From Cape Reinga to the Bluff, the New Zealand Herald's epic roadtrip has begun! To celebrate the Herald's 150th anniversary we're on the hunt for your greatest stories.
Pests equal profit for Kerry Long, who has a row of dead possums hanging off the back of his quad bike.
The Broadwood culler and trapper was out collecting his kills from cyanide baits when the Herald team bumped into him in north Hokianga.
Mr Long's story is in the survival of the trees which won't be eaten by the possums. Under a puriri down the hill a possum, pulled and torn by a hawk, lies dead beneath branches stripped bare of bark, branches stark against the blue Northland sky.
"The damage they do to the trees is unreal," he says. Born and bred locally, 52-year-old Mr Long explored Kaikohe, Kaitaia and Kerikeri for work before returning home. "This keeps you fit."
