TOSSI – Chasing away winter blues

There are lots of ways to shake off the winter blues but one of the best is to get out and about and do things with other people. During the winter months, Tossi stalwarts work on regardless of the rain and cold, and there are lots of opportunities for volunteers to get involved.Winter is, in fact, our busiest time of the year. The main focus is getting all our lovely plants in the ground. This is back-breaking work. The hardest bit is getting the plants from the nursery out onto the hillsides, ready for the public planting days. Anyone who has got the winter blues and some good gumboots would be most welcome to come and help lug a few crates around before the last public planting day on August 2. If you can help, please email secretary@tossi.org.nz.

Winter is also time for the annual kiwi count – this year completed last month. The team spend a few hours in the darkness over a number of nights listening for kiwi calls that are recorded and compared against previous years records. Our information is fed into the national kiwi monitoring process.

Year-round, our nursery team, unflagging in their devotion, continue to arrive every Tuesday and are tending seedlings and doing some in-fill planting while time allows. Regular checking of both the predator fence and bait lines on schedule is a bit more of a challenge when it is wet underfoot, but both are essential, year-round tasks to maintain the predator-free environment of the park. Takahe monitoring continues on a regular basis.

The mid-week volunteers, hardy souls for whom the monthly workday is not sufficient, continue to meet during winter. They are called on to undertake various tasks such as building or maintaining.

Someone asked recently what the benefits of joining Tossi are. Being part of a community of people who do worthwhile things together is surely the most valuable and enduring personal benefit. “Doing what you love with people you love” as the late Sir Paul Callaghan said. If you are reading this lying on the sofa in front of the fire, get up, dress up, show up – join us at Tawharanui Regional Park. You will be warmly welcomed, and you will be making an important contribution to an amazing place. When you get home, you can move to the next thing on the anti-winter blues list – practising extreme self-care with a long hot bath.
Dateclaimer
First Sunday of every month except January, from 9am. Meet at the woolshed. Every Tuesday at the on-site nursery from about 9am. Info: tossi.org.nz