Upcoming Volunteer Trips
We have these midweek group trips coming up, travelling by Dreamweaver from Pier Z:
- Friday 24 April
- Wednesday 20 May
If you are a group interested in joining one of these trips (or another date), please email Simon on volunteermotuihe@gmail.com
We have these volunteer trips coming up, all travelling by water taxi from Okahu Bay:
- Sunday 12 April (general volunteer day)
- Saturday 18 April (endangered plants)
- Thursday 30 April (invasive weeds)
- Saturday 2 May (general volunteer day)
- Saturday 16 May (general volunteer day)
- Wednesday 20 May (TBC)
- Sunday 24 May (endangered plants)
Individuals can book on any of these trips by registering here or email volunteers@motuihe.org.nz
Donations
We are very grateful for a donation from JA Russell, which will go towards new bunks and bedding for the woolshed.
We also received a substantial sum from Michael Buikema, who won the OBC Hardstand Auction and chose the Motuihe Project as his charity-of-choice for the proceeds.
We rely on donations and grants to support our project, and we feel very fortunate to receive these funds.
2026 Photography Competition
Everyone loved the photo competition last year, and we are all enjoying seeing the photos of the winners on our calendars! We have decided to run the competition again this year, so get over to Motuihe and get snapping! Details are here Motuihe Photo Competition
Motuihe Memories
There is still time to share some of your memories of your time with the Motuihe Project. Stories and anecdotes from volunteers past and present are being compiled into a book. If you’d like to contribute, email memories@motuihe.org.nz.
March Endangered Plant Of The Month – Centipeda Minima or Sneeze Weed
Many of Aotearoa New Zealand’s rare and threatened plants are, to be generous, subtle. Most New Zealanders wouldn’t have heard of them, or even recognise them as native if they saw them. This is likely the case with Motuihe’s newest arrival – sneeze weed. Sneeze weed, formally known as Centipeda minima, is a small creeping groundcover which prefers growing in open, muddy areas including track edges and the margins of ponds and wetlands. It is listed as ‘at risk’ nationally and is vulnerable to being outcompeted by bigger, shadier exotic weeds, particularly grasses.
Our seed has been sourced from Kawau Island, which is a regional stronghold for the species. As a lovely demonstration of how complex conservation is, especially in highly modified environments, the Kawau population is being carefully watched for decline due to wallaby removal. Wallabies, along with many other exotic animals, were introduced to Kawau by Governor George Grey. While his monkeys are now past memories, the wallabies became feral and cause significant ecological damage to Kawau by eating plants down to the ground. This has been fortuitous for our sneeze weed as ‘down to the ground’ is exactly where it lives and the wallabies have unknowingly been providing a mowing service to keep more aggressive weeds trimmed short enough that the sneeze weed has plenty of light to survive. The benefit of removing wallabies is far greater than the loss to the sneeze weed and the species is expected to happily continue growing on Kawau in lawns and along track and road edges.
Track and road edges, along with the nursery and the dam margins, is exactly where we are expecting this little plant to take off on Motuihe. While it may seem delicate, it is reasonably tough and grows extremely quickly, producing huge volumes of minute dust-like seed. This means that it can cope with trampling and even close interactions with tractor tyres!
We are not entirely sure where the name ‘sneeze weed’ comes from. This species is also native to Australia, India, some Pacific Islands, Russia, China and Japan. In many of these countries it has been used as part of traditional remedies for bronchial maladies and this common name could be in reference to this. It is fragrant when crushed and our Rare Plants team are looking forward to the day when visitors to Motuihe notice the pleasant scent while wandering along the tracks. In the meantime, pop into the nursery next time you visit to have a look at our new seedlings growing.
Tractor Repairs
The Motuihe tractor has played a major part in helping with the restoration of the island, it is always (usually!) there to help at times of need. The front bucket was starting to show signs of wear and tear, with rust eating through the metal in several places. A big thanks to Chris Cotter for arranging for the bucket to be taken off the island for repair, and it’s now back with a new coat of paint. The tractor has a new battery, and a new spring fitted to the 4WD change pedal. OBC kindly provided funds for a new fuel sender which is now installed. Unfortunately the fuel gauge is still not working, so watch this space – we are confident Chris will get to the bottom of the problem. In the meantime, we’ll need to keep using the dipstick to check the fuel level.
A call out to the DOC boat crew – Sam, Jason and Errol – who work behind the scenes to transport big items like the tractor bucket on and off the island. Our work would be much more difficult without their help. Thanks guys!
Drone Spraying
Following on from our drone survey carried out in the New Year, Geoff and his guys from Island Solutions spent 3 days on Motuihe with their spray drones. They continued the control of pampas and other weeds around the cliffs where access is otherwise difficult. They also managed to spray some of the large blankets of mothplant along the Ohinerau slopes which are difficult to access from the ground.
This drone work was arranged by DOC with targetted funding from the International Visitor Levy as part of a programme to control invasive weeds in the Hauraki Gulf.
Sunday 1st March – General Volunteer Day
The weather was kind to us and with 2 full water taxis of keen volunteers we managed to tick off more tasks than we had planned.
Between us we managed to clear over 250m of track, collect mothplant pods and stinking iris, check one of our outbreaks of Japanese honeysuckle, collect and sow karaka and puriri seeds, sow toi toi seeds, transplant kowhai seedlings and spinifex. And we still managed to fit in a swim and an ice cream before our transport home.
It was lovely to have some families on the island enjoying being immersed in nature and contributing to conservation. The ride on the tractor was the highlight of the day! We also hosted some members of Forest & Bird Youth. And Julie and Audrey on the weeding team volunteered as part of their Duke of Edinburgh programme. Julie enjoyed her first Duke of Ed experience so much that she is now a regular volunteer.
Thursday 12th March – Midweek Volunteer Trip
On a very blustery day, 10 hardy Ernst Young volunteers headed out on the water taxi to Motuihe. The forecasted rain did a no-show which made for a better-than-expected day. Thanks to Pieter, skipper of the Auckland Sea Shuttles water taxi, for giving the crew as comfortable a ride as possible with the lumpy conditions out on the Auckland harbour.
On arrival, we encountered a slight hiccup with a flat battery on the tractor, however the team went with the flow and walked to the Von Luckner/Taraire midway track. They tackled the track clearance with such energy and enthusiasm that this track was completed and we moved on to the western track between the Trig station and Tieke track exit. In all the team cleared approx 350 metres which was a brilliant effort. The tree growth on our tracks during the wet and warm summer conditions has been huge which has meant some of our tracks have closed in faster than anticipated and make it a challenge for our weeders, DOC mowers and vehicle access.
After a slightly later lunch, they had a guided walk through Tieke track with an unexpected sighting of a Tuatara which made their day. It was then time to head back to the wharf for another lumpy trip back to Okahu Bay. A big thank you to DOC Ranger Paul for his help in temporarily replacing the battery to get us around.
To the EY team, we hope you enjoyed your time in the ‘outdoor office’ of Motuihe, a big thanks for a great working attitude and we look forward to you returning again.
Wednesday 18th March – Midweek Volunteer Day
A small but dedicated team headed to the island with a list-as-long-as-your-arm to get through. Fiona trained Marjet in how to take care of the woolshed, an important job that often is overlooked – Fiona and Marjet will work together to keep our space ship-shape.
Geoff sorted through our weeding equipment and repaired anything that was in need, a big thank you for offering to take on this job Geoff. Plus the shed is looking a lot tidier. And a small team bush-bashed off the Tieke track to collect an astounding 5 rubbish bags of pods, it seems the moth plant is a little confused this year and unfortunately has decided to fruit early. It was good to be guided by the way-points from the drone survey to find these large vines hidden in the bush just out of sight!
Photo: Jackie and Lois collect toitoi seed from the end of the Tieke track
Thursday 19th & Friday 20th March – Midweek Trips
Like the Elvis comeback in ’68 the Dreamweaver return to Motuihe was a stunning success. This double header on Thursday and Friday saw magnificent weather and teams from BNZ, Aecom, AA, Hawkins Watts and Hillebrand enjoying the island at its best: Clear skies, vibrant fauna, plenty of valuable work and a well earned swim.
Lois led the track clearing charge with Jill B. You can now walk with swagger down from the top track, heading towards Taraire bush and around off to Ohinerau. A weeding team with Simon and Phil S collected numerous bags of moth pods on the ocean side of the south of Taraire track. Meanwhile back at the nursery Phil was back in his element guiding a small group sorting out seedlings and kaka beak.
Two days, back to back with perfect conditions for activities helped by enthusiastic volunteers doing great work. Wonderful to have Kirsty, Paul and the Dreamweaver back playing their classics: ‘hands free’, ‘face the ladder’, ‘get a move on’. All the old favourites. My champagne moment: coming face to face with a Duvaucel gecko in the weed shed – brilliant. Both days saw the happy volunteers back to a sunny pier Z safe and sound.
Sunday 22nd March – Kakabeak Volunteer Day
Our rare plants team were greeted with a stunning morning on the 22nd March, with the Hauraki Gulf showing off a perfect summer day. Teams split up and started by checking and tending our kākābeak orchard sites around the island. These are looking good and we are very pleased with the growth on some of our plants. Meanwhile the team in the nursery put in huge efforts to prick out a further 500 kākābeak ready for this season’s planting as well as shifting plants around to make space. A finickity issue with the watering system was patiently sorted out thanks to the careful efforts of Chris and Alex, which will make a huge difference to how our young plants survive.
The team also sowed seed, including from a new arrival: Centipeda minima or sneeze weed. This at risk groundcover is easy to miss, but we hope it will soon establish around the nursery and tracks and reward those who look closely. There was an attempt to scatter some seed around the edges of the dam (a perfect habitat for the species), but to our great surprise the dam was brimming full!
Kevin worked tirelessly making preparations to increase the shading in B block to support the new masses of rare plants (there is enough Scandia to feed an army in the nursery right now!) This will also support the increasing shift of the general nursery work towards more forest understory species, which require some shade. It is exciting to see the restoration of Motuihe shifting as the bush matures and new species and complexity can be introduced.
A hot, productive day was celebrated with a refreshing swim by many of the team at the end of the day. As always, thank you to our volunteer team for your hard work, good cheer and enthusiasm for our rare and threatened native plants!
Saturday 28th March – International Students from Auckland University
After all the rain in the past few days, the decision was made to go ahead with Saturday’s trip as planned. After a misty start, the sun finally burned through and the day was spectacular – hot even! 35 keen volunteers arrived on Motuihe rearing to go. One group headed out with Lois to clear tracks around Puriri Paddock, Jackie took another to the Tieke Track where they cleared debris from the drains along the first part of the track. Jill, Anna and Andrew collected moth plant pods just off the Tieke Track – hiding in plain sight… A lot was achieved before a late lunch, but leaving enough time for a swim and icecream.
Hopefully a great memory for these international guests to carry with them when they return to their homes around the world.
