Here are a few more pictures from New Zealand.

An Early Farewell to New Zealand

We left New Zealand 6 weeks early, in mid-February, because of a family health crisis.  Alan's mother was suddenly diaganosed with ovarian cancer in early January.   During January, we called home almost everyday to monitor and provide support.

   

Although his parents said continue the trip, by early February, it was clear they needed our help to deal with recovery and chemo -

It was a difficult decision, but going home was the right one.  We left our new Kiwi friends with the promise to return, perhaps next summer, ie. our winter.  Alan still dreams of hiking the Milford Track in Fiordland.

So we are living in Philadelphia, probably for a couple of months, helping to take care of Alan's parents - and starting to plan our next adventure.  If all goes well, we will be in (some or all) France, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Holland this summer.   

Alan and Cyane

Hugh Wilson and Hinewai Team

Hinewai: Photos

Jan 20 - Feb 3, 2008: Hinewai Reserve Overview

Alan and Cyane were fortunate to spend two weeks at Hinewai Nature Reserve, a 1,200 hectare/2,900 acre protected area on Banks Peninsula, southeast of Christchurch.

Hugh Wilson, Preserve Manager, is a preeminent botanist of New Zealand. He has authored three botanical guides and is at work on the fourth. He has spent the last 20 years leading the effort to acquire degraded farmland on this corner of Banks Peninsula and regenerate native "bush," the original mixed New Zealand Beech-Conifer-Hardwood forest.

The Hinewai approach to regenerating native forest is "Minimal Interference Management." Close observation of a particular site identifies serious problems that can be positively affected. As Hugh puts it, humans are bungling idiots, who often cause problems, even when trying to help the land. The Hinewai approach is to leave nature to repair things where possible, and to help the process where necessary.

Example: Gorse is a thorny legume originally brought to New Zealand as a living fence. It has become a weed of open ground and farmers spend untold hours and millions to spray and bulldoze it. Hugh has figured out that gorse, like many weeds, thrives on high light and disturbance levels. At Hinewai, gorse is used as a nurse crop for native trees, that shade it out over time. Eventually the gorse dies out as part of the natural succession! Hugh reckons that gorse is actually an ally, in that it had diminished land values enough to allow for purchase and preservation; also, it acts as a nurse crop and pioneer colonizer, while diminishing over time.

There are, of course, problems that cannot just be left to nature: a handful of introduced invasive plants and introduced browsing animals. The persistent plant pests are eradicated when found: Monterey Pine, Sycamore Maple, and Clematis vitalba. Goats and sheep have been fenced out of Hinewai and there is an active Australian possum eradication program. Also, wildfires are controlled, as they set back the succession of natural regeneration.

Minimum Interference Management at Hinewai aims to support natural succession, allowing revegetation to restore forest cover similar to what prevailed before human interference. "Nature comes first, people second in this process."

Hinewai appears successful on many levels. It has grown from 100 to over 1,200 hectares since 1987 and this is land that will be preserved forever. The cover of native vegetation has grown from about 5% to over 60%. As predicted, gorse is disappearing when shaded out by native trees. Remnant patches of bush in gullies have spread their seed through abundant birds. The site is exhaustively studied and documented. Visitors are invited (on foot only), and thousands come. There are good relations with the community and surrounding farmers. An expanding membership base of more than 1,200 supports the Trust through donations.

Spending time with Hugh Wilson is akin to a visit with Charles Darwin, both being keen naturalists with encyclopedic knowledge and thoughtful insights. Hugh has added dashes of both Karl and Groucho Marx: a wonderful sense of humor lightens a clear dedication to social justice. No cars are allowed at Hinewai and muscle power is employed rather than fossil fuels. Hugh, at 62, goes everywhere on a bike, bus, or train.

Nature first, people second. No cars. Muscle power when possible. Know your site. Interfere as little as possible. Work with nature. It is eyeopening to experience how these principals are succeeding at Hinewai.

Hinewai is not on the internet. There is a book of Hugh Wilson's writings on the first 20 years: Notes of a Naturalist. If you want to support Hinewai and receive the wonderful newsletter, send a check to the Maurice White Native Forest Trust to:
Hugh Wilson
Hinewai Reserve
632 Long Bay Road
Akaroa 7583
New Zealand

New Zealand January 1-19: The People

People have been very kind to us, before and after travelling.

Manfred from Germany, who liked to cycle 150 miles a day, was strong and generous.

Ann and George, two folks in their late 60s from England and who live on a houseboat were fine company at Murchison.

Julia and Brian, Kiwis from Waikari, took good care of us at The Cyclists' Retreat.

Paul, a Kiwi and a serious cyclist from Christchurch, used ace mechanic skills to upgrade Cyane's bike. We met Paul and his wife in Auckland - and hooked up with them when we arrived in Christchurch.

We miss everyone at home. More soon.

New Zealand Jan 1-19, 2008: The Plants

Cyane here with an update on biking in New Zealand, the land of volcanic mountains, ferns, and clouds.


Alan shows biking form on the trip from Picton to Christchurch, South Island.
Lewis Pass is 912 meters.

Most of the native forest of New Zealand has been logged. See below left. The tree ferns and New Zealand flax have been introduced into the horticultural trade.

See other Jan 19 post to meet some of the people we've met on the road...

December 2007

It has been eighteen years since Alan's nine month bike trip to India and Nepal and twentyone years since Cyane travelled internationally, working on organic farms. Alan likes to travel for an extended period every so often; for adventure, challenge, exploration, to get in shape, and take stock of life. Cyane wanted to visit friends. The unifying goals we came up with together are: Learning languages, exploring communities and design, visiting friends, exercise, and figuring out how (and where) to spend the next decade.

We spent most of 2007 preparing to travel. Here is a brief outline of how we prepared...

1) Sell House if possible

At the beginning of 2007, we owned two houses. By the end of the year, one was sold and the other was ready to put on the market. The house we sold was a mid-century modern in Columbus, OH designed by apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright. See article by Florence Williams on Rush Creek Village, from June 24, 2004 edition of the New York Times. The other house is an 1840 farmhouse in the rolling farm land of eastern Pennsylvania. Photo We intend to put it on the market in April 2008. (Anyone interested in a wonderful old farmhouse?)

2. Reduce possessions

We downsized, gave away loads of clothes and books. The rest of our 'stuff' was compressed into a storage cube in Columbus along with the '96 Dodge Pickup.

3. Eliminate old accounts and bills

By selling the Columbus house, we managed to eliminate ten monthly utilities and two bank accounts. We decided to go without a landline, DSL or Cable while travelling.

4. Consolidate remaining accounts and set up automatic bill pay.

We still have some bills to pay (and we still have to eat). We opened a Bank of America checking because it seemed to have the widest reach domestically and internationally. Set up an automatic deposit into this checking account. Credit card and other bills went on automatic pay.

5. Find Health Insurance

This process took six months. Health insurance is tied to a geographic address, so when you move, health insurance has to be looked at and very possibly changed. Alan was turned down by the first company we tried. We ended up choosing a traditional indemnity plan (guaranteed issue) in Pennsylvania...Highmark Blue Shield Classic Blue. Setting up automatic payment took almost four months.

6. Set up a mail address

There are pay services called 'private mail boxes or PMBs'. They provide a mailing address and forwarding services. Popular sites for retirees are South Dakota and Florida because of favorable tax regs. We were fortunate because Alan's parents were willing to be our PMB. Voting, driver's licence, and insurance all tie to mailing address.

7. Set up email and phone for wide access

We need to be available from pretty much anywhere. We have chosen not to carry a computer for the time being but to rely on libraries and internet cafes. We chose ATT as the carrier with the widest international coverage and bought two quad-band phones (see Wikipedia's entries on quad band, mobile phone, and cellular frequencies). Cyane's is a 'smart phone' that has email and internet.

8. Documents and IDs

We got passports (which can take a couple of months to process). We will also carry a state driver's license, credit card, two debit cards and health insurance card.

9. Select a bike

We intend to travel on bikes. Steel touring bikes are rugged, weldable, have braze-ons for racks and water bottles, but there aren't many options. We both chose the Burley Vagabond, from Burley Design Cooperative in Eugene, OR. One is red the other is green. (Sounds like Christmas.) We love the bikes. Unfortunately, Burley stopped making bikes in 2006.

10. Collect Touring Gear

The goal is to travel with what can be carried on a bike: rear panniers, rear rack, 3 water bottle holders, rain jacket and pants, helmet, gloves, one pair of shoes for both biking and hiking, biking tights, shorts, 3 pairs of socks and underware, lightweight pants, base layer long and short sleeve shirts, jacket or fleece, repair kit, first aid, one sleeping bag for two people (hopefully we'll get along), two pads, tent, camera, two phones, dry bags, light weight backpack, toiletries, sun hat and warm hat, bike locks and a few other odds and ends.

So it took a year to get everything in order. Alan says our job is being irresponsible... it takes alot of work to be irresponsible!