So, with the orange loss fresh in memory, we set off once again over the scenic inland route to sample the last of my first samples. This time it was 4 of us, Ian, probably well known among you readers by now, Sarah, researcher and a highly entertaining person, and Graeme, a fun technician. It was crispy weather, cold, yet sunny, but luckily we didn’t encounter any ice or snow on the roads. We checked in at the Otira Hotel, which you may have heard of in the “unusual news” section of your local news website. The village Otira and/or the hotel are for sale. Having lived only 3 months in NZ, a village that is for sale is already no longer unusual to me. However, the Otira hotel has a slight name to it and Ian and Sarah wanted to stay in the hotel, “just for fun”. Also Thomas had it in his head that we could buy the hotel/village and live out my lifelong dream of a B&B.
Now, I have driven through Otira 4 times already without noticing it. Even now, staying in it, I hardly noticed it. It is not really a village, it is 4 houses and a hotel, and a railway station where no one gets out. In fact we weren’t even sure if the train stops there.
It doesn't look too bad in the picture, but notice the slope behind it, scarred with landslides. One day, the whole valley is just going to disappearThe hotel seemed pretty awful on first quick inspection. Sagging walls, doors stapled together, a rancid fat smell and an unwashed owner with stumps for teeth. Stains on the carpets that could have been anything from gallons of blood to liters of pee to major leakages of the roof. Shattered windows, ragged curtains and mattresses originally from the 1880’s. Ornamental details that led Sarah to exclaim: “Oooh I LOVE it! It reminds me soo much of The Shining!”.
If you don't get nightmares from The Shining or bloody pictures, click here to see what I saw (well, imagined) when standing in this coridor We went out again though to sample the first plot. Found it, nice and easy, sampled, and done. Went back to the hotel, changed into dry socks, played some darts and pool, labeled some sample bags, and ordered dinner. Considering, dinner wasn’t too bad. Then we went to bed.
I made the mistake of sitting down on my bed first to take off my shoes. I expected a soft mattress, but I fell down a good 50 cm deeper than I had already anticipated. Sarah suggested we turn on the electric blankets before getting in, and as I turned the switch I was sure the whole Otira valley would lose power. Surprisingly that didn’t happen, but still we turned off all electricity before going to sleep. The fire alarm next to our room had this sign:
“In case of fire, break glass and push the button. Notice! This alarm is not connected to the fire station. To notify the fire station, run to the Otira Railway Station down the road and push the fire alarm on the far side behind the barn”
I don’t remember it exactly, but I swear that that was more or less what it was saying. Doesn’t make you feel entirely safe.
I changed into pajamas but also put on my fleece and socks and rolled out my sleeping bag. Then I tried to simply lay in the bed. The mattress formed a deep and unending hollow that was particularly hard on the back. I tossed and turned, Sarah tossed and turned, Ian and Graeme probably tossed and turned, but to no avail other than wrecking our backs. There were also a good amount of coal trains thundering through Otira in the dead of the night. And it was bitterly cold. For the first time in my life I put my hat on in bed because the cold was just hammering my head. I must have slept a few minutes because I woke up from a nightmare as another train rumbled through. The hollow of the mattress started to resemble a black hole and no matter how I turned some part of my back would hurt. Finally as it got slightly less dark outside I heard Sarah sigh and get out of bed. Then her cellphone’s alarm went off and then Ian knocked on the door informing us it was 7 o’clock. At breakfast we looked at each other and Sarah asked “Did anyone sleep? Nina, if your Thom were to buy this hotel, would you say that would be the end of your relationship with the man?”. We baptized the beds “Banana beds”.
The weather was still fine, although not sunny anymore. Ian thanked me for my excellent weather-forecasting skills. It is indeed remarkable that I have had 1 day of rainy fieldwork out of 12 total, sampling sites that get 4000 to 12.000 mm rainfall per year. I specifically looked for high rainfall sites in fact.
We started tramping up the Taramakau river, and once again it was beautiful. A decade ago a German fellow had meticulously mapped all tree species of the surrounding mountains, and with one of his maps in hand we searched for 1 specific tree species. You may notice this is a recurring theme of my fieldwork. I really wish there weren’t so many different tree species, especially within 1 genus. If you’re a beech tree, why don’t just be happy being a beech tree. Why do you have to form different species, or even worse hybridize between species. It’s probably great fun to mix and match your DNA, just to show off that you can.
We finally found the species, climbed up a hill, only to discover it was a hybrid between two other species. Sarah got really excited about this, I was annoyed. Then we walked back, examined a few sites with the right species but the wrong landscape position, and finally we (I) settled for something that was better than nothing.
So that was sampling for now. I’m excited about what the lab results will show, although that is still a long way to go.
I wasn’t excited about having stayed at the Otira hotel. I hope someone buys it, bulldozes it down and plants some nice trees there.
