Update January 2018

During 2017, we maintained the earlier 150 plantings, replanted and potted hundreds of kanuka and some manuka in our on-site nursery, and grubbed out more periwinkle, briars, and blackberry, along the river and on the escarpment. The latter is tedious work that must be followed up each season to remove regrowth.

By late Winter we were able to plant out a further 60 kanuka on the escarpment in their own well-shaped hollows with rabbit protection (we have discovered that hungry rabbits during Summer will nibble young kanuka and kill it, even though they do not feed on it).

In the Spring, we tidied up the first plantings at the Red Bridge, beside the highway, removing cages from around the dozen or so established ti kouka (cordyline/cabbage tree) that have survived roadside spraying.

Also in the Spring, we tidied up the riverbank area upstream from the bridge, removing driftwood and sprouting willow branches, ready for the Summer picnickers and swimmers who enjoy the deep swimming area between the grassy bank and the island.

Watering has become a daily task in the present hot, dry weather. The water must be carried up-hill because there is no water source above the site. The Winter plantings and hundreds of nursery plants need regular watering in order to survive their first dry Summer, and so far most are doing well.

Further to our previous update, plans for the true left (north side) of the Red Bridge are progressing, with this recent update appearing in the Otago Daily Times:

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/wanaka/big-plans-%E2%80%98ugly%E2%80%99-red-bridge-site

This initiative means that both sides of the river at the Red Bridge will be brought under one comprehensive river park plan. More details will be released as they are confirmed.