Te Kakariki

Hangi

 

A Kakariki is a little green parrot that used to live on the Canterbury plains but is now very endangered because only 1% of the native bush remains. The plains were cleared using fire by the Maori to make it easier to hunt and by the Pakeha (Europeans) for farmland.On Saturday I helped out with a bunch of volunteers to plant native trees and bushes to make a corridor from the mountains to sea, and hopefully bring back some of the native wildlife. The day was sponsored by several groups, including a local Maori tribe, who cooked a "hangi" for us. It's a very efficient way to cook a lot of food at once! The food is put in a pit with hot rocks and buried for several hours until it is cooked.