Good Life Down Under

18/10/2024

It's a bumper flowering year for out tī kōuka (cabbage tree). Apparently, it means a rest year or two will follow as new shoots will grow. These are growing around our house but a neighbour recently discovered one with a massive trunk and going by Philip Simpson's book, Dancing Leaves... it must be at least 100 years old. Can't wait to get over my concussion etc and be able to get back into the bush and see it first hand!
Going a tad stir cra cra... but you've got to love spring and the new growth and flowering of our native plants! 😍

15/08/2024

Sharing this post because if you are a bit like me and find the fungi fascinating and night walks in the bush wonderful I know you'll love seeing Wayne O'Keefe's photography and enjoy this webinar. Get into it!
Bay Conservation Alliance
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We are excited to announce the next session in our webinar series.

From the comfort of your home, you'll get to go on a journey into the ngahere to discover some unique flora, fungi and bugs found on the forest floor through beautiful photography and the knowledge of our very own Operations Manager Wayne O'Keefe.

Please follow the below link to book your space and you will receive a link to join via Zoom.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYoceGppzIiG90SyV4z_tXsLjoDxlcvFMVI

Don't forget your cuppa!

07/07/2024

Ya sure know how to put on a show! Found this sweetie on the bank of our driveway! 🥰

05/07/2024

Now I admit... I love my nitecore torch with its amazing UV light. It was a bit of a splurge... but over the last year I've had many hours in the bush at night, checking out spiders, fungi, moss and lichen....

BUT now it's paying for itself! Who knew that snails and slugs also glow?! Organic way to keep these little chaps out of my garden! All are fed well for a few days and then given to a neighbour's chooks for dinner.

27/04/2024

Day 4 of endemic species. Do you know?!
What are the 4 tree seedlings in the second photo?
Can you name any? They are all endemic to NZ
Also it's lovely to see the cooler weather fungi popping up overnight! 😍

25/04/2024

Day 3 NZ endemic plant five finger or whauwhaupaku.
Pseudopanax arboreus
This endemic tree is not related to the visually similar pate - or seven finger (more on that another day) and often naturally hybridises with other pseudopanax growing nearby. (So your daddy lancewood and mummy five finger loved each other so much....😆) we have many hybridised examples growing.
This is a great indicator plant to monitor possum control.

Possum love the fleshy stalk ends of the leaves (petiolules), and you will find the rest of the large leaves discarded on the forest floor. If you see that, it's time to get a trap or gun out!!!

Confusingly, the finger leaves have 5 to 7 fingers. So counting fingers will not help you work out if it's the non-related 7 finger! But the leaves are more fleshy and have distinctive toothed edges. 

Likes to hang out on bush margins and gullys and away from possum. It's a good sign to see this palatable species thriving. Grows to 750m above sea level throughout most of Aotearoa... but less common in parts of Otago.

Not currently threatened 👍
Endemic (only in NZ)
Propagates from seed

⤴️. Did you know that New Zealand has the highest percentage of endemic species in the world!
I am going to attempt to list a species from our place a day.... follow along to learn more about this incredible place we call home.

24/04/2024

My endemic plant species diary challenge...
Day 2: Meet tōtorowhiti...
Dracophyllum strictum. One of around 40 endemic dracophyllum species in New Zealand, this stunner hangs out between Thames and East Cape in the North Island, preferring open areas on the coast and subalpine parts. (My kind of happy places!) Ours can be found growing on sparsly vegetated banks and ridges.
She's a sweetie and I hope to catch her flowering sometime between October to May. Although many are considered threatened this particular species is still safe. Phew
Not currently threatened 👍
Endemic (only in NZ)
Not available to buy as a plant

⤴️. Did you know that New Zealand has the highest percentage of endemic species in the world!
I am going to attempt to list a species from our place a day.... follow along on to learn more about this incredible place we call home.

24/04/2024

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing this inspiring couple...
We spoke for what is referred to as at least 4 coffees to justify the use of the Cafe table! Here is the article....

Carmel started working in Kaharoa Forest (Bay of Plenty, New Zealand), in the early 90s and Graeme began as a volunteer with the newly formed Kaharoa Kōkako Trust in 1997. How did it all start? Do they have hope for the future?

23/04/2024

Listen up!!! I'm doing a personal challenge...

⤴️. Did you know that over 80% of the 100,000 plus native species in Aoteraroa are endemic to New Zealand⁉️
Eighty percent!!!! That's at least 80,000 species...
Galapagos is 34%...

Yes? No? Don't care??
Well...

I can't get in the bush as the moment due to some recovery time from surgery, so I thought I'd start highlighting some plant species where we live....

Day one: My endemic plant species diary...
This is the pigmy tree orchid..♥️🤩
Bulbophyllum pygmaeum, flowers between January and May and likes to hang out in damp shady places on tree trunks or branches. Also sometimes on banks and rocks according to NZPCN.
Not currently threatened 👍
Endemic (only in NZ)
Not available to buy as a plant

Thanks to Wayne from Bay Conservation.... my plant guru when I'm confused and bewildered by info!
Bay Conservation Alliance

17/04/2024

Small things that mean so much...

12/04/2024

Morning magic on the lawn.... all gone my lunchtime....
🍄

12/04/2024

Bay Conservation - Looking Back – Our Stories | Our People
https://www.bayconservation.nz/2023-looking-back-our-stories-our-people/
This little project was the perfect combination of everything I love!
It celebrates incredible people working on the ground – day in, day out - dedicated to protecting and preserving our remarkable native biodiversity in the Bay of Plenty. Get inspired - Flick through its pages over a Friday beverage. You never know, you might just learn something... such as -

Fun fact - 80% of our 100,000+ native species are endemic to NZ - they ONLY live here. (Galapagos has 34%)


Bay Conservation Alliance

04/04/2024

A little story..... and time to stop for a minute...

Almost three years ago we got the concept plans to build this home... today we got our Code of Compliance. Still a lot to do but...
It's been years of bucket toilets and hose showers... years of caravan living.... laughter... doubt and tears.... years of learning....the road has been far from easy...
There have been many times we wanted to give up.
When I was asked recently what I love most about our house... the answer is still the same as day one... I love the bush... the heart and the quiet wise voice of Papatūāuku... mother earth...
This is not our place. We are just passing through. We are here to listen, to observe, to learn and to care and protect the ground we stand upon.
I feel a deep sense of love and also desire to protect... in Māori it is called Kaitiakitanga....
I get so much in return... I learn... I heal and I feel connection...
Kanuka.... well past its 'use by' date but loyally still standing because introduced species have stopped a replacment canopy below surviving past seed stage.
Two weeks ago I watched a mighty tree fall to the ground. I also see the work we are putting in to protecting seedlings means there is a canopy starting to grow. So rest easy might kanuka...
Tawa, kanono, kohekohe, hangehange... all palatable plants... all seeds just waiting for the safety to emerge... That time is now... oh... to see this place in 50 years. This is a long term project...
It is wonderful...
So, it is wonderful to have modern amenities again... but more wonderful is the way that the house does not dominate the land....
Thank you to Diego from .nz and Tracy from for understanding our brief and going above and beyond. This is your home... the door is always open...
And thank you to the many contractors that understood the design...too many to mention
Thank you mostly to Kevin... she's a big job mate... let's not do this again! We are still standing... and we thought walking Te Araroa would have been our greatest challenge! LMOA!
If you got this far... well done.... photos are from Easter

26/03/2024

My boys! ♥️

20/03/2024

Mangawhero Forest pharmacy for a crazy mind!
Four hours driving there, listening to my favourite podcast... and then delicious blob time with .
The beauties that look like wilding pines are actually the tallest moss in the world... grown right here in Aotearoa.... Dawsonia superba.... and ain't they superb! Another reminder of how unique these islands are... can't wait to slow walk the trails around Ruapehu again soon... winter is coming... ice baths in nature, and warm fires with whanau are cslling. 🥰

24/02/2024

THIS.... is what life's about. Had my little helper in the garden today. Second bed done... layer of compacted sand out ✔️ Fresh snapper carcasses and old tree fern in✔️.Topped with soil and compost✔️ Thanks to my helper, Eli, with his dump truck and 100 questions, we got the job done super fast! ♥️

❤️

18/02/2024

Look closely, my friends! WASP UNDER ATTACK!!!
Those harmless looking creatures are a NZ edemic species of tiger beetle.They are dealing to a wasp in my new vege garden path. Find out more below about these rather incredible invertebrates!

I have new raised beds on top of the sandy base where we lived in the caravan, before the house was built.
'Great,' I thought. A nice flat surface to work with!
But.... I hadn't taken into account the blood, blisters and sweat involved in digging out the 20cm compacted sand layer that still needed smashing out of the actual beds to getntonthe soil! 🥵!!!

It seems the beetles had been living in the sand. So they were probably already a bit grumpy to have been displaced!
And now Mr - not so nice - Wasp is getting a serving. (Decapitated and still moving! 😬)
It's an interesting invertebrate! And if they are killing wasps I'm a happy camper!

More info: Neocicindela tuberculata is a species of tiger beetle in the family Cicindelidae, endemic to New Zealand. Its common names include common tiger beetle, moeone, and papapa, and in its laval stage penny doctor, butcher boy, kapuku, kui, kurikuri, moeone, and muremure. Neocicindela tuberculata was the first carabid beetle described from New Zealand. The species can run as fast as 5 miles per hour and are considered to be the fastest running beetles. (Credit: iNaturalist NZ)