Louise and I wrapped up the sampling yesterday and it wouldn’t really be field work without at least one day of inclement weather. The pouring rain and high winds chilled us, but we were still in good spirits at the end of the day. Hot coco may have helped with that. I have almost dried out all of my gear and if the weather will cooperate with me, I will head back to Auckland tomorrow to dry and grind the plant and soil samples. The ferry has been delayed one day so far, fingers are crossed for tomorrow.
Mount Hobson was an amazing site for field collection. I felt very lucky to be out there all week. We were treated to panoramic views of the broken islands, Whangapoua estuary, amazing granite pinnacles in Windy Canyon, and views of the devastation from a storm that ravaged the Kaiaraara Stream basin last year. The storm resulted in huge landslides, wiping out a dam, bridges, much of the trail, and scouring the stream. The Hut at the top of Mount Hobson is not to be missed, it is clean and well provided with stunning views of the ocean and Kaikoura Island and others. There was even a swinging bridge on South Fork Track that carried us over the tops of trees as we crossed a particularly steep valley. This has been an amazing place to work and I hope to be able to increase our understanding of the ecosystems at work here in NZ, as well as at home in Hawaii. DOC generally and Louise in particular have been great to work with.