We are now in a motel in Franz Josef Glacier village with a wonderful view of the Southern Alps. The range runs almost the whole length of the western side of South Island and here the mountains are high enough to be pretty cold all year round. The snow-capped summits are visible and the clouds lend an air of mystery to its beauty. It all looks serene, but the Alpine Fault runs right the way through the mountain range and movement on along the fault could cause a massive earthquake in one or more locations. The likelihood of this happening in the next twenty years is apparently between ten and fifteen percent so not odds on, but quite possible.
… and on a completely different note …
More than a Nuisance
It seems that much of the flora and fauna here in New Zealand was introduced by early settlers, for instance, roses and pansies, blackbirds and thrushes. Not a problem you’d think. Well no, not with them, but two animals that have become a real problem are the red deer, brought in from Scotland and the opossum introduced from Australia.
The opossum had no predators so multiplied quickly and has been devastating the native trees, at least those left after logging for timber and cutting down swathes of forest for agriculture, particularly the pohutukawa and the rata trees. It is now viewed as such a pest that it is not unusual to see signs such as this one as we stop for breaks on our journeys.
The red deer, on the other hand, were culled by shooting originally, before it was realised that venison was a very good source of meat. At first the men used to go out in helicopters and shoot the deer before collecting the carcases and bringing them back to base. Eventually they decided to capture the deer live and farm them. The method of capture was quite spectacular as a guy would perch at the side of a helicopter and shoot a net from a special gun over the deer, which was then hoisted up and flown back to the farm.
Jean
