Special Days and Special Wildlife
Apologies for the delay in this weeks Blog entry, but Internet charges in the places we have been visiting, away from the main towns has been quite extortionate so we decided to leave it until we came to a larger town....

The weekend after the Hutton's Shearwater work has to be one of the most memorable of our trip so far, not that we really did much =) For most of Saturday we relaxed after such a busy week we were grateful for time just to read, walk on the beach and enjoy the sunshine.

Sunday started off really cloudy and dismal, we were a little unsure what to do with ourselves, Lee however was insistent on going up to the lookout on top of the peninsula from which we enjoyed the panoramic views of the mountains and Kaikoura, we even managed to spot some Dusky Dolphins out in the bay!
We were just chatting at the lookout when suddenly Lee drops to his knee and asked Rachael to marry him! Completely out of the blue! Very stunned, shocked and surprised Rachael of course said YES!
Amazed that he had managed to keep it all a secret and carry a ring all the way from home, through L.A, the jungle and New Zealand! As if by magic the dark grey clouds cleared revealing a beautiful endless blue sky with not a cloud in sight!
We spent the rest of the day in a daze, enjoying lunch and dinner out at a restaurant a real treat for us travellers....

Monday: Still in a daze from yesterdays excitement we waited a little anxiously on the sunny beach for out car to have its Warrant of Fitness (MOT) done at a nearby garage and were more than a little relieved when it passed!

To celebrate we went on a Dolphin Watch with Encounter Kaikoura, this time for free as guests of Lynnette who owns the business! It was a glorious day, bright sunshine, blue skies, blue ocean....and we were soon heading out of South Bay in search of Duskies. We were greeted with a slight swell, the remnants of the gales the area has had recently, and about 300 Dusky Dolphins!
We then spent the next couple of hours enjoying the presence of the amazing acrobats! They were moving quickly, surfing through the swells, porpoising and breaching, doing back flips, front flips and side flips all around the boat! At one point the whole pod gathered around us, there were dolphins everywhere we did not know where to look!
Best of all today was the presence of numerous little calves! No more than a month old these miniatures were flinging themselves from the water repeatedly keeping up with the leaps of their elders with ease! As always we were reluctant and sad to leave, knowing this was our last trip with the Kaikoura Dusky Dolphins...for now.....

After arriving back to land grinning from ear to ear we decided to head off from Kaikoura that afternoon. We drove down the coastal road to a town called Cheviot. Here we spent the last few hours of sunlight watching birds at St. Annes Lagoon before finding a campsite in the town itself for the night.

Tuesday: We returned to the Lagoon this morning, another beautiful, clear morning with only a hint of a cool breeze. After which we started the long drive to our next destination, Arthurs Pass high in the Southern Alps in search of the only alpine parrot in the world and the clown of New Zealands birds, the Kea.

We drove through endless plains of yellow grass, then began winding our way up into the mountains, after a couple of steep climbs we mostly followed the flat river valleys between steep, craggy mountains. We soon came across deep, blue green lakes nestled between the mountains and stopping at one managed to spot another of New Zealands rare native birds, the Crested Grebe.
We continued our journey through broad river valleys that swept up to high snow capped mountains in the distance and then wound our way up to Arthur's Pass Village, the highest altitude village in New Zealand. Here our first stop was the Otira Gorge look out, a good place for finding Kea however so late in the afternoon there were none around. We headed back to a campsite, as we were driving through the village there on the side of the road as bold as brass were two Kea!

This evening we went in search of the Great Spotted Kiwi through the beech forests that cover the mountain slopes. A very cold starry night but not a Kiwi in sight.

Wednesday: This morning we headed back up to the look out and spent nearly an hour watching and photographing a number of Kea as well as defending the rubber on our car from their curious and cheeky advances!

Despite the cold wind and low cloud obscuring the sun we continued our day with a walk to the Devils Punchbowl Waterfall, a steep climb through beech forest alive with Riflemen and Bellbirds, to a pretty spectacular fall.

Again this evening we went in search of the Great Spotted Kiwi, walking for over an hour through the beech forest along the river bank. The forest was quiet, the terrain steep, slippy and rocky, the night dark with no stars lighting our way. However just as we had given up and got back to the car the shrill call of a male Great Spotted Kiwi rang out through the still night! We hung around the car park a further 40 minutes looking and listening hoping that we would see or maybe hear the kiwi again but once more the valley and its forest was quiet....

Thursday: A clear sunny morning greeted us as we emerged from our tent this morning, the green carpeted mountainsides shining in the sunlight. Unable to resist we returned to the cheeky kea and watched them reek havoc with tourist campervans and cars! One guy heading back to his campervan which had three kea on top, says to us "Don't know why they are up there, there's no food there!" Rachael's reply was "They ain't after food, they're after your rubber!" To which the guy's face fell and his rushed off trying to shoo them off!

After a morning of Kea delights we left the high village and headed back down the broad valleys for a short way before turning off the main road and heading up a gravel track into the Hawdon Valley. Here we found a secluded camp ground to enjoy lunch and a small patch of beech forest to enjoy a walk, where we had a wonderful encounter with a very curious New Zealand Robin and Tomtit.

The rest of the afternoon we spent driving back towards the coast, skirting Christchurch and pulling into a campsite in Rakaia, the Salmon capital of New Zealand!

Friday: With early cloud clearing it was promising to be a beautiful day once more on the east coast of the South Island. We drove a short way from our camp to Harts Creek Nature Reserve on the banks of Lake Ellesmere.
Here we followed a trail along the banks of a slow moving creek, the blue green water filled with trout, through a small wood of partially submerged trees to a hide overlooking the lake edge. All the while keeping our eyes open for birds and wildlife.

After lunch lakeside we continued our journey south along the coast and then inland once more heading for the Southern Alps, this time for Mount Cook the highest mountain in Australasia!

We wound our way inland entering the Mackenzie Basin, a huge flat expanse surrounded by ranges that surround the Southern Alps. Continuing on we came to the shores of Lake Tekapo, a beautiful blue expanse of calm waters surrounded by grassy hillsides.
It was getting late in the afternoon, the sun was dropping, still we pushed on. We rounded a corner and into view came Lake Pukaki and at its northern end the snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps, at centre stage Mount Cook. We followed the road along the bottom of the lake and then coming across a pull in decided to stay and free camp on the shores of Lake Pukaki. It was a wonderful decision, off the road we ate dinner as the sunset lit up the top of Mount Cook with golden and then red light. As the sun dropped the reds and yellows faded leaving behind a purple, then dark blue sky reflected in the calm waters of the lake, soon it was pitch black with a trail of brilliant stars cutting across the night sky.

Saturday: A gorgeous sunrise to match last nights sunset, once the tent was packed we left our beautiful campsite on the shore of Lake Pukaki with the impressive vista of Mount Cook in the distance and continued along the road around the Lake and up towards Mount Cook Village itself.

The lake ended rather abruptly, turning into the numerous channels of the River Tasman as it wound it way down from the mountains over pebbly river beds and into the ice blue waters of the lake itself. We turned off the road and pulled onto the shore of the river, scanning the river bed for waders. There feeding along the shoreline were a number of one of the rarest waders in the world, the Black Stilt. It was a joy to watch them knowing how close they had come to extinction.

Back on the road it was a short drive up to Mount Cook Village, a small cluster of hotels and houses nestled in the shadow of the majestic Mount Cook and the numerous glaciers that cover the surrounding mountains.

After lunch we took a walk to view the Tasman Glacier and its terminal lake. Expecting a brilliant white glacier and blue lake filled with floating white ice bergs we were a little surprised to see a lake of milky brown water, with floating blocks of gravel covered icebergs, leading away to a gravel covered flow of glacier that only in the far distance turned white. The information board soon made everything clear, this glacier is actually retreating hence the covering of gravel or moraine.

Next we drove to the campsite in the Hooker Valley, set up our tent in a small sheltered spot and took a walk through the valley, across bridges swaying in the wind until the whole of Mount Cook came into view. It was an awe inspiring sight. The jagged double peak rose up in front of us, covered in snow and ice standing silent against the bright blue sky.

That evening we watched the play of colours on the mountain as the sun set behind us.

Sunday: A very windy night and morning, but another lovely sunrise down the valley. We were a little sad to leave Mount Cook, the beautiful mountain had left a lasting impression on both of us and had to be one of favourite sights in New Zealand so far.

We left following the river and then lake back down towards Twizel hoping to check emails before continuing on toward the east coast. However a rather disturbing grinding noise coming from the front drivers side wheel stopped our progress in Twizel. The brake pad had gone on that side and despite being a Sunday a mechanic agreed to try and fix it that day. Luck was against us, as it turned out he did not have the correct pad for our car and would have to order one in for tomorrow. We were stuck in Twizel, where believe me there is not much to do!

Still it was nice just to relax for the afternoon, reading and enjoying the sunshine.

Monday: After another relaxing morning the mechanic finally managed to replace the brake pad at lunchtime, by 1.30pm we were finally on our way again heading south and west for the coast. We drove through valleys and lakes, dams and power stations until we finally reached the east coast again.

After a little searching we found a gravel road that led to Wainono Lagoon, another good bird watching spot. Here we went for a long walk following muddy fields that gradually became filled with pools of water that eventually formed the lake. Numerous birds were feeding in the fields, along the edges of the pools and on the lake itself, best was the wonderful view of an adult and juvenile Spoonbill flying overhead.

It was now overcast and getting pretty late, so we decided to free camp between the fields and shingle beach by the lagoon.

Tuesday: Woke to an overcast and cool morning, once breakfast was finished we drove back to the main highway, and round to the other side of the lagoon to take a look at the bird life on that side. A much shorter walk brought us to the edge of a small lake at the edge of the main lagoon. Here once more there were numerous waders and ducks feeding, but it was by climbing the shingle beach and looking out over the grey green turbulent sea that brought the best sighting of the morning. Three Hectors Dolphins were surfacing a short distance from the beach up the coast, we watched them as they made their way down the coast, parallel to the shore until they were directly opposite us. Here they seemed to pause in their travels and started breaching clear of the water right in front of us! After a few minutes they then continued their travels down the coast and were joined by two more dolphins =)

Back at the car we continued our journey south towards Dunedin, as we did the clouds began to lift allowing some sunshine to break through. We stopped at Shag Point, a mini peninsula where there are a couple of lookouts for Yellow eyed Penguins and NZ Fur Seals. It was very very windy on this headland, the blue grey ocean whipped up into a tempest of white caps with waves crashing against the rocky shoreline. Standing at the lookouts being buffeted this way and that by the wind we saw one solitary Yellow eyed Penguin (the rarest penguin in the world) huddled against the shore, numerous Fur Seals lounging on huge rocks off the coast that were also covered with Stewart Island Shags (found only along the south eastern coast of South Island)!

Early afternoon we arrived in Dunedin and after a few errands in the busy city itself we made our way out onto the Otago Peninsula and back into the low lying cloud. Our first stop on the peninsula was Sandfly Bay where there is a hide to view Yellow eyed Penguins coming ashore in the evenings. We made our way down a huge sand dune onto the beach, battling against the fierce wind that blew sand into our faces as well as whipping spray from the tops of waves back out to sea. It was a wild wind swept, beautiful beach. We made our way along the beach to the far end where the hide is located, almost walking into a slumbering Hooker Sea Lion that was almost covered in sand!

We watched from the hide has six Yellow eyed Penguins come in from the pounding surf and waddle up the beach to the rocks and steep grassy bank, two of them then hopped up this steep slope!

As the sun began dropping below the low cloud, sending golden light onto the beach we made our way back along the beach and then struggled up the loose sand of the dunes. It had been a wonderful couple of hours, a wild wind swept beach in the presence of the rarest penguin in the world and the rarest Sea Lion in the world!

Wednesday: Low, misty clouds obscured the whole of the peninsula, the wind howled through our tent and it was a rather grey, dismal day. However today we aimed to go and visit the Royal Albatross colony at Tairoa Head, and if there is one thing Albatross love and that's wind!

The colony is the only mainland colony of Albatross in the world and the most easily accessible, still you have to go as part of an organised tour, which is good as it certainly reduces disturbance to these birds.

After a very informative talk about the colony we walked up the slope to the observatory where we spent half an hour watching 4 big, white fluffy chicks huddle against the wind swept headland, and two adults come soaring over head. Although only 4 nests are on view this year there are 23 chicks that all look good for fledging towards the end of the year.

This afternoon we drove to Allan's Beach via the muddy inlet of Hooper's Inlet, here while stopping to photograph a Pied Stilt we spotted 3 Chestnut-breasted Shelducks, yet another New Zealands rare native birds!

Allan's Beach was another wild, windswept beach, with sand and spray being swept away by the ferocious wind. We walked a short distance to rocks at the closest end of the beach which provided a little shelter from the wind and here we found another lone Yellow eyed Penguin that was moulting and did not seem too bothered by our presence allowing us to get quite close to take some photos =)

The low cloud seemed to close in reducing the visibility to the point we could no longer see the far end of the beach, we decided to head back to the camp. Not before spending a little while watching 13 Royal Spoonbill feeding close to the road along the Hoopers Inlet.

Thursday: Another dull, dismal, drizzly day. We can not see the hill tops of the peninsula and the wind still as strong. We would normally have moved on, continuing our tour of the south island, however tomorrow Lisa is arriving in Dunedin to spend a few days with us so we are going to wait on the peninsula for her to arrive.

After a morning of reading we drove the short distance to the NZ Marine Studies Centre and Aquarium, the only 'indoor' activity we have been able to find.

A small but very informative aquarium it was great to see up close some of New Zealands marine inhabitants and learn about the research that goes on. Our favourite had to be the Seahorses =)

Hoping the weather may have cleared up when we came out if anything it was even worse, so we spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing at the campsite, at least here it was warm and sheltered. =)

Hutton's Shearwater Work

We spent this week working with the Department of Conservation (DOC) in Kaikoura, on a relocation project for Hutton's Shearwaters.

But first....did Rachael pass her PADI Open Water Dive Course? I hear you cry!

The answer is....YES! Last Sunday she completed her final exam and then went on her qualifying dive in the Reserve at South Bay with her instructor Gary and Lee. Although the visibility was not too great we spent around half an hour cruising around over rocks covered in seaweed and through alleyways created by uplifted limestone rocks!

Since then Lee has decided to hold off on his Advanced Open Water course until we both have a little more diving experience, then we hope to pursue the Underwater Photography Course.

in the butt

Monday morning we started the work with the DOC on the Hutton's Shearwaters, arriving at the office at 8am and then up to the Kaikoura Peninsula by about 8.15am.

The Hutton's Shearwater is a beautiful seabird that only breeds in the Kaikoura Seaward Mountain Range. There are currently two good sized colonies up in the mountains but these are vulnerable to habitat loss, and if wiped out as there is no other place where these birds breed, the species would be lost. So in order to safe guard the species the DOC are relocating some of the birds to a new colony with purposely built burrows on the peninsula. First 10 birds were relocated in 2005 and then 86 were brought down in 2006. The idea is that the birds will fledge from the burrows on the peninsula and then return there to breed in 3-4 years time - until then the DOC will not know whether the project is a success...

This year 95 birds were removed from the colony in the mountains and brought to the peninsula burrows last Friday. The next job is to feed them until they are ready to fledge and start their life out on the open ocean, here's where we come in, we spent the week helping to feed the chicks.

The work involved two feeding teams of two people - one measuring, weighting and holding the bird, the other person feeding the bird warm, mixed sardines with a syringe - two runners who collected and returned the birds to their burrows and a scribe to write down all the information.

We both got the chance to have a go at each job; running was good fun but hard work, walking up and down the steep bank and trying to avoid being pecked and scratched by the shearwaters sharp pointed beaks!

Working at the feeding station was a different challenge, the bird were first weighed and their wings measured, they were then fed which often involved quite a bit of regurgitation - Yuck! Once fed the birds were reweighed to establish how much food they had taken before being returned to their burrows.

During the later half of the week Rachael had a go at scribing, much more of a mental challenge trying to keep track of who had which bird, taking information from two different birds at the same time and recording it accurately! Lee had a go at actually feeding the birds, a little scary the first time as you insert the syringe down into their crop! But he soon got the hang of it and by Friday we were both confident enough to work on a feeding station together...

The final job of each day was to remove the gates on the burrows in which the birds were at the right weight and wing length to fledge. A couple of nights these birds would go out of their burrow and flap their wings, building up their wing muscles, they would then return to the burrow during the day. Then when they are ready they leave the burrow for good, flying down onto the waters around the peninsula before migrating to Australian waters for a few years until they are ready to return and breed...hopefully to the peninsula....

The scenery was stunning, ocean spreading out on either side, the mountains providing a spectacular back drop. The weather mostly held out, in fact was so calm on Monday we were able to watch Dusky Dolphins and a Sperm Whale blowing from our vantage point.

We had little rain through the week except on Tuesday when a fierce south westerly brought gale force winds that almost blew us off the cliff and rain that felt like needles against your skin. It was during the mid morning tea break when we were all huddled into the tin hut, which we could feel moving in the howling wind that we decided to abandon the site and return to feed the birds later in the afternoon when the wind had dropped a little!

All in all it was a fabulous week and a brilliant experience that we are both extremely glad to have been able to take part in...

Hutton's Shearwater aplenty!

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This is scuba Rach practicing her scuba diving techniques. Yes the bubbles are from her tank. Good job the water here is only 4ft deep.

Here we are holding a Hutton's shearwater chick! This bird has a little way to go until he can leave the burrow.

This might be not how mum and dad Shearwater do it but its by far the best way for us! Rach is holding the beak open until Lee gets the tube down and then she can let go of the top mandible.

The mixture in the syringe is liquidised sardine. Looks like coffee milkshake but definitely does not smell of it!

We had 2 feeding teams and Paul here taking a picture of the other group. This shearwater is patiently waiting to be weighed.

Here he is after being weighed. Like a new aged 'chav' with his thick jacket and funny hair style.

This work was done by the Department of Conservation here in Kaikoura, as this shearwater is just finding out.

Top of the South Island

Sunday: After writing last weeks Blog entry in Picton we drove along a twisting, winding road following the coast of the Queen Charlotte Sound, to a small place called Anakiwa. Here is the start of the famous Queen Charlotte Track, a 3-4 day trek that follows the Queen Charlotte Sound along a finger of land protruding north. Our aim was not to walk the whole track but to do small sections in search of a bird called a Weka, its a giant rail like out Coots and Moorhens back home.

The weather was gorgeous, beautiful endless blue skies stretching over the deep blue waters of the Sound. On either side green forested hill sides rose up from sandy, muddy bays. We headed off following the trail along the coast through a forest filled with native ferns and giant trees. We walked for quite a while before turning round and heading back, no weka but we did find a beautiful bay, with a muddy, shelly beach meeting bluey green waters which graded to darker blue further offshore.

Our campsite for this evening was on the other side of this narrow finger of land, surrounded by native forest intermingled with stands of pine and filled with the calls of Tuis and Bellbirds.

Monday: This morning we headed along another section of the Queen Charlotte Track once more in search of Weka. However along this section the trees were much shorter, more shrubby and bush like and the ground much drier, not ideal for Weka, but we pushed on to a lookout. After climbing a very steep track through blazing sunshine we finally reached the top on the hill, 417m above sea level and the views were stunning. Panoramic views of the Marlborough Sounds spread out to the horizon before us, narrow channels of deep blue water winding their way through hillsides covered in a blanket of green.

Once back at the car we made our way even further along the finger of land to the last possible point where the Track meets the road, before continuing on to its end at Ship Cove. The forest here was much wetter, with taller trees and dense undergrowth, ideal habitat for weka. We had not walked two minutes when down the road, that initially ran parallel to the track, came a weka! It crossed the road, came down the bank, crossed the trail in front of us and then disappeared into the undergrowth on the other side of the trail!

We now headed away from the Sounds and over a mountain range to Nelson, the sunniest place in New Zealand! We stopped briefly before making our way up the coast of Tasman Bay, stopping for the night at Kina Bay and watching the moon rise over mountains leaving a trail of light across the bay.

Tuesday: This morning we watched the sun make the same journey up over the mountains, touching the sky, ocean and clouds with beautiful light.

Our morning activity was a walk along the Motueka Sand Spit a little further up the coast. It was hot, hard work walking through soft sand but the sky was brilliant blue and the ocean a mesmerising pale blue. We walked right to the end where a group of over a thousand waders mingled on the sand! After a while watching it was time to head back, this time bare foot through the surf.

We spent the rest of day making our way back to Picton.

Wednesday: After days of beautiful sunshine,w e woke to an overcast, drizzly morning, a little disappointed as today we were hoping to go swimming with dolphins! But wait whats that coming over the hillside! No not a monster but blue sky and Sunshine!

By the time we were on board the Dolphin Ecotours boat for the second time this week the patches of blue sky we getting bigger and the sun was heating us in our skin tight wetsuits!

We headed out into the Sound and after only 20 minutes the boat slowed, up ahead were 7 BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS!!! It was brilliant to see these guys! We watched them as they bruised under the bow, they were big! Much bigger than Dusky or Hectors Dolphins, the group included an absolutely massive male! He was huge! and we're thinking "we're gonna get in the water with these guys!?"

On our part there was no hesitation, once the signal was given we were straight in the water swimming over to the dolphins and singing our hearts out. The swim was magic, different once more to swimming with Hectors or Dusky Dolphins, these guys did not swim as close as Hector's and were much more chilled than Duskies, swimming under and around us checking us out. They loved the sound of Lee's under water camera clicking.
We'd look down into the murky green water and out of the gloom 3-7 dolphins would cruise under us, looking back up at us. And yep they were BIG! It was awesome =)
Occasionally we would stop singing as they came into view and listen to their clicks and whistled as they swam by, then we'd try and swim to keep up with them. For a brief moment they would cruise just ahead or below, letting us become part of their pod before one effortless flick of their flukes would send them disappearing off into the gloom.

All too soon we were called out of the water and back onto the boat, where we then spent over half an hour watching the dolphins, which cruised off the bow, surfacing close by, swimming upside down under water and breaching high into the air! It was awesome, we were both really excited about the whole encounter!

Back on dry land we drove away from Picton, just past Blenheim to a small village called Wairu Valley. Here, just over a month after leaving them in Christchurch, we met back up with Mum and Laura! In a tavern, in the middle of a broad valley between two mountain ranges we spent a few hours chatting about all we had done and all that we still hoped to do!

Later that afternoon we left and while Mum and Laura headed for Nelson, Lee and Rachael headed into the familiar landscape of Kaikoura! It was like returning home having spent so long here in January, although it felt very strange to be there without Mum and Laura.

Here over the next few days, Rachael is going to learn to dive!

Thursday: A day for relaxing, sorting our selves out and getting ready to start the dive course in the morning, which mainly involved reading part of a very thick diving manual! Rachael hopes over the next three days to complete her PADI Open Water Course, Lee originally planned to do his Advance Open Water at the same time, but it turns out the dive company's boat is out of action and he will not be able to do it over the next few days - no worries though we are going to try and do it next weekend!

Friday: Day 1 of the PADI Open Water Dive Course - A whole morning of theory, a couple of hours in a swimming pool learning the dive skills and then its out into the open ocean for an open water dive!

Lee joined Rachael and her instructor Gary for the pool and ocean dives refreshing his memory of the skills he learnt in Indonesia 7 years ago!

This evening was spent with more reading for the next theory sessions! An exhausting and intense day but a big chunk of the course completed!

Saturday: Day 2 of the PADI Open Water Dive Course - Another morning of theory, however by 10am we were back into the ocean for another open water dive. This time it was just Rachael and Gary, Lee spent the day pottering about the campsite and town.

With most of the skills mastered in yesterdays dives, today was about covering a few more of the skills, namely buoyancy! and then enjoying the underwater environment around Kaikoura.

It was awesome! despite low visibility we found giant Paua, a large sea urchin, an intriguing sea cucumber and an array of colourful little fishies!

With her new skills and improved buoyancy skills Rachael was able to enjoy the dive so much more! The time whizzed by and we were soon surfacing and returning to shore, finished for the day.....

There is only one day left on the PADI Open Water Course... will Rachael pass the final exam?.... will she maintain her buoyancy well enough to complete her final open water dive?....Will Lee take the plunge and go for his Advanced Open Water?!......

Tune in to next weeks edition of Lee and Rachael's Massive, Huge Travel Blog to find out!!

A quiet photo week, but some cracking photos never the less

This is the moon rising above the Bryant ranges at Kina near Nelson. Kina means sea urchin in Maori.

Sunrise at Kina. This was our view from our tent. That's New Zealand for you.

These Bottle nosed dolphins were having fun after we swam with them. Perhaps they wanted us to return the favour and show them what its like on dry land? Of coarse they lacked the big cameras snapping at them.

Lee and Rachael at the top of a lookout overlooking the Marlborough sounds. This is a 360 degree view. Wow!

Lee and Rachael at the carrot capital of New Zealand. You can see why! They grow pretty big here.

I wonder how many of the Barber clan live down this street? We also found a Lee street too.

South Island here we come... again

This is a golden stream. The minerals travelling from the acid soils above react with the stream bed making it this golden colour.

With a volcano in the distance at the Tongariro National Park the views are spectacular. The smooth area in the fore ground is where a lava once creeped down hill from another volcano.

The cast of the Lord of the Rings walked up this path in their way to destroy the ring. Very spectacular, with pillars and arches eroded by wind and rain.

Hectors dolphin surfing! These tiny dolphins had no worries and played around our boat until we left them to it.

Strangly for Hectors dolphins the ones we were with were very aerobatic. A rare sight indeed.

This Fluttering Shearwater looks very similar to the Huttons shearwaters we'll be working with when we get to Kaikoura.

NZ has some very strange visitor centers!!!!

The Journey South

Sunday: We spent most of the day driving south along the twisting, winding roads of the Coromandel Peninsula with its deep green forests covering steep valley sides to straight roads amongst a flat landscape full of greeny yellow paddocks and then into the forested hillsides around the Pureora Forest. The sun was setting as we pulled into our camp deep in the native forest, out of the car and in the massive trees sat a Kaka! An endemic parrot we had been hoping to see for a while! That evening we went in search of the Brown Kiwi, and although we heard one calling close by we could not find it amongst the dense vegetation of the forest.

Monday: Woke up to rain pattering on the tent, everything when you are camping is so much more difficult when it rains but we managed to have breakfast and pack the tent during a lull in the rain.

We then made our way back into the forest to a watch tower where we spent over an hour watching the birds of the forest just like in Peru! It continued to rain, drifting between misty rain and heavier downpours, while we were safe undercover. The forest was filled with native New Zealand birds, Kaka, Yellow Crowned Parakeets, New Zealand Robins to name a few.

Next, as the rain seemed to ease, we went for a short walk through the giant trees of this native forest. Ferns, mosses and epiphytes draped themselves over trees that towered skywards and tiny birds called Riflemen flitted through the canopy.

Our plans to search the forest further were stopped by the rain as it got heavier and heavier and so we left heading for the Tongario National Park in the central region of New Zealand's North Island.

By the time we reached the massive Lake Taupo and followed its west coast the weather had cleared and bright sunshine replaced the sullen grey clouds. We then turned away from the lake heading for the Tongario National Park and namely the active volcano Mount Ruapehu. As we got closer to the mountain the rain once again came down, obscuring any views of this impressive volcano.

That evening as the skies cleared we set our camp in Whakapapa and then went on another, this time less fruitful, search for the Brown Kiwi in the beech forest on the slopes of the mountain.

Tuesday: What a difference a night makes! The skies had cleared and the massive peak of Mount Ruapehu glinted in the sunlight.
We headed out on a walk through the beech forest and tussock alpine shrub meadows on the slope of the mountain. Through the mountain beech forest, alive with the calls of native birds and cicadas and over a stream whose bed was coloured brilliant gold! Iron-oxide clays deposited on the rocks made it look like it had been touched by Midas. Out into the open tussock meadows we had magnificent views of not only Mount Ruapehu but the other active volcano just next door, Mount Ngauruhoe. The volcanoes towered above us set against the back drop of a stunning blue sky. We followed the trail through more forest and out into meadows where beautiful flowers popped up between bushes and dragonflies & damselflies flitted over swampy patches, until we reached the Silica Rapids. Here the river widens and the bed turns creamy white as alumino-silicates are deposited.

From here we crossed more rugged alpine meadows on our way back to town. The trail climbed over and around an old lava flow now covered with tussock and alpine shrubs. It was while walking around the bottom edge of the lava flow, that when happening to look up we spotted a New Zealand Falcon! We had been searching since arriving in New Zealand for this rare, endemic raptor that is often difficult to find. The bird took off circling above us then swooping across the valley and out of sight! Awesome!

Buzzing from seeing that magnificent bird we ate a little lunch then headed just south of the mountain in search of another rare, endemic bird the Blue Duck. After following a narrow, winding road through a steep sided valley that followed the Manganuteao River we finally came to a bridge over looking the boulder strewn, fast flowing river and there just up the river were three Blue Ducks! Beautiful blue-grey feathers, with red on the breast and beautiful, piercing yellow eye these ducks are unusual amongst the family for preferring fast flowing rivers.

We camped in a secluded site near Okahune on the southern slopes of Mount Ruapehu and once again when it got dark went in search of Brown Kiwi. We walked though more native forest, with massive trees towering, silhouetted black against the deep blue night sky. Numerous Morepork could be heard calling and then we heard the distinctive harsh trill of a Brown Kiwi very close by! We stopped and listened intently but again we could not hear or see anything else.
The closest encounter we had that night was with a rather inquisitive Bush-tailed Possum that clung to one of those giant trees looking down at us.

Wednesday: An overcast morning, but as we were packing camp two New Zealand Falcons flew over! Its just like buses back home, you wait for ages to see one, then they all come at once!

We then returned to take one last look at those wonderful Blue Ducks, making the most of being in an area where these birds are so accessible i.e. you don't have to go walking for miles and miles along mountain streams in the middle of nowhere.

After one last short walk to Lake Rotokura where we enjoyed views of New Zealand Dabchick and Austrailasian Shovelar, we headed south away from the Tongario.

Finally after hours of driving through flat, farming landscape we arrived at Foxton Beach to the south west of Palmerston North, where we camped for the night.

Thursday: A walk along the Manuwatu River Estuary was this mornings activity, with plenty of waders and other sea birds on view. We walked right along the estuary to the end of Foxton Beach Township and here we found another beautiful bird, the Royal Spoonbill. Although quite a distance away we could just make out their pure white feathers and long, flat, black bill with the distinctive spoon shaped end.

Back at the car we continued our trip south, we were booked onto the 6.15pm sailing tomorrow to the South Island from Wellington and so went in search of a campsite on the southern coast of the North Island.

We followed the west coast south and then crossed over two mountain ranges, following steep, winding, often narrow roads up and over. Both were cloaked in deep green native forest and both had steep valley sides that dropped off dramatically from the side of the road!
Once over the range the land flattened out and acres of greeny yellow grass paddocks filled the landscape. We followed this road to the beautiful blue ocean which rolled up onto black sandy beaches.

We camped in the foothills of another mountain range, in a narrow valley with steep sides covered in deep green trees and sheer cliffs of exposed rock, cutting inland from the ocean with a rocky stream bed winding its way through.

Friday: This morning we walked up the stream bed through the valley to The Pinnacles, impressive massive columns of gravel towering above the stream bed and sculptured into sheer 3D pillars, cliffs, gullies and arches by wind and rain.

We then drove back over the two mountain ranges to Wellington ready to board the ferry later that evening.

As the ferry made its way out of Wellington Harbour we stood on the observation decks looking out over the silvery blue ocean, watching shearwaters skim past wing tips just above the waves. Ahead the Malborough Sounds came into view, a maze of inlets and sounds to be navigated before reaching Picton and the South Island. We stayed on the open deck until it became too dark to watch and then spent the rest of the journey in the warm lounge.

Saturday: A good night sleep despite the rumbles of a train going over head.

After a relaxed breakfast we went into Picton to take a look around, we sorted out Rachael's dive course - looks like we'll be heading back to Kaikoura as the team in Picton can not fit us in this week!

This afternoon we joined Dolphin Watch Ecotours on a marine and island wildlife watching tour through the Queen Charlotte Sound. Soon we were cruising through the silvery blue waters of the Sound, flanked by steep, rounded hills covered in native and pine forests. We both stood scanning for wildlife and were rewarded with good views of various seabirds. Nearly an hour into the trip we slowed into a bay, up ahead, close to shore Lee spotted fins! We cruised slowly over and spent about 10 minutes watching 15 Hectors Dolphins! They were in a playful mood, swimming under and around the boat and breaching repeatedly a short distance away!

Next stop was Motohura Island, a sanctuary at the mouth of the Sound filled with rare, endemic birds a little like Tiritiri Matangi. Saddlebacks, Yellow Crowned Parakeets and NZ Robins hopped amongst the branches fearless of humans.

On the journey back we spotted more birds including the King Shag, only 600 of these birds are left and they are only found in the Malborough Sounds! We also watched a couple of New Zealand Fur Seals lounging on the rocks and swimming amongst the bluey green waters of the bay.