Let’s Hope The Weather Holds
Interviews with characters I meet as a travel, outdoor, science and agricultural journalist and photographer. Conservation, agriculture, fly fishing, hunting, and science about health and the outdoors.
Episodes
I speak to Fokko van der Schans and Sabrine van Rossum from Harvest Collective about their idea of starting a farm near Wellington where +- 200 families get together and employ a farmer to grow food in a way that respects nature. On their website they say “Our big dream is to have a Harvest Collective farm in every community of people in Aotearoa that want to grow food in harmony with nature.” The idea works in The Netherlands, wh...
I speak to Dr. Finn Ross about the mountain rescue of Riley Meason, reaching the Pole of Inaccessibility, New Zealand's most remote spot, The Weekend Mish, regenerative agriculture and changing mindsets, his PhD and how seaweed is a climate solution.
Find him here
I speak to Associate Professor Nic Rawlence, Director of the Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago about elephant seals.
He tells me about a recent paper published titled Postglacial Recolonization of the Southern Ocean by Elephant Seals Occurred From Multiple Glacial Refugia.
We discuss climate impact on elephant seals in the past and in the future.
The effect of commercial hunting...
I speak to Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, at the University of Otago about how current loss of forests, loss when people arrived in New Zealand and loss of forest during the ice age have an effect on native birds and on bird colonisation.
An interesting read is the article Pascale collaborated on that was published in The Conversation.
I speak to Jonny Harrison who has done three trips to Antarctica as an electrician and group leader. He also hosts the Everything Antarctica podcast with Matty Jordan.
Jonny tells me about how water is sourced, how you get a job in Antarctica, staying alive and more.
Podcast link
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EverythingAntarctica
Link to, a book Jonny says is a must read 'The Worst Journey in the world'
Fonterra and Nestle are running a project trying to achieve a net zero farm.
The pilot, run with Dairy Trust Taranaki, aims to create New Zealand’s first commercially viable net zero dairy farm within ten years.
Since 2022, the Fonterra-owned 290ha farm has achieved an approximate 27% reduction in absolute emissions and a 5.5% reduction in emissions intensity.
I spoke to Talia Grala, environment programme manger at Fonterra, abou...
I speak to Resource Management Officer at Southland Fish & Game Jacob Smythe about his duck decoy collection. We talk handmade decoys, the gear you want vs. the gear you need, old shotguns, perceptions about abundance, habitat and more. I suggest visiting my Instagram to look at the photos of the decoys we discuss. An FYI, you can hear chairs creaking and we have deafening bouts of laughter.
Rob Vaz is a well known New Zealand fishing guide. He talks to me about his background and a trip he recently took to fish Taimen, the biggest Salmonid in the world, known as river wolves, in Mongolia.
He talks fly gear for Taimen, how crazy the trip was, and lots more.
Rob's website https://www.robfish.co.nz/
His Instagram https://www.instagram.com/robfish.co.nz/
This episode is basically a consult by legendary sports nutritionist Mikki Williden as she advises me about nutrition as I train for the Luxmore Grunt 27km trail run.
Topics we cover is her background and her own adventures, nutrition for older athletes and those upping their game, sugar, protein and salt intake, mental fitness and more.
We geek out a bit about how cool podcasts are and more.
Book an appointment with her at https:...
This podcast is another collaboration between myself and Ryan O'Connor from the Stag Roar podcast.
In this episode Ryan talked to Ben who previously worked as a hunting guide/culler in Scotland.
Ben's instagram page is a way of getting people to appreciate the necessity for responsible wildlife management and that hunting maintains healthy animal populations for future generations.
Thanks again to Ryan for the collaboration.
I speak to optometrist Ryan O'Connor from the Stag Roar podcast about podcasting, optometry, what tech will change the way we see, starting hunting later in life, the western diet and its influences on different cultures, I admit to being a chocoholic, we talk Seventh Day Adventists influence on the modern diet (I kid ya not!), me freaking out in the bush, my English also dries up so I blabber a lot, Ryan tells me about his interes...
Kiwi Tom Hudson speaks to me from Winnipeg where he is taking a few days break from a 5000km canoe and land trip across Canada. We talk about how he became a traveler, being stalked by wolves, being in bear country, the time he saved a dog from sure death and ended up on Canadian news, and more.
His YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@WhatInTheWorld_Tom
CBC Manitoba report on Tom rescuing the dog form sure death https://www.y...
What does regenerative farming and adventure film making have in common? It has Deane Parker in common! Deane talks about bikerafting, the film festival scene, regenerative dairy farming and healthy soils.
Check out his Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/deaneparker_adventurechannel?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and his website https://www.deaneparker.nzJurgen Schwaneke talks to me about hunting in New Zealand, back country poetry, guiding hunts in the USA, his work as pest controller and the challenges the industry faces and outdoor film making.
His YouTube channel Strider Media has some cool philosophical ramblings on hunting and good outdoor adventure videos of a man with his dog.
https://www.youtube.com/@strider_media
His Instagram account
In this episode botanical and wildlife illustrator Erin Forsyth talks about how artists can be facilitators for better understanding of nature, we talk about indigenous, christian and science perspective of nature, she walks me through her process, she tells me how she thinks of her work as part of a greater tradition and talks about art seen in perpetuity, documenting biodiversity from a science perspective and ties to colonialism...
Veterinarian Francesco Formisano tells me about the Pink eye project where, with the help of New Zealand hunters acting as citizen scientists, the prevalence and spread of Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis in New Zealand Tahr herds were studied.
Franco also tells me about hunting roe deer in France, his vet practice and the possibility of more research projects in New Zealand.
Download the 14 page report on pink eye here:
In this episode Pablo Gregorini, Leader of the Lincoln University Pastoral Livestock Production Lab, tells me about a trial where animals were given a choice of what to eat and how it improved animal health, soil health, the quality of meat and milk, and was also better for consumers.
This research will hopefully be used so that beached whales are not taken to landfill but that they can be towed to out to sea and their nutrients returned to the ocean without colliding with ships.
He talks about his latest paper 'Dead on ...
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