(INSPIRING MUSIC) The Pouto Peninsula sits at the northern entrance to New Zealand's largest harbour, the Kaipara. (INSPIRING MUSIC CONTINUES) Once upon a time, this was the country's busiest port. They used to ship thousands of tons of kauri and gun from here. As far as sailors were concerned, though, it was also the most dangerous. There are records of as many as 150 shipwrecks since the 1840s. Wild waves and dozens of sandbars at the entrance make the journey to shore a perilous one. And the area has become a cemetery for vessels that tried and failed to cross it. And that's why it's known as the Shipwreck Highway, strewn with the carcasses of ruined craft. Likewise, the entire region is littered with stories of people past and present. As we circumnavigate the coastline, Jacky Geurts gets a soaking at the Pahi Regatta. For a first-timer, she's doing great. Whoo-hoo! Michael Stevens samples soup beside the sea. As far as mock soup goes, it's right up there. And I experience the wind beneath my wings. Well, we shortly won't be in Kansas any more, Toto. (LAUGHS) (STIRRING MUSIC) We're in Kaipara, and this is Coast New Zealand. (INSPIRING THEME MUSIC) Captions by James Brown. Edited by ........... www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2018 Our excursion around Kaipara includes Baylys Beach, heads southwards to Glinks Gully, around to Pahi, Port Albert and Makarau. And we're starting at the very beginning. (EERIE MUSIC) Hard to reconcile from this spectacular vantage point, but the fact of the matter is that the physical history of this region was wrought be fierce volcanic activity of greater diversity than in any similarly sized area on the planet. And amidst all the unrivalled turmoil, one volcano dominated all the rest. Geologist Hamish Campbell finds its powerful force substantiated in the coastal backwaters of the Kaipara Harbour. The most volcanically active belt on earth is poetically named the Pacific Ring of Fire. Needless to say, our volatile wee nation takes pride of place. Here in Kaipara, evidence abounds. The Pacific Ring of Fire is in fact more like a giant, fiery crescent, a bombastic string of 452 volcanoes, like explosive fairy lights, that adorn the southern tip of South America, head up the North American coast, beyond the hyperactive San Andreas Fault, traversing the Baring Strait. It comes down through Japan, and of course on into New Zealand. And where does the sleepy hollow we see now fit into this vibrant arrangement? Fellow geologist Bruce Hayward has the answer. Where are we, exactly? Yeah, we're on the west coast of Tinopai, the Hukatere Peninsula, in the Kaipara here. And we've come to look for evidence of the existence of a very large volcano, that was located offshore from here, in the cliffs. How long ago? Oh, we're talking millions of years ago. In fact, the volcano out there erupted off and on for about six million years, between 22 and 16 million years ago. And how big was it? Oh, very large indeed. Right. It was 40km by 30km in diameter, in the stump. It was probably 2500m, 3500m high. So if you had been here 16 to 18 million years ago, this would have been a coastal plain, gradually rising up to the slopes of this big volcano. But it's all completely eroded away, except for the very base, or stump of the volcano. And we can image that size underneath the sea floor today. Would it have been similar to Mt Ruapehu? Well, it's a lot larger, in fact. It was four to five times the size of Mt Ruapehu plus Tongariro together. What is the evidence for the Kaipara volcano? Offshore, we know of its existence because of remote sensing techniques that were undertaken 30 or so years ago. On land, there is to this day ample evidence of the material, or pyroclastic flow, that barrelled down the side of the volcano. Pyroclastic flows are so fast and so hot that they can knock down, shatter, bury or burn anything in their path, leaving behind layers of debris which cool and harden into the rock known as ignimbrite. What are these white flecks? These are lumps of pumice, Hamish. Pumice is frothy lava, and that's come out of the volcano over here. It came sweeping down at great speed, passed through a forest, killed the forest, picked up some of the trees and the logs and carried them along. And it was slowing down here on the coastal plain. And as it slowed down, it dropped these logs here and started to bury them with the pumice and the ash and these little grey fragments here, which are part of the fragmented volcanic rock which was fragmented in the vent of the volcano out there to the west. Now, this was the land surface at that time. If we were standing here on this land surface 18 million years ago and this ignimbrite came, we wouldn't have time to get away. It's travelling at a great speed ` several hundred kilometres, by the time it got here, an hour. And would have been knocked over by the force of it arriving. And then we would have been seared by the heat and then buried by this deposit, which is not only the lower part, but goes up 8m ` so 8m of ignimbrite, pumice and andesite and ash was deposited over here by that pyroclastic flow that came down. Wow. So, how hot would this have been? Well, it would have been really hot ` 800 or so degrees at source. By the time it got to here, it would have cooled down. Maybe it was 300 or 400 degrees centigrade. And these holes here are the moulds of some of the branches and trunks of the trees that were carried along. They, too, would have been buried and been there for 18 million years. Is there anywhere where we can actually see some fossil wood, Bruce? Well, this has decayed and crumbled away. But there is, down on the beach here, some silicified logs that we can go and have a look at, if you like. Come with me. Well, you can see the wood grain here, Bruce. Yeah, we're clearly looking at one big log or trunk of a tree that was engulfed by the ignimbrite cloud flow as it came through, swept it off its feet, took it here, where it's come to rest, buried under the ignimbrite, like we saw up in the cliff there. And then, over a long period of time, silica coming through the ground waters has replaced each cell, cell by cell, in that wood, so it became silicified, or what we call petrified, so we've got a petrified log here. It's been replaced. And so you can see the cell structure, the growth in the grain, etc, in there. So here we have a tree that's turned to stone, and now it's covered, ignominiously, with oysters. Yes, unfortunately these Pacific oysters were introduced to New Zealand in the '60s and '70s, and they've grown over most of the intertidal rocks around the Kaipara, particularly the harder rocks like this petrified wood here. And so, unfortunately, it's hiding the wood, and you've got to look up close in between, to see the wood grain. and identify that these were in fact a petrified log. (MAJESTIC MUSIC) It never ceases to amaze, does it ` our day-to-day existence in the much-touted peace and quiet of the New Zealand landscape. Yet it was forged from almost unimaginable violence. Humbling in many ways, but also inspiring. Always more to discover. Always plenty to marvel at. Jump in, start, and straight out. Coming up, Jacky Geurts hits the high seas in a bathtub. It's only a little bit over, mate. It's always just a little bit... until you're on the receiving end. One times gold-coloured necklace and pendant. She was alive when I got there. Maybe they'll find a few less K's would've saved her. Imagine having that on your shoulders. (ALARM BEEPS) Everyone thinks they drive well. (HELICOPTER WHIRRS OVERHEAD, INDISTINCT POLICE COMMS) But I've never seen anyone crash well. (WOMAN CRIES) FEMALE OFFICER: Is there anyone we can call for you, Mrs Woolford? (SOBS) MAN: Well, this speed's fine along here. I know these roads. I know these roads pretty well too. And I'm doing everything in my power to stop you from seeing the things I've seen on them. Can I see your driver's licence, thank you? * (SERENE MUSIC) (CICADAS CHIRR) We live in a world of global positioning systems and the World Wide Web, providing us with up-to-date images from anywhere in the world at the click of a mouse. So it's almost impossible for us to imagine what it was like for those settlers who left the United Kingdom of Great Britain, headed here with absolutely no idea what awaited them. This was never more true than for the 3000 settlers who were promised a ticket to paradise at Albertland, in the Kaipara, but were delivered something far less inspiring. Founded in 1862 by a devout group of English Nonconformists, Albertland was touted as both a religious sanctuary and a city so grand it would rival the booming metropolis of Auckland. Curator of the Albertland and Districts Museum Peter Marsh reveals just how far off the mark that was. Part of the promise was that each adult, when the arrived here, would receive 40 acres of land, free, provided they could pay their passage out here. And that was 40 acres per adult, 20 acres per child. So Mum, Dad and one child could end up with 100 acres of land, virtually free. This was something of a windfall for working class English families. But alas, they had been over-promised. Part of the marketing material, if you like, that was shown in the UK, showed a map from Auckland to Port Albert, with a big arrow pointing to Port Albert, the words across it, 'main road north'. And what was the reality of the main road north? It didn't exist. It was just virtually solid bush all the way. So given that there was no road, no route, how did they get here? There were two favoured routes. One was to go up the east coast to Mangawhai, and then walk from Mangawhai to Port Albert. The other one was to leave the Auckland Wharves, go up the harbour to Riverhead, walk from Riverhead to Helensville, and then from Helensville, get on to small cutters to come up the harbour. And then, when they reached the landing, which wasn't here ` the landing was still about 10 K's away ` they then had to walk from that landing here to Port Albert. Goodness me. It could take two weeks. When they first arrived at Port Albert, they were confronted with native bush, stands of kauri bush, and very little else. They had to bring tents with them. So out over here on the spit was the first little tent city, I guess, for Port Albert. And then they found there were no shops, so how could they get their foodstuffs here? How did they? How did they live? How did they stay alive? OK, for those first few weeks, they were very fortunate in that our Maori population across the other side of the river here taught them how to fish, taught them what fish they could eat. And so that was the first few weeks. They were desperate. Of the 3000 hopefuls who took up the offer, a mere 300 made a go of it. Among them, the Hames, who overcame more than most, largely due to the tenacity of their matriarch, the indomitable Mary Hames. How you doing? Gidday, Neil, how are you? Her great-great-grandson Ken is retracing her steps ` Mary, in her crinoline, lugging the baby, Charles, in his top hat, hauling a carpet bag, their two eldest boys weighed down by food and blankets, and their 5-year-old son in callipers. Reading the family diaries, they mention going up the upper reaches of the Pahi Creek, in mangroves and native bush. And so this wouldn't have changed very much from 152 years ago. To come up here with just simple hand tools and be confronted by the thought of clearing any of that... Oh, it would have been hugely difficult. because all they had was an axe, a billhook and a simple saw. And to chop down those huge trees ` and they had no practice ` it would have been very, very difficult. You do have to wonder why they didn't just take one look at it and revert to plan B, in a guest house back in Auckland. And I'm certain it would've come into their thoughts at times. Charles, a schoolteacher, and Mary, a seamstress, had missed out on the best of the Albertland sites. And the first 12 months of back-breaking slog cleared them an area roughly the size of half a rugby field. And while Charles' enthusiasm for the project waned from time to time, Mary's never did. Talk me through what you imagine was a day in the life for your great-great-grandmother. What exactly did she have to do here to get things going? Look, Mary would have had to do everything. Charles had a brittle bone disease, and he was slight of stature. So Mary would have been the mainstay of the family, and she would have been involved in everything. They had four boys and two girls. She would have had to take care of the children. Charles was deaf, so he couldn't hear. For many, many, many years it was all the clearing of the land. It would have been a tremendous job, hugely hard ` massive big trees to fell with axes. Given all the obstacles, all the hardships, why do you think they stuck it out? You spent 110 days on a boat coming out to Auckland. You've spend three weeks getting from Auckland up to Helensville, up to here. You've built yourself a whare to live in. What do you do? Do you turn around and go back, or do you stick it out and just keep going? And, you know, Mary must have had those characteristics. And they made a new life for themselves and for their descendants. Every generation, life's got easier for us. And thanks to Mary and Charles, who came out here and done all that hard work, we're in the place we are today. (MAJESTIC MUSIC) There's no denying times were tough for pioneers who settled in the unforgiving Kaipara region. But it was far from all work and no play. As early as 1860, they were finding ways to entertain themselves. Now Jacky Geurts wants a piece of the action. The annual Pahi Regatta is one of the high points of Kaipara's sporting calendar and has been for more than 130 years. (STIRRING MUSIC) Since its earliest days, the event has drawn people from far and wide to participate in hotly contested races for both runabouts and launches. MAN ON PA: Good morning and welcome, everybody. This is the 131st Pahi Regatta, and it's shaping up to be a real sizzler, weather-wise and boat-wise. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) Some more stylie launches coming up. Oh, look at these! There's a wash there, causing a bit of sway. Oh! (LAUGHS) Ah! Whoo-hoo-hoo! (CHEERFUL MUSIC) It's the second day's activities that I'm most interested in. It's not the latest amphibian adventure vessel or the fresh-out-of-the-factory jet boat that's carving up the calm waters of the Kaipara. But it's an item that's normally got water in it, not under it. Hi, guys. Hi. Ooh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about ` bathtub regatta. Team Pinewood have travelled from Red Beach, north of Auckland, to take part. I've managed to convince them to let me take the helm for a leg. Make sure the lever's in neutral. Yep. (MOTOR STARTS) That's it. That's it. (MOTOR REVS) So, once you've got it going, yeah, put that forward... You ready? (MOTOR ROARS) She's off now. The team have been competing in the regatta for the last 12 years, but are yet to take home the $1000 prize money. No, she's good. She's confident now. Whee-hee! How do you feel in it? I feel great. You looked a lot more confident. Yeah, yep. It'll be interesting when you get into a little bit of chop, though. Behind another bath. Off the starting line is when you win and lose most of the race. So when you jump in and start, keep focus straight ahead. A lot of your inexperienced competitors will jump in, start their outboard, and they're looking left to right, and while they're looking, they're tuning their outboard without realising it, so you run the risk of being T-boned. So jump in, start, and straight out. Entries $20, ladies and gentlemen, for the bathtub race. Yep, it's all fun and games, till I start eyeing up the competition. These guys are not mucking around. Five,... four,... three,... two,... one! (HOOTER SOUNDS) (EXCITING MUSIC) Hat off! Go! Go! Whoo-hoo-hoo! (SPECTATORS CHEER) Follow the rules. Round the buoys clockwise. (EXCITING MUSIC CONTINUES) That's a good start, and that's an even field. There's a lot that can happen, with the tide and a bit of wind out there. Some interference from a fellow competitor around the first buoy is a minor setback. But it's not over till the fat lady sings. Excellent stuff. Certainly made up some ground. Yep, for a first-timer, she's doing great. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (EXCITING MUSIC CONTINUES) (SPECTATORS SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT) ANNOUNCER ON PA: Come on. Oh, come on! Unbelievable. I think he might have run out of gas. Jacky racing for Pinewood from NZ Coast. Her first time. Well done! Go, Jacky! And eventually, partially due to the misfortune of others, I end up in a respectable fourth place. Instigated as a way to bring together a far-flung community, the Pahi Regatta is still celebrated as much as it ever was. Doesn't matter where you go, you'll always find an adventure on the coast. Coming up, sparks fly at an extraordinary sculpture park. I don't like it already. (ELECTRICITY BUZZES LOUDLY) * (SERENE MUSIC) The 1920 royal tour of New Zealand was an opportunity for the British to reward New Zealanders for their contribution to World War I. It also bestowed rock-star status on a humble west-coast shellfish. The toheroa numbers have now decline to such an extent that gathering them has been all but banned, and a generation of New Zealanders may never taste them, as historian Michael Stevens discovers. One of the true delicacies of the New Zealand coast is toheroa. This shellfish was once abundant in the upper North Island, the lower North Island and also my old stomping ground, the lower South Island. Like my mother and grandfather before me, I grew up harvesting toheroa from Oreti Beach, near Invercargill. There aren't many weddings, 21sts or tangihanga within our family where toheroa aren't on the table. Toheroa have long been considered a taonga, or treasure, for Maori. And Pakeha soon caught on, as food historian David Veart explains. A bloke down the beach reckons you're making toheroa soup, so I've come for a feed. I wish I was. I wish I could offer you the real thing, but this isn't the real thing. This is mock toheroa soup. OK, so tell me about mock toheroa soup. Why aren't we having the real thing? Well, what happens is that with Pakeha settlers, the people who live by the toheroa turn it into soup, because that's one of the things that European cookery does. But then, these guys turn up. And as soon as the toheroa is into a can, it goes out and everyone can have it. And Meredith Brothers were incredibly good at promoting the product. Auckland eats most of it, it turns up on the menus of all the flash restaurants, it develops a reputation, and they send a few cases off to London, to the London School of Cookery. What happens is that it gets a sort of a cult following. But then the big burst comes in 1920, when the Prince of Wales visits New Zealand. And he likes the toheroa soup so much that he asks for a second helping. And he writes on the menu, 'Very good!!!' So it goes global. It goes absolutely global. (PENSIVE MUSIC) The government tries to deal with it by bringing restrictions in, and that's right from the beginning. And gradually, by the time I was growing up, and we used to go collecting toheroa, there were seasons, and so you could go in, and there were limits to how much people could take. There were lots of reports in the newspapers of people smuggling it out, women tucking it into their bras, men packing the hubcaps of cars with bags of toheroa. It becomes a real fad, going out to get a feed of toheroa. So as they sailed through the golden weather, they were being fuelled by toheroa soup. Absolutely, yes. (LAUGHS) It becomes so popular on restaurant and hotel menus that once you can't get it any more, initially what the chefs are doing is making the mock toheroa soup to add a can of this, cos they might have a few left. Yes. Gradually, as people forget what the real thing tastes like, you start faking it. And you fake it by using tuatua, which is the closest one. Today I've actually used cockles, cos that was what was available. And you do everything you can to make it taste a little bit like the real thing. Shall we give it a go? I'm hungry. Now, if you wouldn't mind lifting the lid. Despite increasingly tight controls, numbers continue to decline. Commercial harvesting ceased in 1969, followed by bans on recreational harvesting throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. And this is where ` the old who told me this, he said this is the secret ingredient that makes people think they're eating real toheroa. What you need is a tiny, tiny... Aha! ...pinch of sand. A bit of sand. Right. So that it... it goes just like the real thing. Marvellous. Oh, well, bottoms up. BOTH: Cheers. As far as mock soup goes, it's right up there. (LAUGHS) Fantastic. Yeah, it's good. Having said that, I do wonder if it even comes close to the real McCoy. And what would it take to get it back on the menu? (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) The toheroa is now the most protected shellfish in New Zealand, and one of the rarest in the world. So why, after 40 years of stringent regulation, is it not making a comeback? There's two of them there. Barry Searle, alongside local hapu Te Uri o Hau, has dedicated his life to toheroa preservation. Born and raised in the Kaipara, Barry worked as an honorary fisheries officer for many years, and he continues to keep a close eye on the toheroa population. So, Barry, this mixture of commercial and non-commercial harvesting had this really detrimental impact on stocks. What other things negatively impacted upon it? From the closure till now, and the non-recovery, we've had several events. One of them was a toxic algae bloom, and it just killed absolutely millions of them. And unfortunately, the littlest stuff came to the surface, in which was able the oyster catchers and the black-backed gulls to feast. So we lost absolutely millions. And presumably cars aren't great things on the beach, either. If the traffic drives straight along the beach, it causes no hassle at all. But those that lose traction and go wheelies, that's when they cut all the little spat in half, so they kill thousands each time they do a circle. So we count all the holes that's within the quadrant. 20. So now we multiply that by four. Despite its status as a taonga, Barry believes that the toheroa remains under-researched, and he would like to see more resources allocated to its preservation. Until that happens, he will continue to monitor the progress himself. Talking with Barry today, I've learned that toheroa face a raft of environmental challenges, many of them caused by people. And what this means is that if we modify our behaviour on beaches and near the coast, then toheroa are in with a chance to recover to earlier levels. And thankfully, through hard work from people like Barry, the signs are very encouraging. (MAJESTIC MUSIC) Covering almost 95,000ha, the Kaipara Harbour is New Zealand's largest estuarine ecosystem. When the tide goes out, the extensive shallows are exposed. And with the tide in, it sparkles, gem-like, in the sun. You might think that nature here could not be improved upon, but you'd be wrong. It's fair to say I get around a bit. I see some amazing places, some extraordinary landscapes. But they tell me that today I'm in for a rare and privileged treat. And here comes my ride. (UPBEAT MUSIC) (ENGINE REVS) The Terraquad is the latest in a line of high-speed amphibious vehicles developed to navigate the vast, shallow tidal harbour. (UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES) Entrepreneur and inventor Alan Gibbs is the man behind the machine. Is it mostly car of the road, or is it mostly a vessel of the water? Well, we tried to make it equally good at both. These vehicles, they're road-legal in New Zealand. But in theory, you could leave your office, drive to the water, cross whichever harbour,... Exactly. ...and go home, all in the same vehicle. Yeah. (GENTLE MUSIC) And what a home to come back to. Perched on the edge of the harbour, the contoured hills of Gibbs Farm have inspired great artistic and engineering feats. For the last 20 years, it has provided a canvas for some extraordinary sculptures. With this sculpture park, are you building towards a point where it will be finished? No, I just do everything incrementally ` what feels good, the next sculpture, or the next land reshaping. And I've never had a plan, and I don't intend to ever have one. I can't help but notice, it's all on a huge scale. Isn't big good? (CHUCKLES) It wouldn't work if it was small. I mean, this is a big landscape, this big harbour and all the hills. And, frankly, small works just wouldn't work. I have a feeling Alan has left the best till last. It's called Electrum. It's the biggest lightning machine in the world. It generates lightning at 3 million volts, using 135 kilowatts of electricity at about 23,000 cycles per second. Engineer Geoff Carter explains how Electrum does what it does. It's a Tesla coil. It creates a very high voltage by discharging a capacitor through a resonant circuit. It's a similar principal to a car ignition coil, except we're dealing with 30,000 volts instead of the typical car ignition of 12 volts. Time to see what 3 million volts worth of artificial lightning looks and sounds like. - (GENERATOR HUMS) - Oh, I don't like it already. (ELECTRICITY BUZZES LOUDLY) Wow! (BUZZING SLOWS DOWN) That's gotta be a trick. That's trick photography. That's a special effect. (BUZZING SPEEDS UP) The electric field created by this extraordinary artwork is sufficient to activate fluorescent lamps from a distance of 15m. Quite the party trick. - (BUZZING CONTINUES) - Not many people get to see Electrum doing what Electrum does. This is a real privilege, a chance to see a fusion of art and science and sheer audacity. (BUZZING STOPS) What's your electricity bill like, Alan? Next ` when is a lake not a lake? When it's on the coast. They're actually very rare. There's not many places in the world that these dune lakes are found. * Hello, chocolate lovers. James Henry Whittaker came to New Zealand because he was restless to find a better way. You look really familiar. JH set up his own chocolate company with his sons for the same restless reason. And it's something that Whittaker's have stuck to. They found better ways to make chocolate, like their still-timeless Toffee Milk. (HORN HONKS, BELL DINGS) And they didn't stop there. Morris invented the Peanut Slab. Still believing best is better, Whittaker's built a new chocolate factory... (CAMERA SHUTTER SNAPS) to make even smoother, better chocolate. And now Andrew and Brian have made a luscious new caramel filling. It's creamier, more buttery and velvety. Mmm. Better in every way, just as JH would expect. Exactly. Well said. I knew I recognised you. You're in our ads. (LIGHT MUSIC) * (MAJESTIC MUSIC) The very mention of a sand dune conjures idyllic images of silky, shimmering slopes stretching endlessly, hand in hand with pounding surf. But more than just a picturesque coastal feature, dunes provide a precious defensive barrier between the land and the sea. Just north of Omamari, in the western Kaipara, they have given rise to a rare singularity, as marine biologist Jacky Geurts finds out. Dune lakes are one of the rarest and most threatened aquatic habitats on earth. And three of the most spectacular examples are found right here. What are they, and where did they come from? I'm meeting up with ecologist Lisa Forester to find out. A dune lake is basically a lake that's formed in sand on the coast. And they're actually very rare. There's not many places in the world that these dune lakes are found. And how are they formed? Well, there's three things that dune lakes need to form, and that's sand, wind and water. So the wind sculptures the sand into dune, and forms hollows which can fill up with water. But also the dunes can block off streams and wetlands, and then big, deep wet lakes can form in behind. And these are formed about 50,000 years ago as a result of a dune actually blocking a big valley. So we've got five or six lakes in this small catchment area. So why are these lakes so special? They're incredibly special, because they have absolutely stunning water quality. And they're large, they're deep, they're very productive lakes, they've got a lot of plants and animals in them ` full of life ` and I think, also, they're hugely valued by people. The crystal-clear water looks so enticing. Shall we go for a swim? I think we should. OK, let's grab some gear. (CHEERFUL MUSIC) Dune lakes tend to be between 5ha and 35ha in area, and up to 15m deep. Lake Taharoa, however, stakes a claim as one of the world's largest and deepest, with an area of more than 211ha and a depth of close to 40m. Despite the chocolate-box appeal of this popular holiday destination, as is becoming more and more common due to humankind's increasingly heavy footprint, all is not as it seems. The lakes are essentially giant aquariums, and what goes in stays in. Their locked-in nature is a double-edged sword. Introduced pests and plants can't escape. But it has also prompted evolutionary developments in several species, including the rare endemic fish dune lake galaxias. Hi, El. Hello, how are you? The species is at risk, though, and hydroecologist Eleanor Gee is tasked with securing its future. Oh, fantastic. So this is a dune lake galaxias, and this is the only place in the world that you can find them. That's right. This is the only place in the world that they live. That makes it incredibly special. It certainly does, yeah. They're most closely related to inanga, which are found around New Zealand. But even inanga aren't just found in New Zealand. They're also found in Australia and in South America. So these guys are pretty special. So, apart from their location, what else is unique about these little guys? It's been landlocked for a very long time, and so this species has had a long time to evolve separate from any other populations of galaxids. And so it's got some pretty unique characteristics. It's quite a bit smaller than inanga, which is its closest relative. And it's got some extra what are called gill rakers, which are these little cartilage structures in and around the gills that are adapted to helping it feed on small zooplankton. We're actually not sure about the spawning ecology of dune lakes galaxias. But because they're so closely related to inanga, we think they might have a similar spawning ecology. And what that probably means is that they go out and they would be laying their eggs amongst emergent vegetation, and then those eggs would develop and then the larvae are released into the lake. But we're not quite sure. It's one of the mysteries. What's the issue? Well, at the moment in New Zealand threat classification system, they're listed as vulnerable, because they're only found in these two lakes, and they also have a very highly variable population. So that means that one year observers who come out and monitor the population might see lots and lots of dune lakes galaxias, and then they'll come out the next year and they won't see very many. And that variability, combined with their range restriction, puts them at fairly high risk of extinction. So understanding the spawning ecology will help with improving the numbers. It certainly could, yeah. The fact that we don't understand their spawning ecology really limits our ability to know what is causing the decline in this species. We want to keep them here so that our kids and our grandkids can come and go snorkelling and see them all around these lakes for a long time to come. (PEACEFUL MUSIC) Who doesn't love a sparkling sand dune? They provide cosy crannies for courting couples and endless possibilities for children playing hide and seek. But they also play an important role in our increasingly delicate coastal environment. The Kai Iwi Lakes may be separated from the sea, but they share a common fragility, and they need all the help they can get. Coming up ` land yachting. Harder than it looks. - (THUD!) - Oof! - And we're away again. - (THUD!) - Oh! (THUD! THUD! THUD!) Hey! * (GENTLY ADVENTUROUS MUSIC) Ripiro Beach ` at 107km, it's the longest stretch of sand in New Zealand. Here in the middle, at Glinks Gully, I'm feeling more than the need for speed, the need to be blown away. You! Now, you all know where this is going. I've gotta get me one of them. Greg Schultz has spent his whole life sailing, including a decade at sea with his wife in a 10m boat. Nowadays, he seeks a different kind of buzz in a Blokart. Is this a completely way to get about? Well, land yachts, as such, have been around for a long time. Uh-huh. But they were big, they were heavy things. You had a trailer to tow them around, and that sort of thing. But this particular mode has been developed about,... ooh, 2010 by a guy down in Tauranga, Paul Beckett. Tauranga. Oh, so it's a Kiwi creation. It's a Kiwi, a very clever one. Land sailing, in various forms, has been around since 500AD. Wind wagons were found in Europe from around 1600, and were used across the United States in the 19th century. The latest iteration has been designed with thrill-seekers in mind. For a seasoned yachtsman like yourself, how does this compare ` you know, sailing on land, rather than on the water? Well, much more exciting. This is more within the modern, very fast catamaran, America's Cup type sailing, where you're actually going much faster than the wind. It's a completely different type of sailing to what a lot of people call traditional sailing. Racing these gets very dicey. When you get two of these coming together at maybe 50, 60, 70km/h, you've got to have your wits about you. That's an impact speed of 140. We don't like to think about that too much, yeah, yeah. But anybody can hop in one of these ` even you. Really? Yeah, I think you could. Cos I had a disaster in the P-class dinghy. Did you? I did. But you think this is easier to get the hang of? Yeah, easier to sail than a P-class. Let's go and see how much trouble I can get into. OK, then, for sure. My Blokart comes kitset-style, in a handy case that would just about fit into the overhead locker, should I decide to take one home with me. There you go, Neil. We'll just pop that into there. There's no stays or anything ` completely self-supported mast. This pops in. Everything's spring-loaded, just pops together very, very easily. Right, so that's it, then. That's it. You're all ready to go, mate. OK, Neil, get yourself comfortable. A bit like sitting in a deck chair. You'll find a seatbelt over there. Neil, can you ride a pushbike? I can ride a pushbike. You can sail a Blokart, in that case, my friend. OK. It's that easy. So basically, you only have two controls. You have that, is your accelerator. Pull it in, you'll go fast; let it out, you'll go slow. It just controls the sail. You've got the steering column. That shouldn't be too much of a problem. But how do we make it go? Well, I'll give you a little push to get you going. OK. Right, I'm away. Oh heck! Well, we shortly won't be in Kansas any more, Toto. (LAUGHS) 25. 27. 30km/h. Sweet! Right, gonna go for a turn here. What do you reckon? Oh, my giddy aunt! Oh! Oh, now we're in trouble going the other way. Oh, marvellous. (EXCITING MUSIC) (THUD!) Oof! Good one (!) (CHUCKLES) (EXCITING MUSIC) - And we're away again. - (THUD!) - Oh! - (THUD! THUD! THUD!) Hey! I'm just going to go this way until the end of time. I wonder what's at the end of this beach, cos that's probably where I'm gonna go. (LAUGHS) Blokarts have been sailed in car parks, dry lakebeds and even on ice, with blades replacing the wheels. World championships are now held bi-annually, and a New Zealander, Peter Foulkes, holds the record for endurance land yachting ` 623km in 24 hours. How's it going, Neil? Good stuff, Greg. How fast can these things actually go? Well, the world speed record is 106, they tell me. Oh, for the love of Mike! What are you doing on your speedo now? I think I'm doing about 34. Oh, let's speed her up a bit, then. Pull your sail in faster and let's go for it. See if we can crack 50, at least. 50? Yeah. There is a speed limit on the beach here, cos this is a public road. So if you exceed 100km/h, you might be fined. OK. I'll try and remember that. There's probably not a better way you could see the coast than with your bottom skimming 6 inches above it. (LAUGHS) (INSPIRING MUSIC) NASA scientists are apparently at work on an ambitious plan to launch a land yacht to Venus. But that's for another time and place. This is the here and now. This is Glinks Gully on Ripiro Beach, the perfect place to catch a free wind and cruise forever along the enchanted, enchanting Kaipara. (LAUGHS) Copyright Able 2018