I’m just back on board boat after a 24-hour visit ashore to catch up with the Department of Conservation crew working on Raoul. Tom and the rest of the expedition also came ashore this afternoon to look in some rock pools, and take the opportunity to see some of the island, although unfortunately their visit coincided with some rain. They made it as far as the hostel where everyone lives.
DoC hostel on Raoul Island
Raoul is a very busy place at the moment. They have extra DoC staff here for a few weeks to help clear the roads and tracks of the damage caused by tropical cyclone Bune, which passed directly over the island just over 7 weeks ago, knocking down many pohutukawa trees and nikau palms.
In the photo you can see that even huge old pohutukawas were brought down by the force of the winds. Several torrential downpours in the last couple of weeks have exacerbated the situation. The fallen trees have also made Peter and Warren’s travels around the island more challenging than usual, but that hasn’t deterred their enthusiasm for collecting!
How the mighty have fallen: a pohutukawa brought down by Cyclone Bune. It’s making life a little harder for the DoC team but it hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm.
Raoul staff have had a busy time with visitors over the last few days – a group of 10 artists visited the island while the Navy ship Otago was here. The artists were invited by the Pew Foundation to experience the Kermadecs and there will be an exhibition later this year in Tauranga.
And late last night the small yacht Elenya arrived from New Zealand at the beginning of a round-the-world exploration. Two of the crew joined us ashore today as well.
