Forests that have disappeared so completely that you would hardly believe they really existed, have long fascinated me. When I left my home in Alexandra for university in Dunedin, I took with me a facsimile map my mother had given me. It was a mid… Read more
Don’t get me wrong – Christian virtues (the teachings of JC) are admirable. I was brought-up going to ‘Sunday School’ and I guess it didn’t do me any harm. I’m not exactly sure what I did get out of it – we were told ‘Bible… Read more
There was a time when I threatened myself to start teaching the ecology of Middle-earth. I helped take a couple of trips taking American university students around New Zealand. It was an amazing itinerary, but it came with a strong feeling that my students were… Read more
I’ve long found New Zealand’s black pine, the matai (Prumnopitys taxifolia) to be a special tree. From a dishevelled juvenile, It can grow into one of our tallest and oldest plants. Its foliage, unlike the delicate feathers of its smaller relative the miro, has a… Read more
In Poland there are any number of subjects that might make good postcards, Polish girls perhaps. But decaying logs? In the far east of Poland, this is in fact the case. Białowieża Forest is reputed to be the last, or perhaps the last sizeable ‘untouched’ forest… Read more
Part way along the Kawarau River between Cromwell and Queenstown (Central Otago, New Zealand) is a feature known to Maori as ‘Whatatorere’ (Kaumatua Huata Holmes of Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki pers. comm. to Lloyd Carpenter, lecturer in Maori Studies at Lincoln University) and to Pakeha… Read more