Bluff Hill Motupohue Environment Trust

10/04/2026

our gates are open today from 10-2 at 18 Barrow Street if you would to come and see the nursery

15/03/2026

It's been a couple of weeks since but we kicked off this years planting season on the 27th February with a fabulous group from DOC helping us in a new area on the hill this year.

Between the planting day on the 27th and with us continuing to pant the following week we have managed to get just under 4,000 plants in the ground already.

The lack of a summer means the plants are getting plenty of water and the odd sunny day which is giving them a great start in their homes.

Thank you again Department of Conservation team for the amazing work!

We would also like to thank Bluff Sand Supply & Cartage LTD for the awesome work of clearing our planting rows through the gorse and broom.

12/03/2026

We would love to see you all there 😃

09/01/2026

Happy New Year from all of us at BHMET.

2026 has started really well: four kākā seen at the top of the Tōpuni Track - including one juvenile; South Island robins seen near Stirling Point; dotterel chick at the Oyster Festival site.

We're making real progress - we're planning a blitz on stoats to try and bring their numbers down. We always need trap line and planting volunteers - shout out if you want to 'walk with purpose' on the hill!

04/01/2026

Happy New Year.

With the mix of rain and warm weather out plants in the nursery are booming, saying that we will be holding a community open day late Jan early Feb with the opportunity to purchase native plants and grasses.

If you are keen to get in and plant up now give us a private message to arrange a visit to the nursery.

At this stage we have plenty of Flax, large and small grasses, Kakabeak, Kowhai. Kahikatea, Coprosmas, Broadleaf, Cabbage Trees and other native species.

Get hold of us if you are interested.

Have an awesome day!

20/11/2025

Another epic planting day yesterday, we are so close to the end of this seasons targets. The awesome girls from VetSouth smashed out over 1,100 plants at the top of Robinson Park. This will ultimately help with shelter and drainage for Port Softball Club's diamond and will be adding to our native tree corridor.

A huge thank you Casey at Bluff Sand Supply & Cartage LTD for your time and resources mowing the knarly area of bracken and other surprises, we couldn't have done it without you.

For our planting work on and around Bluff to be possible we rely on so many generous and amazing people and organisations to help us out along the way and once again we truly appreciate you all helping us with our vision.

31/10/2025

A huge thank you to the amazing gals and guy that came out from Great South today to help us plant, although the weather was better than it has been it was still challenging with the wind and cold rain showers. The team manages to plant approx 640 trees in an hour and a half. A huge effort and much appreciated, thank you again.

Unfortunately not many pictures taken of the action due to getting it done as quick as we could to get out of the weather

22/10/2025

Here's today's colourised photo - this time taken on the 19th March 1909. Credit Invercargill City Libraries and Archives, Ref: A0120 S08750001. Once again, colourised using Photoshop and Nano Banana AI in order to bring history back to life.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a heritage steam railway running between Invercargill and Bluff...

By the way, if you have any treasured family photos that you want colourising, I'm happy to help. All I ask is a small donation to BHMET. Please message me below.

21/10/2025

We know that a lot of you share our frustration about gorse on the hill. You might be interested in reading this piece that explains what we're doing about it: https://www.motupohue.nz/stories/about-gorse/

Sadly, there's no quick fix but we're confident that given another five years, the level of gorse visibility will be way less. We work closely with ICC but they're constrained about what they can fund. Most of our mahi at the moment is funded by Trees That Count and the planting they fund is one of our most important ways of tackling the gorse (Thank you!).

If you have any questions or concerns, comment below!

Motupōhue shouldn’t be yellow! Gorse was introduced into Aotearoa in the early 1800s as a fencing solution. It’s spread uncontrolled across the country and is…

21/10/2025

Ten years after yesterday's image, this 1905 image from the Te Papa collection shows another perspective. You can clearly see the Bayview Hotel just to the right of the centre of the photo. Once again, this was a black-and-white image that's been colourised using Photoshop and Nano Banana. I do this because history wasn't black-and-white. Those are real people in the photo and by adding colour, we can better imagine what life was like back then. Credits: The Bluff, from the wharf, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (C.012956)

19/10/2025

This is the oldest image so far. From the Te Papa collection, this photo was taken around 1884. You can just make out the end of the rail line. This predates the Freezing Works - the building on the extreme left is "Iggo & Co, Butchers". Can you imagine weather like today's back then... you had to be tough! Credit: Bluff Harbour, NZ. From the album: New Zealand Scenery, circa 1884, Bluff, by Frank Coxhead. Te Papa (O.027076)