December 2025 Newsletter 
(Edition 110)

A big thank you to the thousands of volunteers who have volunteered on Motuihe over the past year. 
The project would not be successful without the ongoing support from our teams and our supporters - thank you all so much.
We hope to see you back on the island in 2026 after a restive break.

Upcoming Volunteer Trips
We have these midweek group trips coming up, travelling by Dreamweaver from Pier Z:
Friday 30 January 26
Thursday 19 February 26
Friday 20 February 26
Friday 27 February 26
Thursday 12 March 26
Friday 27 March 26
If you are a group interested in joining one of these trips (or another date), please email Simon on volunteermotuihe@gmail.com

We have these individual volunteer trips coming up, all travelling by water taxi from Okahu Bay:
Sunday 18 January 26 (endangered plants)
Saturday 7 February 26 (general volunteer day)
Thursday 12 February 26 (invasive weeds)
Saturday 21 February 26 (endangered plants)
Sunday 1 March 26 (general volunteer day)
Individuals can book on any of these trips by registering here:
Register here or email volunteers@motuihe.org.nz

Red Boat Summer Schedule
The Red Boats are running a regular service to and from Motuihe over the summer, it's a great way to visit the island with your family.  Ferry tickets can be booked online: Ferry bookings

There is also camping available at the DoC campsite on the headland.  Many campers report hearing kiwis calling, and some even see little spotted kiwi wandering around the camp sites during the night.  Bookings are required through the DoC website:  Campsite bookings



Fundraising Update
We are grateful to One Foundation for providing funding to pay our summer weeding contractors. Grace and Shanaye are an integral part of our ongoing work to keep invasive weeds from undoing everyone's great work, and we appreciate the support of One Foundation to allow us to continue to employ student contractors this summer.



Some recent snaps from Motuihe


A curious shelduck investigates the trail camera which monitors happenings on the pond

    
Humpbacks and orcas were seen from one of the November water taxis (Hong Lim)


Sunday 23rd November - Classic Yachts Bring Moth Plant Hunters to Motuihe
Every year school students compete in a competition to collect the largest number of mothplant pods. The winners sail on classic yachts and are hosted on Motuihe as a reward for their efforts. It not only provides an opportunity to see first hand how their efforts help the environment, but enriches their education and gives them a lifelong love of the outdoors. And what a way to travel on board these beautiful sailing ships! 

   


Saturday 13th December - Kakabeak Volunteer Day
Earlier in the week, coastal harebell (Wahlenbergia vernicosa) seeds were collected from Rangitoto Island. These seeds were put into seed trays and once grown, will be planted alongside earlier plantings to increase the genetic diversity of our current population. As part of this seed collection expedition, two new species were introduced to Motuihe - Daucus glochidiatus (NZ carrot) and kohurangi (Brachyglottis kirkii var. kirkii). These were sown into trays, along with some of this years kakabeak seeds. Small kakabeak and shore spurge (Euphorbia glauca) plants in the nursery were potted up into larger pots. General maintenance was done at all of the managed kakabeak sites, including weeding and slug/snail poisoning. Lots of work was done to clear bindweed from the woolshed cliffs area to make sure the kakabeak growing there are not smothered.

The South Beach kakabeak site continues to amaze and inspire our team. Not only are the eight plants thriving and sending out runners in all directions, but so far this year 290 pods have been collected yielding around 5250 seeds. This huge supply of seed will ensure we have plenty of plants to go into the ground next winter, which means we can trial new habitats as part of the project. To enable us to open new sites for planting, a specialist archaeologist Doug Gaylard visited potential areas to ensure there would be no heritage interference from our plantings.A huge thanks to all of those who have contributed to this important project over the past year, along with the dedicated team of leaders who tirelessly give their time to ensuring its success.

    
Daucus glochidiatus (NZ carrot) and kohurangi (Ben Goodwin)

Sunday 14th December - General Volunteer Day 
It was a busy day with lots of different tasks. As always, it is amazing what a small team of hardworking volunteers can achieve on a single trip.
The track-clearing team battled the heat to widen the path between Pa Point and Snapper Bay, with 200m of bushes cleared back. Manuka seeds were collected, 134 kowhai seedlings were pricked out in the nursery, and a few of the kakabeak sites were visited for some necessary maintenance. Ian adjusted the irrigation system in the seed house to keep our seedlings hydrated.

On the weeding front, Barbara led a team of four to tackle one of the outbreaks rambling dock. This is a new invasive weed we want to eliminate quickly, so getting on top of it now is a huge win.

The dotterel, penguin and fluttering shearwater monitoring was completed, our penguin team found penguins in burrows, hopefully sitting on eggs (we'll find out if any chicks are hatched next visit).

Heading back to the wharf, we had to give way to 2 super-cute gull chicks who were on the road (Petar Ristovski)

Three dotterel chicks have fledged on Wharf Bay already this season - here's 2 of them (Hong Lim)



Friday 5th & 12th December - Corporate Trips
December was a blowout!

The Dreamweaver was booked for two trips on the 5th and 12th. Weather around both days was top draw summer….only for the old SW wind to blow us off course. Both trips were cancelled due to safety concerns. Whoever placed the wharf needs a lesson in prevailing winds.

Teams from Forsyth Barr, ASB, Auckland Council, Spark and the AA totalling 106 volunteers missed out. Some of the ASB team were on the ill-fated trip last December 6th where we went out…..bumped up and down……and came back.

Thanks to all the Trust supervisors who were on standby to come out and help. At least everyone is home, preparing for Christmas safe and sound.
(Simon Sheen)