn more about the alpine world through a guided trip to Mt Burns. Come and explore the alpine world of Fiordland with botanist Professor Alan Mark. Take a walk through spectacular scenery and stand directly above the impressive Green Lake landslide.A good level of fitness is required for this trip. The track is uneven and very steep in places.

Saturday 5 Jan 2013

9.00 am–5.00 pm

Mt Burns Track, Borland Road

Free — bookings* essential as numbers are limited

Birds, bats and BBQs

Hamish gets a close look at a bat

The nightlife in the Eglinton Valley is amazing. Come and listen to bird calls from the forest over a BBQ tea as the day ends. Then, join the Eglinton Valley bats and birds team near an old beech tree as they share their skills, and possibly discover the creatures of the dark!A good level of fitness is required as you may need to walk for up to an hour, off the track and in the dark.

Friday 18 Jan 2013 7.00 pm till

late

Knobs Flat, Eglinton Valley

Gold coin for sausage sizzle — bookings* essential as numbers are limited

Experience Lake Orbell

Experiencing Lake Orbell

A magic day out in the Murchison Mountains. Follow in the footsteps of Doc Orbell and see where takahē were rediscovered in 1948. This is your chance to visit the Takahē Special Area and hear about the work that is carried out here.Please note: a high level of fitness is required to enjoy this trip.

Saturday 9 Feb 2013

8.15 am–7.00 pm

Murchison Mountains

$50 per person—bookings* essential as numbers are limited. Generously supported by Real Journeys.

Tickets please

Clive Rule. Photo: Keri Moyle

A rare insight into the sometimes comical life of conservation ranger Clive Rule, who has over 15 years experience at Mackenzie Hut on the Routeburn Track. This evening is highly entertaining for anyone who has ever stayed in a Great Walks hut, intends to soon, or is still undecided.

Monday 18 Feb 2013

7:30 pm

Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre

Gold coin donation — no booking required, but turn up early to ensure you get a seat!

*for ticket booking please contact the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre on Lakefront Drive, Te Anau; phone (03) 219 7924 or email fiordlandvc.doc.govt.nz

What’s on in Fiordland this summer?

The summer months are the perfect time to remind ourselves how special Fiordland is. So log onto the DOC website www.doc.govt.nz, search ‘Fiordland events’ and come have some fun. Fiordland is a great playground and it’s all here waiting for you.