Day 10: Papatowai Beach Hike

After a quick breakfast, we headed out towards the beach. Marram was an introduced grass to help prevent erosion. We hiked through the brush on our journey. Since there are no ticks in New Zealand we didn't have to worry about picking up unwanted pests. Shells seen in the soil were from the Maori and their cooking habits. Saw some possum bones and found out that the possum was brought in for the fur industry but they eat the vegetation and carry disease so now NZ is very strict on what can and can't be brought into NZ.

Along the journey we saw giant kelp (Dirvellia antarctica) along the beach and out in the kelp forest off the shoreline. The kelp forest helps prevent erosion of the shoreline and also provides a place for many organisms to call home.  The Maori used it to make air tight food bags, from the kelp, which were then stored in special houses so that the bags wouldn't be too wet or too dry. These bags could be kept for up to 2 years.

We spent some time exploring the tidal pools. Organisms here are adaptive to the change in water level. Organisms seen were anemones, snails, sea stars, fish, coralline algae, blue mussels, neptune's necklace along with other algae. Evidence of faults and joints were seen in the rock due to compaction of the strata. A minor fault was seen in an outcrop of rock. The lighter sediments were separated by darker sediments, which turned out to be coal.

From the beach we headed into the rainforest. Here a large variety of trees can be found. Since they need light, the trees have adaptations that allow for them to achieve this goal. One adaptation would be the use of vines. Supplejack was used by the Maori as a food source. This plant winds its way around a structure. Clematis uses tendrilles to attach to a structure. The native rose uses little hooks from its stem to attach while the Rata vine uses roots to attach to objects. Evergreens were the most dominate tree in the forest. Some of these trees seen in NZ are also seen in tropical rainforest. Some plants seen were the Pepperwood, Lemonwood, Miro, Matai, Black pine and Corpolite.

After a spot of lunch, we continued on to the Cathedral Caves. Since these are located on private land, a $3.00 fee was charged per adult. The caves are actually a sea cave carved out by the wave erosion and by the faulting of the area. Black layers of coal are evidence of an ancient forest. Since the area was once logged, no large trees are found in the area only tree ferns dominate. Seals, penguins, bats and weta use the cave. We spotted several types of algae and tubeworms in the caves along with limpets, chiton, and barnacles.

From the caves we headed to the Tautuku Estuary. This area was once the sight of a logging village. Non-native trees were planted while native trees were cut down. Some of the non-native species introduced were the Sycamore, Maples, Holly, Cyprus and Pines. In the estuary there is mainly jointed rush and ribbonwood grasses. The fern bird can be found in the estuary. This bird is nearly flightless and makes a 'click' as its call. Hydrocarbon film can be seen on the mud and is a natural deposit due to the decay of lipids. Many mud snails, worms, crabs, and kingfisher birds were seen at this spot.


We capped off the evening by attending a geology lecture at town hall. Fergus was given the lecture and it is part of the DOE summer program lectures given at town hall.