Volcanic features dominate the landscape and water scours the hillsides in and around Rapaki. We spent the fourth week of field camp focusing on two themes, the implementation of matauranga maori and field mapping volcanic deposits.
On day one we all visited the iwi community that we have been working closely with over this past semester. Ngati Wheke is the iwi that resides in and around Rapaki and they have been doing incredible work focusing on environmental restoration. The community is based within a small bay surrounding Lyttelton Harbour; the Port Hill hills rise above the buildings to the north. The hills all around Lyttelton Harbour were deforested decades ago and now extremely high rates of sedimentation in the harbor destroy mahinga kai (first foods) populations and threaten the health of the ecosystems in the area.
We began all sitting around a little conference table, cups of coffee in hand and a view through sliding glass doors over the harbor. Dan Hikuroa joined us and presented his work and ideas about the mauri model. The mauri of a thing is best translated to mean lifeforce. For example, the mauri of an ecosystem can be explained as how close to pristine or flourishing the system is. This model takes into account not only mauri but it also looks at every aspect of the health of an environment as viewed through the eyes of the community and its members.
Day two began back at the Marae where we spent a bit of time organizing and preparing for a day of field geology. In the late morning we made our way up to Sign of the Kiwi Cafe where I ordered an affogato to consume while drenched in sunlight and donning my most fabulous high-vis. We spent the rest of the day discussing volcanic deposits, ending the day at a roadside outcrop puzzle. The activity began with sketching the outcrop, then we each individually analyzed the units present, then we gathered pXRF data about the levels of silica, iron and potassium within each individual unit. Each of us wrote a report discussing the relationships between the units including discussion of their emplacement order and viscosity.
On day three the four geologists split off from the environmental science group to field map at the top of the drainage. The sun came out in the morning, promising a beautiful field day and we all slapped on sunscreen and our favorite field hats. This mapping exercise was to be done individually, each of us prepared with a hand lens, notebook, and sledge hammer; we started to crisscross the grassy landscape. I began by walking the road through the mapping area, along the way I would stop periodically to do structure, texture, composition analysis and take photographs. At noon I plopped down (slowly) onto a basaltic A’a lava flow to eat my lunch and gaze over the city of Christchurch. I had a sandwich, apple, peanut butter and tim tams (the best biscuit ever invented). I also had a view of the ocean, the southern alps, and behind me, Lyttelton Harbour.
Day four – Thanksgiving! We gathered early in the morning at the Marae to help prepare a meal to share with the community. The process actually began the day before with digging a huge pit in the ground and then creating a pile of delicately balanced pieces of wood and volcanic rocks. On this morning the fire was lit, the idea is that the rocks get heated up and fall in the pit, the food then is set on top of the hot rocks and the entire pit is filled in with dirt again; the food all covered in a heaping mound of soil. In the early afternoon everyone began to gather and we uncovered the steaming pile carrying everything into the kitchen to do the final preparations. When every table was set and all the food ready to eat, we sang. The community of elders, along with kids and the Frontiers Abroad group all sang songs in Te Reo. Then we ate the meats and potatoes and kumara, all cooked by rocks.
On Friday, day five, the geology group returned to our mapping area to put the finishing touches on our geologic maps. I got to hike around and look at rocks for hours tracking down contacts and wrangling dykes. On the way home after a long day of mapping we stopped at the best gelato shop in Christchurch to celebrate the week.