Tongariro Journals

Tongariro Journal 2022

In this issue:
From the President, Project Tongariro Director’s Report, Nank, Winging it - black-backed gulls, Volcanic unrest at Ruapehu Mauna, Oruatua Recreation Reserve Restoration 2021-22, My experience with Mahi Aroha on Tihia, Trout Heritage, Student leadership growth, Kid’s Greening Taupō influence, Mahi Mō te Taiao Jobs for Nature, Tongariro Taupō Conservation Board, Predator Free Taupō, Activity around the southern side, Project Tongariro Whio creche volunteers, Ruapehu’s Glacier recession 34 years on, Stubborn algae need tougher CCD solution, Opepe Reserve restoration project, Greening Taupō Day 2022, Whio conservation efforts in Ohinetonga Reserve, Owhango, Ian Blackmore - two contrasting periods at Tongariro National Park, New tools brought to management of Kaimanawa horses, Ian Atkinson - Recollections of an ecologist, Introducing our Kairuruku reo Māori for Kids Greening Taupō, Owhango is alive with bird chorus

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin, Tark Communications Ltd & Harry Keys
Published by: Project Tongariro
All material appearing in Tongariro Journal is copyright unless otherwise stated or it may rest with the provider of the supplied material. Project Tongariro takes all care to ensure information is correct at time of printing, but the publishers (Project Tongariro and DOC) accept no responsibility or liability for the accuracy of any information contained in the text. Views expressed are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher or editors.

Tongariro Journal 2019 - 2021

The Covid Delayed Issue

In this issue:
From the ex-President, From the President, Project Tongariro Director, The Challenges of 2020, Mahi Aroha January 2021, Ohinetonga Reserve Day, Greening Taupo 2019 - 2021, Kids Greening Taupo 2021, DOC Tongariro Snippets, The History of the Whangaehu Bund, Challenges and Opportunities 2020/21, Pokaka Ecosanctuary, From the Director General Lou Sanson, A Day Out with Ngati Rangi, Oustanding Volunteer - Shirley Potter, Full Circle with Kids Greening Taupo, A Connection to Girdlestone Peak, Project Tongariro Annual General Meeting, Greening Taupo Day 2021, Kaimanawa Forest Park Collapse, Volacano Watch, The Turoa Alpine Flush, Predator Free Taupo, Te Matapuna Wetlands Restoration, The Crombie Lockwood Kiwi Burrow, Oruatua Recreation Reserve Restoration, The Opepe Trapping Project, Owhaoko A, Snail Mail, Taupo for Tomorrow - Today, Dactylanthus Hand-Pollination Day, Tongariro Alpine Crossing - Covid 19 Influence on Numbers, The Floating Classroom, Growing Leaders not Just Plants, Mt Pihanga Rotopounamu Project.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin, Tark Communications Ltd.
Published by: Project Tongariro
Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation.
Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 2015

In this issue:
President's Corner, Kindara - Tauhara College's kiwi,  An amphitheater rescue, Life in a rain forest, "Team Rat" South Georgia, Passion for conservation, Whio-ew!, A summer with the birds, The complexity of conservation, Summer angling report, World Park Congress, Political future for protected areas, Auto weather station, Fire and ice, Bikes and Children, TAC electronic lights, Kids Greening Taupo, Luxury Takahe home, Conservation in the CNI Whanganui River, Protecting our place, Awarding conservation effort, Taupo for tomorrow, Project Tongariro 30 years, Volcano watch, Hut rangers, Thoughts on wilderness, Te Matapuna - South Taupo wetlands.

ISSN 2253-2889
Editor: Dave Wakelin, Tark Communications Ltd.
Published by: Project Tongariro 
Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation.
Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 2014

In this Journal:

President's Corner, Adaption to the Environment, Greening Taupo, Take Only Photographs - Leave Only Footprints, Volcanoes of the South Wind, The 2012 Te Maari Eruption Episode Tongariro Maunga, Te Matapuna - South Lake Taupo Wetlands, International Mountains Update, Will NZ Have Anymore World Heritage Sites?, Katherine's Camping Safari, A Century of Skiing on Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro - The First Summer Programmes, Tongariro Summer Programme 50 Years On...Mahi Aroha, Lessons from the Rangipo Desert, Volcano Watch 2012 - 2014, Pukawa Wildlife Management Trust, Out of the Dark with Bats and Kiwi, Tea and Scones on the Desert Road, Tongariro National Trout Centre, Central North Island Services Team Summary, Call of the Whio, Conservation in the Central North Island, A Year of Change for the Taupo Fishery, Lake Rotopounamu-Mt Pihanga Restoration Project, The Great Lake Trail.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin, Tark Communications Ltd.
Published by: Project Tongariro on behalf of the Department of Conservation
Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation.
Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 2011

In this Journal:

Conservator's Comment, Volcano Watch, Kiwi and Whio in Tongariro Forest Conservation Area, Secrets of the Waimarino Pa, Modelling the Eastern Rim Failure - Mt Ruapehu, Project Tongariro 2011, Tongariro Forest Aerial 1080 Operation 2011, Results of the Taupo Fishery Harvest Survey, Heather Beetle, Tracks and other Taupo Nui A Tia Visitor Assets Work, Chasing Bats, Tongariro Alpine Crossing Pocket Ranger App, Taupo Sports Fishery Management Plan Update

© Copyright [December, 2011], New Zealand Department of Conservation
ISSN 1172 1081
Edited by Harry Keys and Dave Conley
Published by the Tongariro Whanganui and Taranaki Conservancy
In the interest of forest conservation, we support paperless electronic publishing.

Tongariro Journal 2010

In this Journal:
From the Conservator, Tracking the small-scaled skink, New Waihohonu hut underway, The high value of volunteers, The benefits of long-term volunteering, At the end of the weather forecast, Rotopounamu round-up, Volcano watch 2009-2010, Farewell wharepikau, the final day in the sun for Stanfield’s Whare, Cat nabbed raiding ‘TheMothership', 100 years - back up the track, Taking on the fearsome Kaimanawa meat eating snails,  A survey for endangered moths, Getting a handle on hiking poles, Whakapapa community trapping project, A personal take on DOC’s vision, Taupo Fishery Area highlights, Ohakune gets on its bike, Turangi Taupo Area highlights, Little fish to make a huge splash, Rangataua pesticide operation, Geothermal work, Awarding conservation in our community, A year of contrasting fortune in Tongariro Forest.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Conley
Journal design Dave Wakelin, Tark Communications Ltd.
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, PrivateBag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Tongariro Natural History Society.
Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation.
Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Annual 2009

In this Journal:
From the Conservator, The world economy went into melt down in 2008 and this has flowed onto New Zealand with our international tourism and exports under pressure with less revenue. Government expenditure is under review and conservation has not escaped with a $54 million cut to our baseline allocation over the next four years ($13.5 million per year). All of us must closely look at our programmes and projects to ensure they are top priority and that they are being achieved in the most effective and efficient way. At the same time we need to recognise that conservation is a business and we need to look at opportunities to assist commercial entities achieve conservation and look for achieving our own commercial opportunities. A lot of our organisational strategic thinking needs to be applied to these challenges and everyone can contribute. The department will be looking for ideas from everyone; regardless of their role.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Conley
Journal design Dave Wakelin, Tark Communications Ltd.
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Tongariro Natural History Society. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department ofConservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Annual 2008

In this Journal:
Motivation for conservation, During my time with DOC what has become abundantly clear to me is the passion and dedication of everyone involved, and what a truly diverse and rewarding environment it is to work in. My first months as the Public Awareness officer for the Tongariro-Taupo Conservancy have been an absolute whirlwind of new experiences. I have been out wandering Ruapehu’s glaciers with Harry Keys, mist netting whio on the Mangetepopo, and digging for kiwi in Tongariro Forest.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Tongariro Natural History Society. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Annual 2006

In this Journal
... and stuff, Recently my grandson, Connor, aged 6½, commented to his mum, “I love being with Grandad because he knows so much about everything and you know you can talk to him about everything ... and stuff!”
How important it is to be knowledgable about stuff! After all knowledge is really an ordered collection of relevent stuff. I was eleven when the microscope arrived, a gift from a great uncle. Tall, elegantly turned from brass, the microscope was a relic from a bygone age.
The companion oaken box was full of stuff with which the Victorians would have both intrigued and bored to death guests who dared ask, “I say, just what sort of stuff can you look at with this magnificent instrument?”

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the sponsorship and support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Destination Lake Taupo, the marketing wing of the Taupo District Council. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 2005

In this Journal:
It Began with a Teardrop, It began a long, long time ago. Ruapehu, the first mountain of Te Ika o Maui, the North Island of New Zealand, was lonely. Ranginui, the sky father, had placed Ruapehu on the new island to bring calm and peace to the land. Ruapehu grew lonely and single teardrops flowed across the land to form the Whanganui River to the south and the Waikato to the north. His loneliness brought water to the new land. With water came life. In time, other mountains joined Ruapehu and as the land heaved and tilted, rivers formed to carry away the rains that swept the North Island of New Zealand. Forests grew lush and green and birds twirled and sang through the canopy while others, less flighty, crunched their way through the undergrowth below.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the sponsorship and support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Destination Lake Taupo, the marketing wing of the Taupo District Council.

Tongariro Journal 2004

In this Journal:
History is our identity, History is about people and how they are affected by an event, be it natural, social, economic or cultural and what may have followed. One event in September 2001, through the power of graphic television and print media images and the Internet cemented its place in history. The global repercussions of 911 meant air travel security measures changed in every country. All of us reading this journal were affected by those early morning America events and our reactions, thoughts, attitudes and actions have in some way shaped history. Each of us influences history. We voted in a referendum to change the way we elect our government. MMP was chosen and from that day onward the way our country has been governed changed. Seemingly small events can change the way a country develops and the social directions it takes. A small group gathered in 1898 on the lower slopes of Mt. Ruapehu and released a few buckets of Rainbow Trout into the headwaters of the Tongariro River. That simple act changed the economics, and the ecology of Lake Taupo and its tributaries with the Tongariro River in particular, world famous as a trout fishing destination.

ISSN 1172 1081Editor: Dave Wakelin
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the sponsorship and support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Destination Lake Taupo, the marketing wing of the Taupo District Council. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 2002

In this Journal:

There's nothing to see! About 10 years ago my wife and I were driving through the north-western corner of Victoria, Australia when suddenly she said "Look!". I did. I looked all around and behind me thinking that I had been concentrating on my driving so much that I had missed the Australian event of a lifetime. "I don't see anything?" I said, disappointed that I had missed whatever it was that had excited her so much. "Exactly!" She said, "There's nothing to see!" It gets hot in Australia and we had been driving for some time but she had never got so excited about nothing before! "Look around you," she countered, "What can't you see?" Its not easy looking for something you can't see especially when your partner can't see it either. Then it dawned on me - and it was so obvious.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the sponsorship and support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Destination Lake Taupo, the marketing wing of the Taupo District Council. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 2001

In this Journal:

Stories in the landscape. About two months ago I was in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with my grandson. The rich collection of the Dutch masters is spellbinding, gallery after gallery of finely detailed paintings. My grandson is only two years old yet we were in the Rijksmuseum for three hours. What held his attention? Certainly not the large portraits of wealthy merchants. It was the landscapes. Probably the fact that his grandfather was able to spin stories into and out of the paintings kept his interest, a little bit of 'Where's Wally?' as we looked for cows and dogs and trees, boats and birds. Even his parents became involved as he retold his landscape stories.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the sponsorship and support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Destination Lake Taupo, the marketing wing of the Taupo District Council. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 2000

In this Journal:
Millennium Blues. I’m not really sure whether I like this new millennium or not. It seems much faster than the old model. It's hard to believe that this time a year ago we were so concerned about the Millennium Bug, about planes falling out of the sky, computers refusing to work and so on. Who talks about the Millennium Bug now? How quickly what once grabbed headlines is pushed into the background of our memory to make way for the current issue or fad. Some things from the past remind us of how little the really important things change. two stories that illustrate this. Both take place during the biggest conflicts of the 20th Century, one during the First World War and the other during the Second by men too young to go to war. Both show that love of the outdoors and appreciation of the wonders of Tongariro National Park, felt by many today has not changed.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin 
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the sponsorship and support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Destination Lake Taupo, the marketing wing of the Taupo District Council. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.

Tongariro Journal 1999

In this Journal:

Connor's World, We have just had a delightful visit from our four-month old grandson, Connor, summed up by a message on a card sent to us by a friend - “If I had known how much fun grandchildren were I would have had them first.” Twenty-seven years ago we were getting similar enjoyment from Connor’s mother, which set me to thinking. What has happened in New Zealand over the last 27 years since Casey was born and what will Connor's world be like in the next 27?
The last 27 years has been nothing short of remarkable. In that time we have seen the rise and rise of the computer to the extent that our modern lives are totally ruled by small silicon chips – from EFTPOS and barcode readers at supermarket check-out counters to the tiny transmitters Department of Conservation staff and volunteers fix to kiwi and other birds to track their movement through the forest. Important conservation legislation has been passed over the past 27 years, including a new National Parks Act, the Conservation Act, the Resource Management Act and others. New national parks have been created, a Department of Conservation established and conservation strategies written. Three New Zealand areas have been given World Heritage status. Covenant schemes have assisted private landowners to protect natural features of their properties. Unfortunately all of this has not stopped the decline of many of our native plant and animal species.

ISSN 1172 1081
Editor: Dave Wakelin
Published by: Department of Conservation, Tongariro Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
The Tongariro Taupo Conservancy acknowledges and is grateful for the sponsorship and support given to the publication of the Tongariro Journal by Destination Lake Taupo, the marketing wing of the Taupo District Council. Material in the Tongariro Journal does not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Conservation. Copy may be freely quoted provided acknowledgement is made.