Feathered Friday Friend
This weeks contribution is from Louise Thomas.
"When I was young I didn’t like the boatsheds. To my eye they looked derelict and unkempt – a hotchpotch of too bright clashing colours, and all of them peeling to reveal bleached wood underneath. They reminded me of my Nana’s crocheted rugs with frayed threads and darned patches. I liked things shining, new, and squared away. Anything else smacked of some sort of failure, either of duty or poverty.
Now that I’m older, and not untouched by time myself, I realise that decay is inevitable, and, more importantly, there is texture and beauty in it. The sea, like life, can be a rough place. The winds carry salt and sand, storm surges leave marks and baggage piled around the high tide mark, sometimes spilling over onto the little docks. But in this flotsam, rotting seaweed, silt, and tangled tree branches are a million little bugs, fish, and crabs – a roiling primordial soup seasoned with iodine and salt and feasted on by the birds. Nothing is lost - just transformed. Sacred kingfisher/kōtare (Todiramphus sanctus) catching the light at the Hutt Estuary boatsheds, Hikoikoi Reserve, Lower Hutt."
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
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