Glenfern pest proof fence construction underway

The pest proof fence across Kotuku Peninsula is well under way.

Carving a 6m wide track across 2 km of very rugged terrain is a major
undertaking and not for the faint hearted.

From Arthur's Bay at the Port Abercrombie end of the fence the track rises
to an altitude of 200m over 1.2 km before descending 800m to the Port
FitzRoy end. Some parts of this have a gradient of 1 in 3 which makes it
difficult to stand upright.

The earthworks have now been completed to the front gate at FitzRoy House
where the last major job was installing a 1m x 5m culvert in the stream bed
at the bottom of the Fitzroy hill. Several other 500mm culverts have been
installed along the way.

The fencing team had only been here a week when 80mm of rain shut the
project down and most of the crew left the island for a several days.
However all the holes were bored and strainers rammed all the way to the top
of the FitzRoy hill. The hill is so steep that the posts will have to be
hand dug and rammed over this section. The fence has been wired and battened
up from the Arthur's Bay end to the vehicular gate on top of the first hill.

A team from Merck Sharp and Dohme came to OPC on the 6th April and spent a
week doing environmental work including chipping pine branches for use on
the fence platform. The staff had also raised $17,515.80 towards the fence
and presented us with the cheque. This will enable us to install a
pedestrian gate at the entrance to the rock outcrop known as 3 Kings where
OPC take students for abseiling