This post reviews the top posts of the third quarter of 2010. Our favourite Californian again proves very popular, this quarter overtaking A tale of mining, which was very topical earlier in the year. The others in the top 5 traverse a diverse range of themes: Maori horticulture, a rare inner-city oasis of ancient forest, the surprisingly recent history of whaling in New Zealand, and eels – which have figured so large both in our streams, rivers and estuaries as well as our cultural history. Continue reading
New Zealand
The slaying of our kahikatea forests: how Jurassic giants became butter boxes
New Zealand’s tallest forest tree, the kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), once dominated the forests that covered much of New Zealand’s swampy lowland areas. Far from a solitary tree, the kahikatea groups closely with other kahikatea, intertwining its buttressed roots with its neighbours for support in the unstable swampy ground. (It is perhaps for this reason that the kahikatea has evolved with such a tall, straight trunk with no lower branches, to enable it to “huddle” with others for stability). In autumn, throughout the lowlands of New Zealand, numerous forest birds chattered noisily in its canopy, feeding on its abundant red berries. These berries, called koroī, were also a valued food source for Māori, who skillfully climbed up the smooth branchless trunks to harvest them. Continue reading
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The conquest of the “noble” forest of Waihou
On 16 November 1769 Captain James Cook in his ship Endeavour cast anchor off Tararu Point, about 2 miles north-west of the present town of Thames [click here to view map], and made a short excursion on the Waihou River by ship’s boat. Both Cook and the ship’s botanist Joseph Banks were deeply impressed by what they saw. Continue reading
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Landscape and history
Prefacing the Introduction of Geoff Park’s masterpiece of ecology and history “Nga Uruora – Ecology and History in a New Zealand Landscape” is a quote from Frank Gohlke, American landscape photographer and writer [click here to view website]:
Landscapes are collections of stories, only fragments of which are visible at any one time. In linking the fragments, unearthing the connections between them, we create the landsape anew. A landscape whose story is known is harder to dismiss… Continue reading
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Forest clearance in 1880s New Zealand – the views of Mrs Robert Wilson
In 1962, A.G.S. Bradfield published “The Precious Years”, a sequel to his earlier book “Forgotten Days”; both books recounting stories of the “pioneering days of Palmerston North and Districts in the Manawatu”. These are charming little books, in which Bradfield draws on first-hand memories of older Manawatu residents, giving it an authenticity and poignancy that would not be achievable today, nearly half a century on. Continue reading
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Halting the great sand-drift: the “exoticisation” of our coast
Growing up in the Manawatu, I took for granted the largely homogeneous dune landscape of Himatangi, Foxton and other west-coast beaches – oblivious to the fact that this was a primarily man-made landscape. As Raewyn Peart explains in “Castles in the Sand”, the appearance of sand dunes have been extensively modified, firstly through deforestation, and then through intensive re-stabilisation efforts from the 1930s onwards. Continue reading
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The school teacher and the egg – the remarkable story of the Taiaroa Head albatross
In her book outlining the history and development of the New Zealand coast, “Castles in the Sand”, Raewyn Peart relates the remarkable story of the Taiaroa Head albatross. This is a tale of determination – both of the albatross itself, and the man who decided to intervene on its (and our) behalf.
The majestic royal albatross – among the world’s largest flying birds, with a wingspan of 3 metres – nests mainly on offshore islands. Taiaroa Head, on the Otago Peninsula [click here to view map], is now the only mainland albatross nesting site in the world. However, even here, its ongoing survival has been a tenuous one.
The first recorded albatross egg laid at Taiaroa Head was found in 1920. However, before the egg could hatch, the residents of the nearby lighthouse had taken it to eat. Continue reading
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Top search terms for envirohistory NZ
Search terms (the key words you put in Google or any other search engine to find information about a particular topic) are an important way for readers to find a particular website or web-based article. They tell you a lot about what readers of a website are interested in. And envirohistory NZ is no exception. We are really interested in what our readers are interested in!
So, what are the top search terms that brought internet users to envirohistory NZ? Continue reading
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envirohistory NZ podcast now on iTunes!
All the episodes of the envirohistory NZ podcast are now on iTunes! To listen to them is super-easy: just click on the iTunes symbol in the right-hand sidebar and it will provide a list of all episodes. The iTunes page also provides listening suggestions for other environment or environmental history-related podscasts. You do not need iTunes to listen – they can be played using the web-base application. Happy listening!
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The legacy of G. L. Adkin – keen “reader of the land”
The fact that the Horowhenua district has such a rich written and photographic history, as well as ethnographic, archaeological, cartographic and geological record, is almost wholly down to one man – a Horowhenua farmer and irrepressible self-taught scholar of geology, archaeology and ethnology (as well many other subjects). Indeed many of the photographs used on this site are the work of this highly methodical and observant man who took his camera everywhere – including up the Tararuas on numerous exploratory expeditions to map, make geological observations, rescue lost trampers or simply for adventure.
George Leslie Adkin was born in Wellington on 26 July 1888, the first of seven children of William George Adkin, a draper, and his wife, Annie Denton. Continue reading
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