It is softly raining in Oxford today, the wind direction is from the south, and Eugene, (a farmer friend of a friend of a friend who is used to doing burnoffs), arrived at half past six this morning to start the burnoff of our huge mound of pine tree rubbish so that it could be burnt safely without fear of burning down the town. Once it was away and burning he disappeared to his farm leaving us to supervise it. People are always having burnoffs around here and this is my first one so now I feel like I really belong hehehe.

It won't be the last either. We are finally and gradually getting this old, useless, and too big pine tree windbreak cut down, and each time more pine trees are cut down we will wind up with a pile of clippings, twigs and needles that is of no use to anyone. A burnoff is the easiest and most sensible way to dispose of it all.

But the blog I sat down here to write is about Blumine Island.

In December of 2004 the Conservation Minister, Chris Carter, announced that Blumine Island in Queen Charlotte Sound was to be transformed into the most publicly accessible island wildlife sanctuary close to the South Island (of NZ).

He said:

"Blumine Island offers an extraordinary opportunity for public conservation because of its location in the heart of a major tourism area, its breadth of appeal, and the limited number of pests on it. Over the next five years, the island will become a significant destination for visitors to Marlborough.

The transformation will begin next year with a campaign to eradicate pests funded as part the government's Biodiversity Strategy, followed by investment in walking tracks, heritage trails and picnic areas. By removing pests, primarily stoats and mice, we will be able to relocate visitor-friendly native species, such as robin, South Island saddleback and kakariki (parakeets), to Blumine. Over the longer term, kiwi, geckos and long-tailed bats may follow. These species will join native land snails, kaka, weka and little blue penguins, already in residence.

Unlike many other established island sanctuaries which are often isolated or surrounded by dangerous seas, it will be easy for people to get to Blumine and see their native species up close. The island is just an hour by boat from Picton. All 378 hectares of Blumine are, and will continue to be, open to the public at any time. Its regenerating native bush provides the potential for spectacular walkways, and the island has a rich history. It was once used as a military base and still contains a number of historic gun emplacements, observation posts, and magazines."

The DOC (Department of Conservation) restoration of Blumine Island is being carried out in partnership with Untouched World Lifestyle Fashion Company's Charitable Trust and the Christchurch College of Education.

In an article from 2005, DOC ranger Bill Cash said ridding the islands, (Blumine and Pickersgill Islands), of pests would enable them to be transformed into sanctuaries for native species as has been done with a number of other Marlborough Sounds' islands.

The operation primarily targeted mice on Blumine and rats on Pickersgill. Trapping would also take place on both islands to remove all stoats. As many New Zealand native birds are flightless, introduced rodents such as rats, stoats and mice decimate the native populations.

Both Blumine and Pickersgill Islands are home to native birds such as tui, bellbird, grey warbler, fantails, kereru and weka. Kaka have also been seen on Blumine Island and it is hoped with the removal of stoats they might breed there. Blumine also has a unique giant snail species, Powelliphanta hochstetteri bicolor.

With predators removed other native species can be re-introduced to the islands including robin, tieke (South Island saddleback), kakariki (parakeets), and kiwi.

The eradication operation involved two helicopter applications which took place on the 18th and the 31st of  August 2005, of cereal baits containing the pesticide brodifacoum, commonly-used as a rat poison. The department states that it uses brodifacoum for off-shore island rodent eradication operations but rarely uses it in mainland areas because it can persist in animals.

The islands won't be confirmed as pest-free until two years of monitoring shows no sign of pests. Both islands have a risk of re-invasion by stoats which can swim the short distance between each island and the mainland. To counter this, stoat traps will be maintained on the islands and nearby mainland areas.

The eradication operation on Blumine and Pickersgill follows success in eradicating pests from other Marlborough Sounds islands to create safe havens for native species and to enable the islands' natural ecosystems to be restored. Islands on which pests have been eradicated include Motuara, Long, Nukuwaiata (the Inner Chetwode Island) and the Rangitoto Islands.

Why I Am Telling You All About This Island is because the previously mentioned clothing company, Untouched World, also sponsors students between the ages of twelve and nineteen years to spend a week on the island learning conservation and outdoor skills under the supervision of DOC staff. This programme provides educational opportunities for the students and pragmatically a labour force for current restoration work on the island. The students receive hands-on learning about conservation with activities such as monitoring of snails, weka, weta and plants, trap maintenance, track cutting, and maintenance of the island's historic World War II gun emplacements.

Four schools in Marlborough and four schools in Canterbury this year selected two students each to spend a week on Blumine Island. One of my boys put his name down earlier in the year and so he is one of the eight students who will be catching the train from Christchurch early on Sunday morning and travelling the scenic rail route up the East Coast to Picton where they will stay overnight at a YHA hostel (which funnily enough turns out to be right next door to the house my grandmother lived in when she was still alive), and meet up with the eight Marlborough kids. It was a Bed and Breakfast place back then. On the Monday morning the kids will travel by boat to Blumine Island where they will camp for the week.

The campsite is described as standard which means it has toilets and tap water. The kids will sleep in tents. There is no electricity.

(I had hoped the map would show a litle clearer than it is on my screen, this is a map of the Marlborough Sounds, towards the bottom of the map you can see a black arrow indicating the location of Picton and if you follow the boat route the first quite largish island is Blumine Island)