Joined: Mar 24, 2007 Last Active: Mar 19, 2024 iNaturalist NZ
I have had an interest in natural history dating from childhood rambles on the Port Hills of Christchurch in the 1950's. During my high-school years in the 1960's I was in the Tramping Club and weekend trips to Arthurs Pass sparked an amateur's interest in botany and ornithology which has endured over five decades. When I left school in 1966 I joined the Meteorological Service as a weather observer; highlights were trips to Campbell, Raoul and Chatham Islands and I spent over 11 years at these stations between 1969 and 1991. Sub-antarctic Campbell Island in particular became a favourite haunt and I got to know it well on six expeditions there. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to return as a member of the Campbell Island Bicentennial Expedition over the summer of 2010-11 (contact me if you'd like an account of this expedition). Since 1992 I have lived at Hokitika where I have a contract with MetService for weather observations. Rain is not unknown on the South Island West Coast and I get the blame for it; I do therefore claim credit for the fine weather which often prevails. Hokitika and its surrounding countryside has a wide range of urban, rural, coastal, river, estuary, lake, scrub and forest habitats just minutes from home which provide an ideal opportunity to record plants and birds on the many local walk-ways.
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