The restoration work on Rarotoka has taken big leaps forward. A new roof was put on the main house last year to go with the new roof we put on “house three”, and next we’ll be working on the spouting on both. Here are Stewart Bull and Phil Fluerty putting up freshly painted fascia boards before the spouting goes on. It’s looking great.
One of the aspirations for the island is to increase the tītī population, so we planted a lot of tūpare last winter. Tūpare forest is the natural breeding habitat for tītī. We’re experimenting with plant protectors to help tūpare survive their first year in windy areas. So far, it seems to be a big success with good growth and high survival rate. In a few years, we hope this forest and trees we’ve already planted will attract more tītī.
From left: Stewart Bull and Phil Fluerty.
Experimenting with plant protectors.