Spring 2002 Journal
Our final morning at Lake Rotoiti
March 23rd
Just finished a hike to the summit above lake Rotoiti and I thought I'd share some thoughts while waiting for dinner. We hiked through a large area of intense pest control on the part of the Department of Conservation. The fruits of their labor were apparent rather soon into the hike when we were entertained by a group of Tui that were bouncing around and singing for us.
We also got a chance to taste the honeydew that is such an important aspect of the ecology of this particular Beech forest (Nothofagus as opposed to Fagus in the U.S.) On many of the beech trees in this forest live scale insects which feed on the phloem of the trees and have an anal thread which hangs visibly off the bark and contains a drop of sugary goodness at the end. Many of the birds that live in the area are highly dependent on this sugar as a food source, and German wasps do a number on the availability of the honeydew.
After the (much needed) post-hike dinner, we all sat down for a discussion of some things we had learned in the past few days. It was a great discussion in that we were able to tackle some of the more philosophical/spiritual questions about why humans should care about conservation. This type of activity is truly "soul food" and I think it is what makes EcoQuest so unique and special. It was a great way to wrap up our time at this magical spot.
Chris G
Student Entry: March 24th