Last week I visited the University of Waikato in Hamilton, NZ to give a seminar and visit Daniel Laughlin, a brilliant colleague that I met when he was a PhD student 8 years ago. He is another desert southwest expatriate living in the green, wet wonderland of New Zealand (many of our conversations centered on the absence of good salsa and green chili in NZ). It was wonderful to meet Daniel’s students and see what is happening at another university. The highlight was being able to hike through forests with an ecologist who has been working on restoration projects in the area for several years. While I was on the North Island, I embraced the chance to wander to the Bay of Plenty, to boat 48 km off shore to visit the most active marine volcano in NZ, and to swing through Mount Maunganui, one of the areas that I served on my mission (and the center of kiwi fruit production in the world).
I am continually amazed at Kiwi commitment to conservation. I don’t know if it is due to their self-identity that is tied to an endangered, flightless bird or their immersion in spectacular landscapes. Whatever their motivation, they are actively working to reverse some of the damage caused by human settlement. New Zealand was the last significant country discovered by humans (dating back only 800-900 years) but in that short period they have driven 51 birds extinct, one of the two bat species found historically, as well as lizards, frogs, fish, and plants. Estimates are that rats, possums, stoats, and humans have nearly halved the vertebrate species on the islands. However, now they are actively engaged in the bloody business of killing invasive mammals to create safe islands for the remaining birds and to actively bring many endangered birds back from critically low population numbers. They have been incredibly effective at creating safe marine islands where all predators are eliminated and birds can be reintroduced and safely live and reproduce. Now they are pushing toward creating mainland “islands” of native bush that are predator-free, protected by a massive impenetrable fence, where endangered birds like the kiwi, kaka, and NZ falcon can be reintroduced. I visited Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari with Daniel and was overcome by the bird diversity and the beauty of the plants in flower.
Hamilton is the center of LDS life in New Zealand. The temple, dedicated in 1958, was one of the first outside of North America and the first in the southern hemisphere. It anchored a residential high school, principally serving Maori young men and women, where generations of Mormons have gained a quality education, met future spouses, and became committed church members. The school (Church College) closed its doors just a few years ago and now there is a major renovation and building project going on around the temple to provide housing for retired couples and visitors from around the Pacific who serve in the temple. For the first time in 26 years I was able to attend a session in the temple where you could feel the energy and enthusiasm of the Maoris and Pacific Islanders who dominate the church in New Zealand.
After my commitments and opportunities in Hamilton were exhausted, I wandered to Whakatane. This coastal town on the eastern edge of the Bay of Plenty is the launching point to White Island. It has a rich Maori history, with a pa (protective fort) dating back to the earliest Maori occupation. The name comes from a legend where the great waka (canoe) Mataatua came to the river mouth. The men went ashore and left the women and children in the waka. The waka began to drift to sea and was in danger of being lost because women were forbidden to paddle the waka. Wairaka, the chieftess, then said “I will act like a man” (whaka tane) and she saved the waka and the lives of all the women and children.
I didn’t use a canoe, but I joined a tour on a chartered boat that took us to White Island, an active volcano in the middle of the Bay of Plenty, 48-km offshore. Through choppy seas and wind we made our way to the island as the crew liberally passed around seasick bags. With our feet firmly planted on solid—or not so solid—ground, we were enthralled by the degassing sulfur vents, steaming crater filled with a lake so acidic it falls off of the pH scale, boiling mud pits, and the remnants of an old sulfur fertilizer plant. I loved to see that even within the crater, plants are gaining a small foothold and beginning to colonize the island.
On my way back to the airport I was able to visit Mount Maunganui. I served in this small peninsular community for one month on my mission. A quick walk around the Mount sated my nostalgia, and then I flew home to the family. I’m excited that Coulter and Martha’s last week in NZ will be on a youth trip to Hamilton and the temple and that we will be able to join them at the end of the week.