On Sunday September 19th, 2010 around 65 people took up the opportunity to celebrate Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere, joining the bus tour hosted by Waihora Ellesmere Trust and Environment Canterbury. The fabulous spring weather and the complete absence of significant aftershocks provided further cause for celebration!

The Tour focused on a small part of Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere and the catchment. The first stop was Lower Selwyn huts, where we heard from Jason Arnold, the Ngai Tahu Te Waihora Environmental Advisor, who outlined the Lake’s significance to Ngai Tahu, and from Stephen Brailsford who described the work undertaken over the last year to clear gorse and plant around 4500 native plants.

From Selwyn Huts we moved on to Coes Ford and the recently planted Silverstream area and we heard about the involvement of the local community. Tim Davie  from ECan explained the way water quality is monitored and reported, and also shared some information about the way the recent earthquake affected the groundwater and river levels.

Our final stop was Phil Garrett’s farm on Boggy Creek where Phil shared some of his experience and knowledge about restoration work. The group then headed back to Lincoln University for some well earned refreshments and a chance to meet and talk with other tour participants.

Thanks to Canterbury Community Trust and Lincoln University for their support.

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Jason Arnold and Stephen Brailsford talk to the group on the banks of the Selwyn River/Waikirikiri

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Looking at recent planting at Silverstream