Weekender, August 7, 2021
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2021 LONG SERVICE: DoC biodiversity officer Jamie Quirk is in his 42nd year of conservation service this year. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell DAY IN THE LIFE OF A RANGER From fixing sign boards one day to performing maritime duties for conservation the next, no day is the same for Jamie Quirk. The DoC biodiversity ranger gives us a peek into what a typical day looks like for him, his story and his lifelong love of nature. Avneesh Vincent was there with him. amie Quirk pulled up outside the called the 1000-year bridge,” he said. “So, that’s our first job out of the way.” by then and I had already moved to it . this Gisborne Herald office last Tuesday Jamie explained that in 2019 the site was As we drove to the next destination, year will mark my 42nd year in conservation. Jin his cream-coloured Toyota upgraded to celebrate the Maori side of the passing cars of all sorts going in different “So you could say it just evolved into my Hilux with the Department of story, and the work being done now was directions, I asked him, “Why a ranger dream job,” he said with a smile. Conservation label on either side. finishing touches. Jamie?” As a child he said he was always interested “So, we’re going to Puhi Kai Iti which is As a truck passed us on Kaiti Beach Road He paused, then replied, “After school I did in nature and was involved in activities like Cook’s landing site. The contractor there blaring its horn, Jamie took me around jobs I never expected to do, like being paid to planting trees and being outdoors nearly all needs to know a bit of information, so we’ll the towering monument and showed me go and count crayfish. the time, exploring. go there first.” pictures in a document of what looked like “I was 18 years old when I worked for a Before he became a ranger, his family As the truck came to a halt, Jamie was pear-shaped structures. government agency called the Lands and did sawmilling and farming — with roots greeted by the orange-vested contractor “These are hue gourds that represent the Surveys Department, as DoC did not exist reaching back to his great-grandfather who guided us to the road-side place marked story of Polynesian navigation, that will back then. We did a lot of fence building, Thomas Quirk who had opened a sawmill in with yellow dotted lines and purple circles to be first blessed by the local iwi and then weed eradication, and all sorts of stuff. the 1900s. indicate some kind of measurement. installed on all corners of the garden.” “Marine awareness didn’t kick off until “So why not carry on the family business?” “Presently we are making a bridge over the After handing back some documents to the 1990 when people were figuring out the I asked. Rakaitane Road to Titirangi maunga. It’s contractor, we made our way to the vehicle. importance of the sea. DoC had come over Continued on page 2 You have probably heard it before – “It’s my life, my funeral.” So shouldn’t you have some say in it? A “goodbye” doesn’t have to be a fuss, doesn’t have to be big, it just needs to be meaningful. Covid-19 has highlighted the importance and value of a meaningful goodbye. 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Jamie said that since the Cave Creek Then he continued, “Due to a whole lot of disaster in 1995, DoC was extremely careful stuff the business had fallen apart and we with safety measures. went farming. “The tsunami sign was most probably a “My grandfather died suddenly and the reaction to the Indonesian tsunami I believe. government had a lot of death duties on the “In fact, we once had an old bridge washed properties, so we basically didn’t continue down by a tsunami in 1947. It’s a sign to tell with it. There are no sawmills now. people that they need to be aware and get up “He didn’t have any trusts or anything in on one of those hills.” place. He was 52 when he passed away so we After fixing the signs, we walked towards had to sell up and have moved on ever since,” the beach for our third job, to investigate said Jamie. possible sightings of northern dotterels. SANDS OF TIME: Jamie showed a hole on the side of this shell that The road ahead was now clear. We took “These are small and short birds with a would have either been made by a a right turn and headed for Te Tapuwae o population of little more than 2000. They crayfish getting at the food inside, or Rongokako marine reserve. nest on the beaches here and we have from smashing against rocks. He said “The highlight of my career started here,” arranged a DoC volunteer who will come and sand was made up of shells and rocks said Jamie, as we crossed a long stretch of monitor these birds for us. shattered over millions of years. fences with sheep grazing on the other side “Our job is to simply report back if there and a lofty hill overlooking the reserve. are some of these little creatures around.” “When I first started working in reserves For a brief moment, I felt like a DoC trainee and national parks, marine conservation with Jamie as the head explorer. NO IDEA WHY THIS WAS STOLEN: wasn’t a big thing. He pointed to a pile of driftwood nearby. Jamie replaces a tsunami warning sign on the side of a public toilet by Te “So to be involved in setting up and “Can you see it?” Tapuwae o Rongokako marine reserve managing the reserve has been a privilege. I tried but couldn’t. that had been stolen. It’s been a kind of new thing really, since the He glanced at me, smiled and said, “Hey, I 1990s,” he said. have been doing this for many years now.” “In Aotearoa, we are really good at looking Within minutes we found more than five after our land but when it comes to the sea of those tiny beings on the sand around the With that we headed for Tatapouri Bay to “I really don’t get it. it’s a very different story.” logs. Some were still while others moved check on a DoC sign that had washed away “But that’s the thing. One day we have The reserve was established in 1999 as about. due to erosion. Jamie showed me the area these little jobs like things to fix and the a joint application between local hapu “You see the plain white ones, they are the where a chunk of land had eroded due to other we have to go and rescue a whale . Ngati Konohi and the Department of females. The males are the ones with orangey “some storm” and there was no “sign” of the No one day is the same. That’s what makes Conservation, covering 23 square kilometres colour below their beaks. two signs that had been there. my work so interesting.” of ocean. At the time it was the largest “Like humans, the pretty ones are the “The council has got a resource consent to When we arrived at a boatshed near the marine reserve in the country. males,” said Jamie with a chuckle. rebuild this place,” he said. His eyes focused harbour Jamie said that although the job had While still in the car he told me a couple of Bending, he scraped up the sand a bit as he on the affected area where waves now crept been done last week, “It’s worth checking it signs at the reserve had been stolen. demonstrated how the birds would nest and up on the wet sand. twice.” I asked why that might be. lay three eggs only, which would take nearly On our way to a last job, a monthly check After joining him on the boat, sitting on “Oh, God knows why. 30 days to hatch and another 30 days for the of the DoC boat, I asked Jamie what his most a trailer hitch among 14 other boats, he “Maybe they want to use the sheet of chicks to grow up and start flying. challenging experience had been. showed me a checklist which included the aluminum to fix their trailer. “So in October the wind blows through It was the death 11 years ago of Moko the engine, life jackets, lights and an emergency “It’s not even good to use for a barbecue here and covers up some of these eggs.