For QEII reps Clare Moore and Tom Stein, who share duties in Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough, it’s a delight to get local QEII covenant owners together and see everyone connect over an event.

Twenty-two locals from the region joined Clare and Tom on a sunny April Saturday for a get-together at Pākawau, in Golden Bay.

The group assembled at Pākawau Hall to hear some talks before heading down the road to Helen Puklowski’s covenant for a picnic lunch and a walk through the covenant.

“The weather was perfect,” says Clare. “After some convivial chats over a cuppa, we had two informative and interesting talks from Simon Walls and Mark Anderson about the special areas of Golden Bay, fungi and insects, especially beetles.”

After a picnic in the sun at Helen’s place, Tom demonstrated various types of traps (for possums, stoats and rats) that he had set up the night before, and how to make them weka-safe.

To round off the day, the group had a pleasant wander through the spectacular coastal rātā-podocarp forest, with a couple of botanists (both local covenantors) getting excited about yellow-silver pines (Lepidothamnus intermedius) and other unusual plants.

Invertebrate and fungi lovers were also catered for on the trip. “People were interested to hear more about fungi and invertebrates, and although it was a bit early in the season for fungi on our walk, we had some good beetle hunts and checked out trapdoor spider homes in punga trunks,” says Clare.

Clare and Tom were grateful to Helen Puklowski for generously hosting attendees on her property. “This was a particularly exciting covenant to share with other local covenant owners,” says Clare. “Protected back in the early 1980s, the covenant protects a stunning piece of flat coastal podocarp/rātā/beech forest that is now rare in the ecological district. It contains many species that are more common in the North Island and are at their southern limit here.”

The opportunity for covenant owners to connect with each other and with their local reps was a special element of the day. “It was good to meet a few covenantors who we hadn’t met before,” says Clare. “Everyone had a lovely time.”