Blue Duck Newsletter No. 1!!!
Dan
BLUE DUCK LODGES
August 2008
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for taking the time to register with Blue Duck News!
Our first newsletter has been a long time coming......, and for those of you that haven't ventured our way in a little while, we now have three lodges up and running! Two are self-contained sleeping 8, and the third sleeps 20......... but on track to sleep 40 by the end of October.
We've been busy with all kinds of projects!
· Conservation
· Eco-Volunteers
· Corporate Groups
· Manuka Honey and Farming
· Developing new tramping tracks and neat places to kayak!
· Hunting comps via helicopter!
This summer we plan to be even busier with many return corporate and family guests, weddings, and of course our blue duck conservation project that has doubled in size and is now centred not only around blue ducks, but also kiwi.
Conservation
Last year we had 200 frequently monitored traps placed around the station, and as a result, we had blue duck broods of up to six ducklings surviving until adulthood. This summer will have around 500 stoat, rat and cat traps out. This is largely a result of the Government now fully backing the project with around $1.0m per year, over 5 years, funded into this area alone!
Eco Warriors
Last summer we had eco volunteers from around the globe who stayed anywhere from a few weeks, to four or five months! All had a fantastic time and their help was incredibly beneficial to the conservation project. We now need volunteers more than ever to help with trapping and creating tramping tracks etc! So if you’ve got some spare time, let us know. There’s always a fun project to be involved with, and we’ d love to host you!
Blue Duck Lodges Wins Awards!!!!
Blue Duck Lodges was lucky enough to win three awards over the last 12 months. A conservation award from DOC, and two environmental awards, one for innovation and the other habitat preservation!!
Pre-Lamb Pig Cull
Last year the station lost around 500 lambs to wild pigs so this year we ran a two-day pig hunting comp. It all went really well, though only 11 caught, but good news for our lambs!
Things to Keep an Eye out for!!
- National Geographic- some of our most beautiful spots were photographed by Stuart Franklin of National Geographic (international!) over summer and will come out in the Jan/Feb edition.
- Berryman Beekeeper Bridge- has been replaced and should appear in the media soon!!
- Ghosts in The Valley Book- Richard Steele (Dan's father) is the author, and is proving to be very popular!
Lastly, we're hosting a field day on Friday the 26th September and will have some of NZ’s top Blue Duck and Kiwi Experts giving a seminar. We’ll also have blue duck and kiwi sniffer dog demonstrations, as well as plenty of time to talk over the conservation/trapping project. All in all, it will be a great chance to rub shoulders with some fantastic conservation experts, and of course……. there’ll also be a few beers round the brazier after.
Cheers from the team.
Dan, Lou and Sam!
