November 14-16 2003

This year's trip was a lot of fun. It included visits to areas of scientific interest, such as aquaculture projects run by the Cawthron Institute, local geology and viticulture/horticultural ventures in the Marlborough area.

Eric Mangin Memorial Field Weekend 2002 Report

Thirty-nine participants in the 2002 Eric Mangin Memorial Field weekend aged from six to eighty assembled a fine Friday morning for and early start from the University of Canterbury for a trip to the MacKenzie Basin. On arriving in Tekapo at lunchtime Dr David Scott joined the group and showed us long-term grassland trials that are being carried out nearby. We walked among the plots and saw the differences that various fertilisers, irrigation, seeding with a range of plants and the presence of grazing stock can make to this very barren landscape. He also discussed the local weed problems, notably the ubiquitous Hieracium, and the attempts that are underway to find biological control agents to control these.

In the evening we went to the Mount John Observatory. Guided by the director Dr Alan Gilmour, we were able to view the moon and several globular clusters of stars, using a large telescope. Outside, Dr Mike Reid set up a smaller telescope and binoculars and directed our viewing. Although the night was windy, the sky was clear.

Saturday morning started out rainy and cold so we went to the local DOC office at Twizel for a slide show on braided rivers given by Dr Mark Sanders of DOC before leaving to view the kaki (Black stilt) recovery programme nearby. There we were shown the large cages that contained the birds and Dr Richard Maloney explained some of the many difficulties that had been experienced in rearing and protecting these endangered birds. Of particular interest was the importance of choosing a properly balanced diet for the chicks, exemplified by the occurrence of goitre in hand- reared chicks in the early stages of the programme. This made them more susceptible to disease and predation from feral cats, ferrets, stoats and hedgehogs. Transferring kaki chicks to Pied stilts for rearing had the misfortune of confusing them badly and they bonded with their adoptive parents and became migratory birds, instead of staying in the area as is usual for kaki.

Following this visit we went to Mt Cook, driving through light snow as we approached the village. We looked around the Visitors' Centre before moving on to The Hermitage for coffee and then back to Twizel.

On Sunday we proceeded down the Waitaki Valley after picking up our guide, Philip Maxwell, a local palaeontologist. He pointed out the different rock types exposed in road cuttings as we passed and explained the geology of the area with special reference to the extensive faulting system in the valley. At Aviemore we crossed the dam and scrambled down a bank at the water's edge where Philip showed us an outcrop of Oligocene sedimentary rock where we were able to collect bivalves, tusk shells and pieces of coral. Further down the valley we were shown how the Waitaki fault system had caused uplift on the north side and how the hills and rocks differed from those on the south (Otago) side of the river.

In the Pareora Gorge we had lunch on the riverbank. With the weather threatening to close in again, we had a search for more fossils along the riverbank. We made a brief excursion on the road out of the gorge to view Maori rock drawings that were exposed on a limestone outcrop. A feature of the field weekend that added interest was the sharing of reminiscences by members of the group about the areas we visited as we travelled on the bus. The weekend was enjoyed by all and it was pleasing to see new faces among the regulars. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all our guides, our excellent bus driver and the organisers of the trip, especially Jane Lancaster.

Claire Le Couteur