3200 - Okahukura bait station filling

3200 - Okahukura bait station filling

This is time to give back to the environment- again! The kokako breeding season will begin in Pureora about late October so we need to have the rat numbers as low as possible by that time

We can organise club transport or you can come in your own vehicle/carpool. Feel free to bring as many people as you would like. Juniors (>10yrs) are welcome but should have a parent or guardian with them.

Accommodation for the weekend will be at the Lions Lodge at the end of Gully road in North Pureora forest. The lodge sleeps 50 people but you can also pitch a tent on the adjacent grassed area, or even bring your campervan and park it there too. There is a large reasonably well-equipped kitchen (not a lot of microwave equipment though) and hot & cold showers.

You will need to bring all the food & refreshments you would need for the weekend, water bottle, tramping boots, raincoat (but of course it won’t do that!), weekend pack, gardening gloves if you have some. This is not tough work so you’ll be able to enjoy a lovely day in a beautiful forest.

Your hosts, the Pirongia Restoration Society will supply tea, coffee, milk, milo & sugar, as well as some treats for you at the end of your field work. To earn the opportunity to have some treats you will be asked to carry 5-8kg of bait and distribute it to bait stations along 2-3 baitlines for which you will be given a map, a teammate who has done this kind of work in the past, a hi-vis vest, with a PLB, compass, & first aid kit/team as well as disposable gloves and masks should you wish to use them.

We will travel a further 14km from the Lodge to the starting point so will need to be ready to move out by 7.30am on Saturday morning. There are 42 lines/958 bait stations to visit. With lots of people we can complete the task in a single day but any leftover lines will be visited on Sunday morning. You will be asked to be back at the base (where the treats will be) by 3.30pm so it shouldn’t be a long day. If you get back too early you might get that 3rd line assigned to you.

And why help out? Think of a beautiful forest, wonderful bird sounds from parakeets, kokako, kaka, tui, whiteheads, falcon, tomtits, grey warblers, chaffinches, and the chance to just wander along looking and listening.

There is the beautiful Waipapa loop walk which begins beside the lodge and takes about an hour to walk. Many a good photo has been taken on this track. It can be walked (or run) when you return to the lodge at the end of Saturday’s work or at night-time or perhaps on Sunday morning. 

We will give the Lodge a good clean before we leave. The Pirongia Society will cover the cost of the accommodation. 

Leader:	Dianne & Selwyn June	Phone:	07 843066 or 0274978151
Grade:	E/M	Email:	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Transport:	Senior Member $65-75		Non Member +$10