Friday 13th - Saturday 14th October 2023
The group that were keen on this volunteering adventure decided that due to Daylight Savings, we should go out Friday night and get an early start on the trapping Saturday morning. This also meant one of the group could attend a Saturday night party, four could watch the All Blacks game Sunday morning, and 1 could go to her second job on Sunday.
The six of us met in Martinborough at 5pm on the Friday, had some delicious Fish and Chips (Ahoy !) and then headed south east to White Rock. The roads in places had taken a bit of a battering, with lots of potholes, gravel sections and repairs. Not many road cones tho. There were some great views along the way, lots of stock with new lambs and calves in the Stations and some areas where the pines had been removed leaving the landscape bare. We arrived at White Rock station, had a lovely cup of tea, talked to the docking team and discussed our trapping plan for Saturday.
After breakfast on Saturday morning we packed up and got dropped or drove to our trap line start points. Nigel, Gen and Trevor would start inland and complete the true-right. Joe, Tony and Sandra would start at the coast and complete the true-left.
We checked all 73 DOC250 traps, re-lured when necessary, shifted the stabilising warratahs on some, and cleared the grass from the trap entrances. New this trip was an additional 36 Timms traps, installed to try and catch the feral cats.
During the day the sun eventually arrived, but the strong wind also intensified - at times making it hard to stand up, the dust and grit flying in our faces.
We met up back at the Shearers quarters, a quick shower to rinse the dust off and a cup of tea and date loaf before heading back along the windy and windy roads back to town.
On the trip: Joe H, Tony S, Nigel B, Gen H, Trevor P, Sandra B.
Total pest count: 1 cat, 2 rats, 1 mouse, 7 hedgehogs
