The Star: March 21, 2019

• By Julia Evans
HOW DO you get a 200kg
leatherback sea turtle from
Banks Peninsula to Wellington?
That’s the question the
Department of Conservation and
Te Papa museum had to solve
after a critically endangered,
2.4m male turtle washed up on
Pigeon Bay on Monday.
DOC ranger Derek Cox called
it a “logistical nightmare” after
he was called out to the beach by
luxury resort Annandale Villas.
“I drove down there just to
get some photos and some
measurements . . . then secured
it to the beach. On the way out
I talked to the farm manager
to take the tractor down the
following morning,” he said.
“But when I got back it had
floated off the beach, I had to
swim and wade to get it back.”
The turtle was secured to the
tractor and shown to pupils at
Duvauchelle School before it was
driven to Christchurch.
He was nicknamed
Tuesday’s Turtle after Mr Cox’s
stepdaughter called Tuesday.
A vehicle from Te Papa is
picking the turtle up and driving
it back to Wellington, he said.
The turtle’s skeleton will be
extracted to compare it with
20-million-year-old fossils found
in Central Otago.
Leatherbacks are the largest
sea turtle species and also one
of the most migratory, crossing
both the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans.
They migrate to New Zealand
to feed, mainly on jellyfish and
marine invertebrates. Some
spend more than a year in the
news online at www.star.kiwi
200kg turtle washes up
DISCOVERY: A 200-300kg leatherback sea turtle washed up on a beach in Pigeon Bay
on Monday.
waters, but don’t come close to
shore.
However, Mr Cox said
sightings are rare near Banks
Peninsula.
“It’s the third we’ve come
across in the 12 years I’ve been
out here.”
It is not yet known how the
turtle died.
“They can get caught in nets,
or die from plastic. Because they
feed mostly on jellyfish, they
mistake plastic bags for jellyfish
or it could just be old age,” Mr
Cox said.
Leatherbacks can live between
50 to 100 years.
The Star Thursday March 21 2019
NEWS 19
City council
applies for
NZTA funding
• By Louis Day
THE CITY council is applying
for funding for a section of the
Coastal Pathway.
The section between Shag Rock
and Sumner Surf Life Saving
Surf Club is estimated to cost
about $6 million.
City council planning and
delivery transport manager
Lynette Ellis said this section of
the Coastal Pathway would be
completed to schedule even if the
New Zealand Transport Agency
did not grant the funding.
“NZTA subsidise between 50
and 75 per cent of eligible parts
of projects. Construction on this
section of the pathway is already
under way,” she said.
Landscaping and lighting improvements
are also part of the
project expected to be completed
by mid-October.
Ms Ellis said the entire project
when completed would provide a
multi-functional pathway to benefit
the community and visitors.
“The asphalt path will run
between Shag Rock and Gollans
Point, and will then transition
to a boardwalk along the front
of the car park and the Sumner
Surf Lifesaving Club where
it connects with the existing
memorial walkway.”
ADVERTORIAL
Chefs bring their Asian
flair to Christchurch
You don’t need to travel the world to get the exotic flavours of Asia -
you can get them all right here in Christchurch.
Commi and Hoi An House have found chefs from
all corners of Asia including Thailand, Vietnam, the
Phillipines and Malaysia. These chefs have brought
the best from their homelands and added others to
create delicious dishes for you to enjoy.
Hoi An House has been operating for a year at its
site in Halswell. Here you will find a restaurant with
intimate spaces, an 80-person function room and
beautiful garden terrace. The signature Vietnamese
pancakes with fresh herbs, salad, pork and
prawns will have you coming back for more.
Both restaurants take pride in the quality
of ingredients and the preparation made in
compliant and sustainable ways. You can even
learn some of the dishes yourself as they also
operate the Asian Garden Cooking School.
The signature Vietnamese dish of pancakes
with fresh herbs, salad, pork and prawns.
Delicious Asian Cuisine offered at two unique restaurants
265 Halswell Road, Halswell
Phone 03 260 1799
www.hoianhouse.co.nz
145D Colombo Street, Beckenham
Phone 03 366 8844
www.commi.co.nz
Enjoy this
cuisine?
Check out the Asian
Garden Cooking School
7 Whitchurch Place,
Harewood
Phone 03 359 8917
www.asiancookschool.co.nz