My garden looks onto a swamp with a straggly covering of ti tree. The margins and banks are pretty wrecked from cattle that graze the stream, but, as the corridor links to mature bush in one direction and larger rivers in the other, there’s a massive...... Read More

Back in April, an Israeli lunar lander named Beresheet (Hebrew for “In The Beginning”) crashed on the moon. Part of the payload came from a non-profit foundation named the Arch Mission Foundation. This payload was meant to be an informational...... Read More

There is a tremendous amount of activity in my garden right now, as we come into spring and birds are beginning nesting. The tui, in particular, always seem to be busy. Over the winter months, I put a dish of sugar water out for these nectar feeders. Usually,...... Read More

Hauturu, the book, had its inception way back in 1935 when my father, the late Dr W.M. Hamilton, wrote his masters thesis about the history, geology and botany of Little Barrier Island. This was the first comprehensive text on the island and was used...... Read More

When I was snorkelling in the warm waters of the Mahurangi, I came upon an octopus. It was draped on a rock in surging swells, (temporarily) coloured orange. Even though it was in an area sometimes targeted by harvesters, I really hope it’s there...... Read More

Winter blues got you down?  Did you know that numerous studies have now confirmed that spending time outdoors is good for both your mental and physical health? So much so, that this even has a medical term, ‘greenspace exposure’, which...... Read More

Many of us identify with kiwi, given the nickname New Zealanders are often called. There is something special about being compared to this one of a kind creature. Kiwi cannot fly, they are mainly nocturnal and their coarse feathers are more like hair...... Read More

Up here on the Coast, we are used to seeing yachts skimming across the water, using just the power of the wind to propel them. Now imagine soaring through space in a yacht, using just the force of sunlight to move it. Over the past few weeks, this dream...... Read More

In many ways, being an environmentalist is like having a religion. Both require devotion, patience, compassion and a sense of higher good. Experiences of nature take on a reverent quality, they invoke meditative reflection about the world, inspire awe...... Read More

On a recent calm morning I was checking a rat-trap line on the shore near Stillwater and came across a pair of brown teal in a quiet corner. This may sound commonplace, but until recently it would have been unheard of. Brown teal are New Zealand’s...... Read More