Articles and Interviews - a round up of recent publications

I've been appearing in the media quite a bit recently. For an update of articles, reviews and interviews - by me or about me - read on.

Interview with Me and Reviews of My Books
Shaun Barnett interviewed Ned Barraud and I for the December issue of Backcountry -  the FMC magazine - we talk about our illustration and writing work and what influenced us. Shaun also reviewed two of the books in the  'Explore and Discover' series. We were in great company, this issue also includes photography competition winners, a photo-essay on caves and an item pack-rafting.

An illustration from 'In the Bush' features
on the cover of Backcountry

 "In the Bush is perfect for a junior tramper wanting to know more about our forests and the creatures that inhabitat them." Shaun Barnett in Backcountry

A selection of other reviews: 

Weeds or Wild Flowers - What do we See?

One person's weed is another person's garden flower. I've seen the delight in the eye of visitors from Europe when they saw what they took to be garden flowers such as white Arum lilies (Zantedeschia) or blue Agapanthus flowering by our roadsides.

Arum Lilies spreading alongside a pathway

It's not just visitors who see them as delightful wild flowers or as garden plants, lots of locals do too. But how we see them doesn't alter the fact that these and many other imported plants grow, and spread, like wild fire in New Zealand's climate. They encroach on dunes, on bush remnants, on stream banks pushing out native plants and reducing our,  and therefore the world's, biodiversity.

Weekly Walking Groups Growing in Numbers

What's driving the growth of walking groups? Intrigued by the increasing numbers in my group, I interviewed a cross-section of walking and tramping group members for an article in the most recent Wilderness magazine (October 2015) .  I hope the article inspires people to find a walking group that fits their style and join in.

Clean and Green? Let's put an end to litter.

Like many tourists, I like to take photos of beautiful landscapes - places I've seen and enjoyed. The lovely clear waters of Northland

Forest and Bird Walks in Wellington - from my journal

It's spring and heading into tramping season. Thanks to the longer days and warmer weather (and the fact that I'm between books) I've been able to go out with Forest and Bird on a lot of day walks. Here's a sample from my nature journal of what I've observed.

Puriri moth

WEDNESDAY 8th - KARAPOTI

Tramping out from seeing  the Giant Rata, a puriri moth was found by a fellow tramper on the pathway. He picked it up to move it to safety.  This is the first time I've seen a live puriri moth so I was pretty excited by this find. What a gorgeous mossy green and what big eyes it has!

Pilgrimage to a Tree - the largest known Northern Rata

In dense bush north of Wellington stands the truly awesome giant Karapoti Rata.

Forest and Bird trampers and the Karapoti Rata

Thought to be over 1000 years old, it is 39 metres high and has a girth or circumference of over 15m. To read about who measured it, see The New Zealand Tree Register. The register tells you the GPS location of the tree. But it's one thing to know the location, it's quite another to find the tree in the forest.

Ulva Island - New Zealand island sanctuary

Well worth a visit, Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara deserves to be better known.

Ulva Island

Being close to main centres: Tiritiri Matangi and Kapiti Island get more publicity. But Ulva Island has some wonderful points of difference. Situated close to Oban on Stewart Island, here you might see the Stewart Island Robin (Toutouwai), South Island Saddleback (Tieke), Brown Creeper (Pipipi), and Yellowhead (Mohua), none of which can be seen on the North Island sanctuaries. If you are lucky you might even see a Stewart Island kiwi (Tokoeka).

Throwing Hedgehogs to the Wind

I had a lot of fun writing a piece to enter in a writing competition run by the local Forest and Bird branch. The brief was to write about local projects or reserves. I thought about my most recent memorable experience and realised I'd been involved in some quirky projects and even the more standard projects often had a quirky side to them. I was delighted when the judges picked my entry as the overall winner.

Wind swept hill in Pukerua Bay

Here's my story:

Throwing Hedgehogs to the Wind