This is a weekly report on meetings, events, and contributions made.
It's also a place for project volunteers to note down their contributions (remember to sign your name!) There will be prizes (donated by Westland District Library) for the most and best contributions in different areas (articles in each geographical location, Commons uploads, Wikidata etc.) Prize categories and winners will be decided by Mike at the end of August and no correspondence will be entered into.
Paparoa Range – I've set up a Commons category for the one photo that we do have. More importantly, I've started to tidy up the individual peaks on Wikidata that are located along the range: merge duplicates, use coords from the Gazetteer, use the Gazetteer as a ref for coords and height, define properties P131 (located in the administrative territorial entity) and P361 (part of = "Paparoa Range") Schwede66 01:56, 23 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
As part of supporting Team Critter with Critter of the week, together with User:Ambrosia10, we have substantially expanded the article about Arctesthes avatar (Avatar moth) – the endemic and crticially endangered moth that was discovered in 2012, during a bio-blitz on the Denniston Plateau. The Avatar moth is due to be featured on Critter of the week on RNZ in July.Marshelec (talk) 09:12, 24 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The Avatar moth article led on to work on the article Mount Rochfort. It was originally a poor quality draft stuck in AFC, but with assistance from User:Schwede66 it is now significantly improved, and published in mainspace as a stub-class article. I have some further content to add at some stage. I have also created a new Commons Category, and asked a Flickr user for access to a photo of the transmission tower on the top of the peak. More photos of Mount Rochfort are needed. As flow-on work, I have updated the Escarpment Mine Project article to describe the suspension of mining, and made small additions to Bathurst Resources, Cape Foulwind, and Denniston, New Zealand.---Marshelec (talk) 09:12, 24 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Have expanded Pororari River. There was a lot that could be said because there are so many different walking tracks along the river and some of them can be turned into loop walks. Schwede66 09:40, 25 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Julie and I have dug out some photos from a West Coast visit some years back. We walked the Pororari River Track and visited the Nile River / Waitakere. So those categories are now much better populated. Schwede66 09:06, 26 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
DOC is kind enough to publish its photos and videos with a free license. I've spotted that they they have produced a whole raft of videos about the Paparoa Track (so far, I've found ten of them). They are currently uploading. In the process of mucking around with converting video formats, I've discovered that there's now a very neat process available. Basically, you tell this Video2commons utility the URL where the video resides and the tool then converts it to one of the acceptable file formats and uploads it to Commons. All with three clicks of a button. Very cool! Schwede66 09:06, 26 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Brunner ascending Te Miko cliff in 1846, sketched by HeaphyAdded plenty of photos to expanded Truman Track article; photos could be rearranged, but article's essentially done now. Added another 26 photos from Flickr; there's a surprising number there under an open licence. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 01:15, 27 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Also uploaded 10 good photos donated by Flickr users after I approached them
Took 150-odd photos of rivers, bluffs, and bays along the Barrytown and Punakaiki coasts to upload and add to revised Wikidata items. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 11:18, 30 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Added historical background to Punakaiki article and tracked down the famous Heaphy sketch of Brunner and his dog going up Te Miko cliff. It's in the British Library; although there's no copy online I found a reasonable copy and added it to Punakaiki and Thomas Brunner. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 05:35, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Uploaded 24 excellent photos by Greymouth photographer Jase Blair of the Paparoa Track, Pororari River Gorge, Mt Uriah and Mt Stevenson in the Paparoa Range, Dolomite Point etc. Lots of potential for use in articles and as the Wikidata image: see c:Category:Photos by Jase Blair and my most recent uploads.
I further expanded the article (added a section on track history). With a bit more added to the lead, I suggest it may pass GA. Schwede66 04:14, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Great timing! I've just been pulling some good photos from Flickr showing Te Kinga across Lake Brunner. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 09:11, 6 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Giantflightlessbirds – great timing indeed, would be good to add another image or two to that article! On the subject of images, I haven't been able to find a creative commons licensed image of the Douglas Rock Hut, which would be useful for the Copland Track article. If you happen to come across one in your travels, that would be a great help for the article! Turnagra (talk) 21:10, 6 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Turnagra, I should have photos of Douglas Rock Hut. Let me have a look... Been there; stunningly fabulous place. Schwede66 04:15, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Did some initial work on expanding the article for Westland Tai Poutini National Park – I was shocked at how small it was! Definitely needs to be some aroha put into our national park articles after this. Turnagra (talk) 23:44, 9 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Turnagra: Agree – all of the articles about our National Parks are in a poor state considering their importance. Some are very poor. This topic has been discussed by the establishment committee of Wikimedia Aotearoa NZ, and there is interest in building towards a campaign to improve all of them. Like everything else, it needs volunteers and leadership. Would you be interested in planning and leading a campaign ? ---Marshelec (talk) 07:04, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Marshelec: Depends on how much work would be involved in that, I'd love to do it but have an unfortunate tendency to commit to more things than hours in a day... maybe helping plan it but not necessarily lead? Turnagra (talk) 09:07, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Turnagra: I certainly understand the problem of getting over-committed. If you felt able to help with some initial scoping, that would be great. It would be useful to survey the existing articles to see what type of content is common, and what content is unusual or "exceptions". This might help us identify core areas of content that should be present in all or most National Park articles (perhaps some kind of model table of contents might emerge ? ). This might lead to some kind of project definition, or even just a table setting out the most obvious areas for improvement for each National Park article ? If we managed to get a sufficiently high profile for this campaign, perhaps we could try to get engagement from DoC, and get a contact person who could help us dig out useful documents and images ? I would be happy to work with you on some initial steps as outlined above. --Marshelec (talk) 09:38, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I would suggest just preparing a To Do table, like I've done for the different regions in this project, so we know how each national park is for Wikipedia, Wikidata and Commons. Then plan a Wikiblitz and invite all the Wikipedians you know to join you for a day (see: upcoming Wikipedia:Meetup/Hokitika/7|West Coast Reptiles]]). Once, that's done, we could approach DOC for references and all their publicity photos. They should actually be funding this sort of thing! —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 10:42, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Uploaded 37 photos taken along road to Lake Brunner:
Lake Ellery in South WestlandTalked a Flickr user into releasing a photo for Lake Ellery (big lake; doesn't have an article). Schwede66 04:18, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Brilliant: I'm keen to create one on that; I have a new book on NZ lakes. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 10:34, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Let me know when you do and I'll inform the photographer. She'd love to see her work on Wikipedia; she's quite an extrovert (I once read an article about her). Schwede66 05:57, 14 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
New category and Wikidata for Douglas Rock Hut as requested by Turnagra. Plus other work on photos for the Copland Track. Schwede66 05:39, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Given coverage of the topic of water quality at Lake Brunner in Mike's recent TV interviews about the WPAL project, I decided to have a go at that section of the article. I have totally replaced it. Hopefully the balance is about right.Marshelec (talk) 05:04, 17 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Found a few photos for Inchbonnie and made a category. Schwede66 05:50, 14 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Sorted out the eight mountains / hills called Mount Alexander in the South Island (one in Grey and one in Buller) on Wikidata and merged all the duplicates. Schwede66 05:52, 14 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Made Wikidata entries for the huts on the Paparoa Track and gave them Commons categories. Schwede66 05:55, 14 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I've added ALT2 (an alternative hook fact) to the nomination and fellow West Coast project members might be amused by that suggested hook. Schwede66 22:50, 16 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Taramakau River was greatly expanded by Marshelec and I have grabbed one of the sections and copied it across to Ōrangipuku River (have a read why that was appropriate). The latter river is no longer a sad-looking stub and I moved it so that it has its macron. Schwede66 03:36, 16 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Sorted out conflation of two West Coast rivers called Big River, one in Buller District (tributary of Blackwater River that in turn flows into the Little Grey River and then the Grey River) and one in Grey District that flows directly into the Grey River. Previously there was one article Big River (West Coast, New Zealand) that was primarily about the Grey District river, but was also linked from an article referring to the Big River in Buller. Moved the existing page to Big River (Grey) and updated links, redlinked Big River (Buller) where appropriate, and converted Big River (West Coast, New Zealand) to a disambiguation page. Page for the Buller river yet to be created. Paora (talk) 09:22, 16 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Have whipped up a page for Kangaroo Lake and connected it to the wikidata. Turnagra (talk) 10:02, 16 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Expanded Lake Brunner with info on fishing, flora, birds, and glaciation. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 11:37, 20 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Added more info on Lake Brunner from library sources. DYK for Lake Brunner is now good to go. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 07:27, 23 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
And more info on Lake Brunner from New Zealand Lakes (1975) (Q113240516). That should do it, although there are plenty of scientific papers on the lake's fisheries, chemistry, and management which I'll add later. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 22:35, 23 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I'd say with a longer lead, it would be GA-ready. Schwede66 00:53, 25 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Drove to Karamea and interviewed a local on what's wrong/missing on the current Wikipedia page (see the Talk, and got introductions to local photographers, a cave guide, a historian…will be here for the next few days researching and taking photos. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 07:05, 24 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
If I could humbly make a request... I vaguely remember a statue when I was there of a Māori figure riding a giant bird, which I think was related to a myth about the area – I think it was down Waverley St? If it's possible to add that to the list (if we're allowed pictures of statues under the CC licence) that could be useful to talk about some of the pre-European history and mythology about the area. Turnagra (talk) 18:44, 24 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
If it's a permanent installation, it is covered by FoP in New Zealand law. Schwede66 21:28, 24 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Done, photographed, Commons category added, reference and picture in article. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 05:48, 25 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Did you know ... that the hiking track through the Pororari River Gorge has become part of New Zealand's newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track(video shown)? This is scheduled to be the DYK lead hook (i.e. including the video) for 25 July, on the main page from noon to midnight that day. Schwede66 01:44, 21 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The video got 405,000 views on the day it was on the Main Page. Is that an impressive number or what? Schwede66 05:41, 27 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
That is REALLY impressive – and interesting; if video is so much more appealing than a photo (or just clicking the article link—the articles got 1266 and 1749 views respectively on the day) then we should be seriously shooting more short video clips and structuring DYKs around them. I would want to check with Wikimedia gurus to make sure there wasn't some sort of main-page autoplay going on and that those views are reliable; perhaps we can ask in the usual Facebook groups. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 00:20, 28 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The Copland Track hook is scheduled to go a couple days later in the week, too. Turnagra (talk) 06:23, 24 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Took 23 new photos from the Market Cross and Karamea area and uploaded into new Commons categories for Market Cross, Holy Trinity Church, Karamea Cemetery. ---Marshelec (talk) 03:50, 25 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Walked the Fenian Track to the Fenian caves loop, and return, with Mike and Lyn. Around 10km. Took loads of photos. Created category Fenian Track and uploaded 26 of the best photos. Still have the Fenian Caves to do, plus Mike and Lyn still have to upload images. Specially pleased with this photo of a South Island Robin---Marshelec (talk) 09:22, 26 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
After a most interesting and enjoyable visit to a breeding colony of Westland petrels (on private land), I have gone back to the article Westland petrel and made a wide range of changes. Still more to do. Also updated Barrytown Flats with the decision of Councils to decline the application to mine 5,000 tonnes per week of ilmenite sands.---Marshelec (talk) 07:18, 30 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Was working on something totally unrelated to WestCoastWPAL and created a Wikidata entry for downhiller Casey Brown (Q113364247). Turns out she grew up on the West Coast (Barn Bay (Q32125402); I've tidied up that item) and the source describes it the following way: The Browns’ home, nestled between the Tasman Sea and the western edge of Mt. Aspiring National Park, was so far in the bush that they were considered to be the most remote family in New Zealand, and their hut could be reached only by foot or air. It was a 12-mile hard-core tramp to the nearest road. And if anyone's keen to start a bio for her, she sure is notable. Schwede66 06:08, 31 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Papakeri Creek in 1990I've dealt with Bruce Bay (Q4977122) (the bay) and Bruce Bay (Q65429622) (the locality). There are now separate Commons categories for those; we need a better photo for the locality (assuming that there's more to see than a road). The German and English articles are now linked to the locality WD item as the text is mostly about what happens on land (well, that's less so with the German article, where the content split may be 50/50). If somebody wanted to split off an article for the bay itself, I suggest that would be a good idea. Schwede66 02:10, 2 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think there's actually sufficient material about the bay to necessitate an article separate from the settlement Bruce Bay itself. It's just a stretch of coast; everything interesting about it is the history of human habitation, the marae etc. I'll be heading there on Monday and will take a bunch of photos, and can add more on local history from Pullar's 1990 book on Bruce Bay, and from West Coast Walking. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 06:48, 3 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Created new article Wangapeka Track, linking to existing selection of great photos in Commmons and to the existing Wikidata ID. As part of this, I also created new Wikidata items for two of the reference books (I happen to have copies of each of these).---Marshelec (talk) 00:13, 3 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Have set up the list of Wikidata items to check and the table of articles to work on for South Westland. I have about 120 photos of the area to upload from a trip last November, and just sorted Camerons Creek and Cameron Flat, finding myself having to create Charles Cameron (Q113395976). —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 06:52, 3 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Just so you know: high-performing DYKs will get a notice issued from the team about views. For a wee while now, these are expressed as views per hour. Not sure what the threshold currently is; it's either 400 or 500. DYK has just switched to 24-hour-cycles and this hook was in the first set that was up a whole day. So if it's the lower threshold, you are in. At the higher threshold, you won't get a notification. Schwede66 05:14, 5 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Wrote detailed route description as major expansion of Heaphy Track. Still lots more to so, but it is improved.---Marshelec (talk) 21:36, 5 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Travelled from Hokitika to Haast yesterday, and took about 100 photos along the way to populate lots of Wikidata items and some articles. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 08:00, 9 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Photographed the area around Lake Ellery, the Lake Ellery Track, and the Cascade Valley; created the article Lake Ellery. Uploaded 15 photos of the lake and Ellery Stream (Q113481358), its outflow (which I created in Wikidata to distinguish from Ellery Creek, one of its inflows. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 08:00, 9 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I've discovered the wonderful photo collections of NZ's National Publicity Studios, which ran from 1945 to 1987. Archives New Zealand have now made them available CC BY 2.0 and searchable via DigitalNZ. Have just uploaded and added a photo of Fantail Falls from 1965, and created the Category:National Publicity Studios to organise them a bit. Will look for more of the Haast Pass and Haast Road to help with the expansion of that article. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 09:28, 10 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I've had a look and he died before he had his investiture ceremony; his wife took the gong instead. Schwede66 04:46, 13 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Expanded the Heaphy Track article with a new section about incidents.---Marshelec (talk) 05:45, 13 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Added another six photos of Pleasant Flat from the National Publicity Studios collection. Expanded the article and added a gallery. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 06:41, 13 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Been a bit slack lately, apologies! Have found time to go through the commons category for Westland Tai Poutini National Park and get rid of miscategorised images (there were quite a few from further up the coast). Turnagra (talk) 10:05, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
That's excellent; there's still quite a bit of over-categorised stuff there; the photos of Fox River, Waiho River, and the glaciers could go into their respective categories, which should be categorised under Westland Tai Poutini (just did it with the Lake Matheson shots). That would tidy things up a bit. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 09:06, 15 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Good call – have gone through and got all the pictures of the glaciers (I've left some that have the glacier in the file name, but where you can't actually see it), but it doesn't look like we've got a category for the Waiho River yet so I figured I'd hold off on that til the morning. Turnagra (talk) 10:19, 15 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I thought it might be a good idea to do a Google search of the governors-general website to see whether West Coasters have been the recipients of the biannual honours. I've started in Haast (search term "Haast site:gg.govt.nz") and worked my way up the coast (that is, I haven't checked inland places like Rimu). I've got as far as Kumara (which is on the list because of Kumara Junction) and have created Commons categories and Wikidata entries as needed. Sometimes, we already had Commons categories and in one case, I found a Wikidata entry (cause the bloke has an entry in The Peerage). Here's what I've added: Schwede66 21:47, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Carrying on with the governors-general website, here are the recipients from Greymouth: Schwede66 23:00, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Maureen Truman MNZM – Commons and Wikidata
Paul Berry QSM – Commons and Wikidata
Colin Smith MNZM – Commons and Wikidata
Margaret Swinburn QSM – Commons and Wikidata
Alan Atkinson QSM – Commons and Wikidata
And three more from Runanga. Mike, could you please check whether we have a husband-and-wife combo here? I have found matching residential addresses on the Companies Office website, but one shouldn't make assumptions. Schwede66 00:00, 15 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
That looks great, Axel. I can ask someone from Grey District about the Sturgeons in Runanga. — Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 08:57, 15 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, I got to the northern end of the road. Three more: Schwede66 22:54, 15 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Richard Scadden QSM – Granity, Commons and Wikidata
Ross Scarlett MNZM – Karamea, Commons and Wikidata
Rosalie Sampson MNZM – Karamea, Commons and Wikidata
At long last, I have finished going through the (30 odd) named peaks of the Paparoa Range and tidied up the Wikidata entries. About half way (going south to north), the peaks are mostly named after prominent scientists. I have added a list to the article and added the respective peak to each scientist's article, linking back to the Paparoa Range. Schwede66 07:57, 21 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Made a Wikidata entry for Denis Ryall (Q113579826), described in one of his obituaries as the "father" of Barrytown. There is conflicting information whether Mount Ryall in the Paparoa Range is named after Denis Ryall or his son John Ryall (the source for Denis is more credible). Schwede66 22:16, 22 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I've just uploaded 50 photos of those short walks and created them properly in Wikidata, with Commons categories, so there's plenty to choose from. We should probably assign walk photos to just those categories, and the remaining beach/shelter/bridge/tower photos could stay at the top level. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 10:59, 25 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Added the iconic photo of the home guardsman atop the Pancake Rocks from the NLNZ collection, and put it in the Pancake Rocks gallery. — Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 09:33, 26 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
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