Cool New Zealand waters to the centre of a volcano!

There wasn't a sign saying you didn't have to hold your breath going through the tunnel fish tank in the National Aquarium for New Zealand.


Captain Cook landed here in 1769 on his voyage to discover new lands.

First people in the world to see the sun rise at East Cape lighthouse.

This Praying Mantis was found in one of our campsites. It posed really well for Rachael.

When your walking in the centre of the most active volcano in New Zealand and it smoking no need to worry, we went through the drill of what happens when White Island erupts. The smoke is actually steam rising from about 1-2km under our feet where lava heats underground streams and rises to the surface.

Lee and Rachael in front of one of these exit holes for steam. The steam exits the ground at 94 degrees so no sauna room here. The last eruption by the way was in 2000!!!

Holes and lakes bubbling and smelling of rotten eggs is normal here in Rotorua. This is the park and just out of shot is the food market.

Eastland
Saturday: After writing the Blog for last week we drove out of Masterton, through a countryside of rolling green hills to the Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre. Nestled in a large area of native forest the centre houses many of New Zealand's rare, native birds such as Kiwi, Stitchbirds and Kokako.

They are heavily involved in the conservation of these species running breeding programmes as well as giving the public a chance to view them up close.
The Kiwi house was great, Lee loved the eels and we both really enjoyed watching the Kaka swooping in over our heads to take an afternoon snack of fruit.

Once we had wandered around the centre for a while we drove on northwards and camped in a remote spot near Woodville, nestled between high wooded slopes.

Sunday: High cloud covered our secluded campsite this morning. On leaving the camp we drove north then veering off the main state highway headed along twisting narrow roads, along green valleys towards the coast. On reaching a small obscure village called Wimbledon we turned northwards once more and drove along yet another winding road along the bottom of a valley, the trees on either side were golden and russet coloured with the touch of autumn.

As the valley opened we pulled up to the side of the road. To our left lay a row of rounded hill tops, although they looked like any other hills any where in the world one in particular held a special claim to fame. Its name is the longest place name in the world (yep longer than that place in Wales!) Its name is:

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu! and breathe!....

The name basically translates to "The Hill on which Taumata, the chief of great physical statue and renown, played a lament on his flute to the memory of his brother"

We left the longest place name in the world and continued our journey northwards to Napier on the east coast. We had arrived in the area of Hawkes Bay, the landscape was flat and filled with paddocks of livestock and fields of various fruit and veg, plus grapes.

In Napier we took time to explore the National Aquarium of New Zealand set overlooking the bay. It was well set out and we both particularly liked the walk through Oceanarium, as we walked through a tunnel various fish and sharks swam over our heads.

Lee was like a kid in a candy store beaming at all the fish, sea horses, geckos and so on...

We camped in a holiday park just up the road from Napier that looked out over Hawkes Bay.

Monday: A bright, crisp morning saw us winding our way around Hawkes Bay northwards. The steep hillsides were covered in areas of grass and green or russet pine forests, trees along the road side were yellow, red or orange, their leaves littering the verges. Harriers swooped low over the fields, Kingfishers sat on overhead wires enjoying the autumn sunshine.

We drove through a steep gorge before returning to green pastures above. We ate lunch at the edge of the Mahia Peninsula overlooking a deep blue ocean that rolled onto a dark sandy beach in white, wispy breakers.

On through Morere with one of the last stands of native lowland rain forest on the North Island and then back into the paddocks and fields around Gisborne. The road dropped into the plains of the Wherowhero Estuary over which we could see Young Nick's Head, a peninsula named after the surgeons boy aboard Captains Cooks The Endeavour, that was the first to spot land back in 1769.

In Gisborne, over looking the bay and the landing spot of Captain Cook, stood two statues one of Captain Cook himself and the other of Nick Young.

The sun was low in the cloudy sky, tinting the undersides of the clouds pink, when we finally drove down a gravel road to Waihau Beach where we camped for the night.

Tuesday: We watched the sun rise above the ocean, turning the sky hazy pink to orange and then yellow. White thundering waves crashed onto the sandy beach from a silvery ocean beyond as we watched the world come into light.

A little later we took a stroll along the beach, the coastline, purpley blue against the hazy morning spread before us as we watched Pied Stilts and a Kingfisher flitting from driftwood to driftwood.

Back to the main highway we continued north along the east coast. A similar country of rolling green hills, a patch work of grass and green pine forests. Intermixed were large fields of dry corn and maize, and a couple of times we came across herds of cattle being driven down the road. We were in the Eastland, an area not too much visited by most tourists and steeped in Maori culture. We passed numerous marae, maori meeting houses with their beautifully carved archways.

We continued around the east coast, the road hugging the coastline and soon arrived in Te Araroa where we ate lunch beneath the branches of the oldest and largest Pohutukawa tree in New Zealand.

We were tired from the long hours driving and so stopped at a nearby holiday park, here we spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the warm sunshine. Set by the beach on the broad flat plain between two hills sides, the camp was quiet and peaceful.

Wednesday: We woke while it was still dark, hundreds of stars twinkled above us in the clear night sky, and drove along a gravel road to the East Cape Lighthouse, the most easterly lighthouse in the world.

As the sky lightened in the east we made our way around the headland and park at the bottom of a very steep hill, at the top of which sat the lighthouse. Low mist hung over the fields behind as we started up the 756 steps to the lighthouse.
Huffing and puffing we finally arrived at the top, the lighthouse appeared before us looking silently eastwards over a calm and silvery ocean. We plopped down at its base and watched as the clouds that hung low over the horizon turned bright, fiery red. The horizon began to glow orangey yellow, and then slowly the sun appeared above the bluish ocean, a pinkish glow spread across the lighthouse and the small island just offshore. We were among the first people in the world to watch the sunrise this morning...

Gradually the light became yellower and brighter, blinding almost, the landscape around us came into sharp focus the sun burning off the remaining mist. We returned to our car and drove back along the coast to the campsite for breakfast.

On finding we were low of petrol we returned to Te Araroa and found one lonesome pump with two bikers standing nearby. It was ANZAC day in New Zealand, a public holiday to remember those fallen in the war (much like our Remembrance Day). Despite this the bikers had been told the pump would open at 9.30am instead of 1pm as is usual on public holidays. There were 150 bikers coming this way all wanting petrol. We were content to wait till 1pm if necessary as we were no rush, the bikers on the other hand were in a hurry and when the guy refused to open the pump early there was a lot of discontented bikers swarming around our car which was stuck in the midst of it all!

We waited patiently watching the scene unfold, shortly a rather disgruntled owner came out and agreed to open the pump with payments of cash only. We decided to take advantage to get some fuel now also, but first let the majority of the grumpy bikers go first.

With a bit of fuel in our tank we continued on into the sunshine, following the road as it wound its way up and down forested hills, round bays of sandy or rocky beaches dotted with numerous Pohutukawa trees and lined with a deep blue ocean. We passed endless fields of corn and drove through more small Maori villages.

We continued round Ohiwa Harbour, past the 13km of Ohope beach and into Whakatane in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Out over the pale blue ocean we could see an island smoking against the horizon, White Island, New Zealand's most active marine volcano and our destination tomorrow!

Thursday: A clear sunny morning greeted us we boarded the boat that would take us the 50km offshore to White Island. Out of the river mouth and we picked up speed across a dark blue ocean, that rippled with small waves.

We sat on the rear deck scanning the ocean for birds and marine mammals, can't help ourselves! The coastline of the North Island faded into a bluish purpley, misty haze as we passed Whale Island another offshore sanctuary for New Zealand's rare bird life, and ahead White Island loomed, steaming against the blue sky.

We passed through a flock of Grey-faced Petrels and saw a Common Diving Petrel zip by, both new species of birds to us =)

The island loomed closer, grey rock with white steam billowing from its high sides, we pulled into Crater Bay where the boat was moored offshore. We were taken ashore in a small inflatable and climbed over a rusting wharf and across dark rocks coated red by the minerals in the air.

Wearing hard hats and with gas masks we stood looking over a lunar landscape. High rocky walls of the crater circled the island bar two gaps, one where Crater Bay is and another past a headland at Wilson's Bay. From the centre a massive cloud of steam billowed continuously.
Our guide Jules then gave us a short talk about safety, we were standing on a live, active volcano that is constantly changing. The last eruption in July 2000 changed it from a grey ash covered area into the mounds of large boulders and crumbly gravel that we saw before us.

We then started out tour of the crater, the island was a landscape of grey, black boulders and gravel with patches of bright yellow sulphur and brilliant white calcium deposits. These bright patched indicated where the heat beneath us was closer to the surface and the rock was thinner - no standing on these! Jules showed us one such mound that had collapsed, a pool of boiling ashy water!

Steam billowed loudly out of vents dotted all over the place, including from the main crater itself. Deep beneath us a large chamber of hot magma heated rivers of water that ran through the porous rock beneath the surface, the water evaporates into steam which rises looking for an escape route to the surface - creating these vents. Rising with the steam are various minerals including sulphur (giving that rotten egg smell we all so much enjoy!) on reaching the atmosphere this cystallizes at 94°c into the visible yellow crystals.

Jules explained that when the volcano erupts it does not have rivers of magma, but instead shoots out, horizontally at the speed of a bullet no less!, balls of magma ranging from the size of basketballs to small cars! When these hit the sides of the crater they explode spreading rock over the landscape.

We made our way up to the crater lake and for the first time needed our gas masks as the steam billowed around us. Occasionally the steam would clear giving us a brief glimpse of the rippling and bubbling lake below. With a pH of 0 there would be no swimming in this lake! I'm sure you all know already that the pH scale runs from 14 which is alkaline to 7 which is neutral to 0 which is acidic! Our lake was pure acid, and had actually been recorded at pH-0.6! The water was a lovely 64°c, having dropped from 74°c, at the same time the level of the lake was dropping having previously been just below the rim of the lake. A dynamic environment, previously there had been no lake and the crater dropped into a deep chasm.

On leaving the lake we crossed a few small streams that cut into the rock, we were able to taste (not drink though!) the water in two of them. One tasted very salty and the other like blood due to the high iron content, in fact the browns and deep reds of iron could be seen on the stones on the stream bed.

Our final stop was the old sulphur factory ruins, abandoned in 1920s the floor of the factory were now covered in 8ft of gravel and sediment, the walls were crumbling and the iron work rusted and falling apart.

With the sky now filling with cloud we returned to the boat and enjoyed a light lunch before circling the island. We cruised past Wilson's Bay with a final view of the crater complex before it disappeared behind the encircling walls, on the far side of the island we passed a forest of Pohutukawa trees one of 22 species of plant that survive on the island, the main one being a succulent called ice grass. We passed where Grey-faced Petrels nest and headlands where Gannets nest, only a few stragglers left now.

Having circled the island we headed back to the mainland under a blanket of cloud with the sun occasionally glinting of the wavy ocean. We resumed our scanning and although we spotted no whales or dolphins we had a great view of Common Diving Petrel, spotted a large Albatross and saw numerous Grey-faced Petrels. The highlight though had to be the flying fish that would leap from the waves, fly close to the water near the boat and then splash back under the waves! =)

White Island got smaller and smaller, shrinking to the horizon still smoking, and all to soon we entered into the Whakatane River and pulled up to the wharf. Our adventure on New Zealand's most active, marine volcano was over and it had been an awesome experience.

Friday: A clear night gave way to a clear, crisp morning with high wispy clouds. We took our time exploring Whakatane and then drove back along the Ohiwa Harbour, stopping for lunch over looking the largest remaining salt marsh in the harbour.

Our next stop was Ohiwa itself where we took a walk on the long sandy beach and onto the sand spit that protrudes into the harbour mouth and is a very important habitat for migrating and breeding waders.

Not many around today but we paddled in the water and enjoyed the warm sunshine.

Leaving the harbour we headed up the Waimana Valley and into the Te Urewera National Park. Native woodland filled the valley sides, along its floor ran a broad flood plain with a silver river winding its way through the middle. Wooden slat houses were dotted along its banks with fields of cattle and horses, a bright yellow marae (meeting house) stood out against the green trees behind.

Soon the road climbed and got windier and narrower, the walls of the valley closed in, the river fell away beside us dropping into a sheer gorge. A short while later the valley opened out once more to reveal a flat green field, our campsite for the night which we shared with a few horses.


Saturday: For the first time in a while it started to rain during the night and continued on un relenting this morning. A pause allowed us to pack the dripping tent, low misty clouds hung low over the valley and then it started to rain once again.

We carefully made our way back down the valley the rain obscuring our view of the valley and creating puddles in the gravel. Out of the valley we headed north for Rotorua, not seeing much of the landscape around us as it was veiled in grey rain. Trees, hills and houses slowly loomed out of the gloom ahead as we twisted through the country with heaters on full trying to dry the tent as we went.

We soon came along the edges of the various lakes in the Rotorua area but we could not see their far shores. Evidence of the areas geothermic activity came into view as steam poured out of various vents. A distinctive rotten egg smell let on that we had finally arrived around Rotorua itself. As we pulled into the town itself the rain finally eased, we had lunch amongst the steaming pools of Kuirau Park. Everything around Rotorua was very touristy, every geothermic hotspot you had to pay to get in, this was the only free place =)

With the skies clearing and the sun finally breaking through we drove north through rolling green hills which slowly grew steeper and more rugged, coated in deep green forests. Flat fields spread to our left and the steep Kaimai Range rose on our right. We spent the night in Te Aroha.

Sunday: A cloudy but bright morning as we made our way to the Karangahake Gorge 8km south east of Paeroa, home of the drink L&P world famous in New Zealand! We stopped and took a walk through the gorge, across two swing bridges and then along the river. The sheer walls of the gorge rose up beside us as we walked through the remains of the gold mining factories. We then crossed the river and then made our way through a dark, long tunnel through the hillside. This brought us back in a loop to the river and it was then a short distance back to the car.

On leaving the gorge we made through the flatter lands of the Huaraki Plains to Miranda where we had spent our first night on our road trip over two months ago. We spent the afternoon enjoying the birds feeding and roosting on the mudflats and pools of the Firth of Thames. We even managed to spot two new birds...remember that photo back in February of all the godwits flying and we asked you to spot the Hudsonian Godwit? Well we didn't spot it back then when there were over 4000 Bar-tailed Godwits, now there were less than 400 with most flying to China to breed and there flying over us was a very dark and rather chubby Hudsonian Godwit!

Amongst the thousands of Wrybill we spotted a Terek Sandpiper, a cute wader with an up turned bill roosting with hundreds of Wrybill with bills turned to the side =)

Evening brought showers spreading across the Firth from the purply hills of the Coromandel. We spent the night at Ray's Rest, the same campsite we had stayed in two months before.

Monday: Rain continued this morning, obscuring the landscape and proving not to useful for bird watching. Once we were sorted we took the long route back to Auckland, following the coastline through the rain.

By lunch we were back at Alan and Cath's house unloading the car, the big road trip was over. We now had a week to sell the car, sort our stuff and get ready for the final chapter of this Big Travel Adventure: South Africa!

From the freezing west to the less freezing north

The classic shot of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman. We had to get up early for this one!

Lee and Rachael by Lake Matheson. Despite what it looks like with the woolly hats and Rachael's 3 layers, it was very cold that morning.

A beautiful and rare White Heron not a stork. This bird came very close to us as it fished.

This was our mode of transport on Lake Okarito. Lee was a bit disappointed the radio and the heated seats weren't working, but we had a great time.

How these rocks formed like this is not fully understood by geologists. It was worth going to see them though. Rachael here was fascinated... although it could of been the Hectors dolphins just over the ridge.


Split Apple Rock is totally out of place. How it got there and ended cracked in half is up to Maori legend.

The West Coast
Saturday: After writing last weeks blog we set out from Fox Glacier and drove a few kilometers up the coast along windy, steep roads between valleys to Franz Josef Glacier. We had flown up and over the actual glacier the day before but we stopped and took the opportunity to wonder around the small town itself.

Next we drove up the coast to Okarito, nestled right next to the coast and on the shores of a large lagoon there is not much to Okarito, however that lagoon is the only place in New Zealand where the White Heron nests. We are out of their breeding season now, the birds have dispersed all over the country, but with excellent feeding habitat in the lagoon also some birds inevitably stay and spend the winter also at the lagoon.

Our aim was to kayak onto the lagoon in the morning in search of these beautiful herons, however we had driven to the village in order to investigate the kayaking and lagoon itself. A bright sunny afternoon the sunlight sparkling on the water and mudflats, we scanned the lagoon hoping for a first glimpse. There across the silvery waters a large white, elegant and graceful bird walked sedately through the shallow water - a White Heron!

Despite having now seen the bird we were still keen to try kayaking in order to try and get a little closer, but that would have to wait till the morning. We returned a short distance down the road to a Department of Conservation Campsite on the shores of Lake Mapourika where we enjoyed the remaining afternoon sunlight reading and drying our tent.

Okarito has another special bird: The Okarito Brown Kiwi, a separate species from the other brown kiwi only found in the native forest around the lagoon. We could not resist going in search, despite feeling rather tired from our early morning adventure to Lake Matheson.
After dark we made our way back along the road to Okarito and pulled into a small car park, we were in Kiwi country. By the light of a thousand bright stars spread across the heavens above, we climbed a steep open path through the forest. It was tough, the gravel path beneath our feet crunched loudly with every footstep no matter how quiet we tried to be. A short way up we met another family out searching, it was good to see a young family getting their kids involved in bird watching, although they had not managed to find anything.

Turning round we returned to the carpark and walked along another path, much quieter this time, with tall shadowed trees surrounding us. The calls of Morepork - New Zealands native owl - rang through the trees, possums scuffled through the bush near the path, their bright eyes watching us as we watched them, but there were no Kiwi....

Exhausted from the long day we returned to our campsite.

Sunday: High cloud greeted us this morning as we drove back to the Okarito lagoon and hired out two single kayaks for 4 hours. The tide was still high, we followed the markers set through this part of the lagoon indicating the channel where the water would remain deep enough to kayak through when the tide went out. We were kayaking in a small part of the lagoon, which stretches 10km up the coast. As we skimmed across the calm, murky bluey brown waters we continually scanned the edges for White Herons.

We had not been going for long when up ahead and to our right we spotted one, slowly walking along the edge of the lagoon. Quietly we paddled over, fortunately for us the tide was still high and we were able to get over to where the heron was feeding. The water became really shallow, but was still just deep enough for us to paddle across. When we got close we stopped paddling and simply drifted watching this beautiful glossy white bird with a bright yellow bill feeding a short distance away. It was a wonderful moment being so close to such a elegant bird, we drifted really close before the heron took flight and glided away across the bluey grey lagoon.

We continued heading for the far end of this part of the lagoon where we could see a large group of Royal Spoonbills roosting on the bank. We paddled over hoping to get in close to take some photographs, the water got shallower and shallower until we were grounded still some way of from the 20-30 spoonbills still sleeping on the bank. We gave up and simply admired them from a distance and then continued making our way into part of the Okarito River system. We drifted, letting the current take us through narrow channels of brown murky water, either side in the bush small birds like Fantails flitted between branches.

Out of the river system and back on the lagoon we let the out going tide carry us slowly back towards the town. We saw another White Heron, which flew in towards us but we were now restricted to the deep channel, the water over the rest of lagoon was too shallow to paddle through. The heron kept to the great expanse of shallow water and soon moved away from us. Still we drifted watching this and other birds, we even spotted a Far-eastern Curlew feeding on the mudflats - an uncommon Arctic migrant to New Zealand!

Time was catching up and we steadily paddled back to the Old Wharf, grounded the kayaks on the beach, climbed out and returned to base for a wonderful cup of tea. It had been a wonderful trip on a beautiful lagoon filled with lovely bird life, topped off by our close encounter with the White Heron.

Leaving Okarito we drove north up the coast, round sharp corners and through dense forest, until the road straightened and the land flattened, filled with pastures and paddocks we were now in Gold Mining Country. We continued on to Hokitika, the NZ Jade capital of New Zealand.

Monday: We spent the morning exploring Hokitika, wondering through the numerous jade factories and admiring beautiful carvings in greenstone.

We then continued our drive north along the west coast, the calm, silvery ocean spread out to our left while paddocks spread to the right to meet the mountains whose tops were covered by the increasing cloud. As we continued past Greymouth the road left the shoreline, now hugging the tops of sheer cliffs that dropped suddenly to the beaches below. The mountains had closed in on our right, sheers walls of limestone shot up from the road and were capped with spindly trees and ferns, steep river valleys and mountains replaced the flat greeny yellow paddocks of grass.

The coastline was hazy, grey flat ocean rolled in wispy white waves along the bluish grey coastline of cliffs and boulders that stood in the mist like ghostly ships grounded on rocks.

We stopped at Punakaiki where we took a short walk through a forest of flax to look outs over Pancake Rocks. Towers of rock had been shaped by wind, rain and sea into what looked like stacks of pancakes. Massive holes, overhangs and caves were created in the towers by the action of waves that slammed into the rock with a boom that sounded like thunder. The tide was out and with not much swell there was little action on the Blowhole front - where water is forced up into the various holes and shafts and spurts out the top in a spray of white water.

Out over the silvery sea we could see large birds skimming over the waves and wondered whether they were Westland Petrels starting to come into their nests in the mountains down the coast, this is the only place in the world where these birds nest during the winter months. The something closer in the surf caught our attention... it surfaced again, a round black dorsal fin....Hector's Dolphins! About 15 of them were surfacing regularly in amongst the waves, a few even started breaching, leaping high out of the water and coming down with a great splash!

After leaving Pancake Rocks we drove up a nearby gravel road that led up a steep sided valley, with sheer limestone cliffs covered with trees, ferns and bushes. The road wound its way through the valley until it opened out as we reached a large paddock, the track continued through the paddock until it met the Inland Pack Route which split off through the forests and along the creek. We decided to camp here for the night, once more we were in prime Kiwi habitat, this time the Great Spotted Kiwi.

Night fell quickly and it was soon very dark, with no moon or stars visible this night. Once it got dark the calls of Morepork started to echo down the valley, joined by other strange shrieks and screams. Curiosity got the better of us and we headed out into the dark in search of kiwi once more. As we crossed the paddock suddenly something moved in the grass next to us. We froze, holding our breath! Our dim torches illuminated only a little way, there in the shadows at the edge of the light was a small, round, brown bird...nope not a Kiwi but a Weka!

On we walked into the forest, a morepork took flight from the trees nearby making us both jump! On we walked, then turned headed back to the paddock and then along the creek a little more. It was becoming obvious that even if there was a Kiwi here the area was so big and our torches so dull we had little chance of actually seeing one. We found another couple of possums before turning back and heading for bed.

Tuesday: It started raining during the night and kept raining into the morning. We woke to the sound of it hammering on our tent roof and dripping from the edges. Outside puddles were forming in the carpark and a female weka and her two chicks were nosing around the tent, almost trying to come in and seek shelter!

As quickly as possible we took the tent down, shoved it into the car and headed back down the gravel road searching for some shelter to have breakfast! We returned to the main road and Punakaiki, it was still raining hard and so we treated ourselves to breakfast and a hot chocolate in one of the cafes.

The rain had eased once we finished and blue sky was starting to poke through the monotonous grey cloud cover, since it was almost high tide we decided to take another walk to the Pancake Rocks and try to see the blowholes in action.
The ocean was rougher this morning, white caps tipped the grey green water, huge white breakers rolled into shore pounding against the pancake rocks. However at the blowholes only occasionally a little bit of spray burst up through the rocky crevasses, still not quite the right conditions for the explosive spray the area is known for. Still it was worth a try...

Next we drove up to Westport, along the tops of giant cliffs that dropped to beaches onto which white waves pounded. After a brief stop in Westport we now drove inland through the Buller Gorge. Below the road the Buller River snaked through the steep sided valley. Green mountains rose up either side of the road that twisted and turned its way through the valley. Finally we turned off and drove through one of the interlocking valleys to our right, into the Nelson Lakes National Park. We made our camp of the shores of Lake Rotoroa as the shadows lengthened. Soon a panoramic display of stars spread out over the lake and surrounding mountains, bright pinpricks of light reflected clearly in the shimmering black waters of the lake.

Wednesday: A freezing night! The morning warmed slowly with the rising sun.

Once packed we left the lakes and drove north to Motueka, we had been here before and had now completed a massive loop around the South Island of New Zealand. For the first time we saw trees in vivid shades of orange, red and yellow our first signs of autumn.

From Motueka we drove north to Kaiteriteri and from here along yet more steep, narrow and winding roads to Split Apple Rock, set in the greeny blue shallows of a golden sandy bay was a massive round rock that was split in half and did indeed look like a split apple!

A short drive north along more winding road to Mahaua and the gateway to the Tasman National Park. We walked the coastal track set against deep green mountains, through green bush, along golden sandy beaches and mud flats to Tinline Beach. Here on exposed rocks at the edge of the shore we found thousands of Green-lipped Mussels of a decent size, we collected some for dinner and also did a little searching amongst the rocks. Our search revealed sea slugs, cushions stars, sea urchins and sea squirts amongst other things.

After collecting some mussels and cockles and with long shadows starting to stretch across the sand we made our way back along the coast to the car. Camping back in Motueka we had a delicious meal of fresh mussels and cockles =)

Thursday: Another cold clear night and morning. We took our time leaving Motueka and drove the short distance to Nelson. We had plenty of time, planning to get the ferry to the North Island tomorrow, we took in a movie and then drove over the Bryant Range back to the beautiful Malborough Sounds and Picton.

We found a campsite a little further on from Picton, on the shores of a small tidal inlet. Here surrouded by 8 or 9 Pukeko including a tiny chick and numerous rabbits we watched the sun disappear behind the forested hills of the Queen Charlotte Sound. The hills and sky turned blue to purple and then to black, to be replaced by a glittering array of stars.

Friday: Yet another very cold night, but a clear crisp morning and warm once the sun burst over the tops of the surrounding hillsides.

By lunch we were back in Picton and boarding the Bluebridge Ferry for the trip across Cook Strait to Wellington. It was quite sad to say goodbye to the South Island but we had lots of wonderful memories to take with us.

Despite the sunny clear weather it was rather cold in the wind up on deck. However we stuck it out watching various birds skim past over the blue waves topped with small white caps. We also spotted a couple of Fairy Prions, small grey birds with a black V on its back, which we had not seen before.

By 5.30pm we had pulled into Wellington. With the sun setting we drove north, picked up some groceries and found a remote campsite to spend the night.

No Doubt about it!

This is Doubtful sound in the evening. Very dramatic and extremely peaceful! You can't see the whole sky for the fantastic stars because the hills are too big.

This is Deep cove in the Doubtful sound. Notice the high, steep mountains going directly into the sea. No sledging takes place here... Besides the population of Deep cove is 1 (the ranger).

The Bottlenosed dolphin bow riding. As the bow was only about 2ft of the waters surface we got very close indeed.

Lee and Rachael at Thunder creek waterfall.



Fox glacier at its best. The people in the left had corner are probably too small to see. By the way the green stuff are trees.

Lee and Rachael standing on the top of the Fox Glacier next to our transport. Rachael tried to jump in and go for a solo flight but the pilot managed to get there before she had figured out how it works.

West Coast National Parks

Easter Sunday: High cloud greeted us this morning as we met up with Fiordland Cruises outside the holiday camp in Te Anau where we had been staying, these guys were going to take us on an overnight cruise into Doubtful Sound.

First part was a 20km bus ride to Manapouri where we hopped onto a small speed boat to take us across the lake to West Arm. Unlike the more popular Milford Sound which can be reached by road Doubtful Sound is more remote and can only be accessed by boat.

The skies had cleared leaving an expanse of blue sky with white fluffy clouds sitting a top of the steep green, forest coated mountains that surround Lake Manapouri. We sped across the lake, gauged out by glaciers Lake Manapouri is the second deepest in New Zealand and surrounded by the Fiordland National Park.

After an hour we reached West Arm, here we met Dave our skipper and bus driver who took us over the Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound. The pass is the most expensive road in New Zealand having cost over $5.5million to construct. It winds it way up and over the mountains through native beech and podocarp forest, the views for various lookouts were stunning but the best had to be that overlooking Doubtful Sound itself. The deep blue waters of the sound cut a path through vibrant green mountainsides.

Soon we arrived in Deep Cove at the start of Doubtful Sound and boarded M.V Waverly our transport and home for the trip through the sound. After a quick briefing we started out into the sound, we made our way straight up onto the the bow of the boat, watching the magnificent scenery of the sound unfold and scanning for its special wildlife. Doubtful Sound is stunning, steep forested mountains and dark, sheer cliffs of rock, shoot sky high from the still waters of the sound. Silver ribbons of waterfalls cascade down the rock faces, splashing into the water below. Slips of gravel and bare rock told of previous avalanches and rock falls caused by earthquake activity. Longer and more remote than Milford Sound it felt like we were the only ones there....

After a short while Lee suddenly piped up saying "Dolphins!" Sure enough as we headed over small groups of Fiordland Bottlenose Dolphin started surfacing a little way off the boat! As we got closer two dolphins breached and a youngster spy hopped, then they appeared on the bow! two or three at a time they cruised just below the water, turning right over to take a good look at us! they were so close we could hear them squealing and whistling below us. At one point 7 dolphins cruised in a line across the bow and a few more surfaced nearby, making a total of about 10 dolphins =)

All too soon the dolphins moved off continuing with their daily routine having checked us out and we continued down the sound heading for the mouth.
We remained up on the bow scanning for more wildlife and enjoying the views, soon a black blob on the water caught our attention. As the boat moved closer we could see it was a Fiordland Crested Penguin! Highly surprised we told Dave who edged in closer for a better look. These penguins do nest, feed and moult in the sound but we are out of those seasons, these guys should all be out at sea stocking up. Closer examination revealed why this guy was still in the Sound, he had a broken wing. Poor thing would probably not survive long as it could not swim and therefore feed but there was little we could do other than hope the wing heals sufficiently to allow him once more to dive beneath the waves.

We now moved into Crooked Arm, an offshoot of the sound, the walls of forest and rock closed in a little more and the water became black rather than dark blue. Hugging the coastline we looked up, craning our necks to see the tops of the mountains above. We reached a beautiful, rushing waterfall that, as we moved directly away, gave the optical illusion we were moving upwards!

Back out of the Arm and we made our way to the mouth of the sound, as we got closer the wind got colder, small waves started splashing over the bow, then the boat started to roll a little more. Not wanting to push it anymore Dave steered the boat across the mouth of the sound to the other side and we headed back in.

As we made our way back along the wall of the Sound we stopped a couple of times and did a little fishing, we are getting pretty good at it now and managed to catch 6 Blue Cod and 2 Scarlett Wrasse between us!

With the evening drawing in, the sun dipped behind the horizon touching wispy clouds above gold and then pink. We moored up for the night in Snug Cove, at the end of First Arm. Wendy, our crew member, cooked a wonderful meal of lamb, fresh fish and vegetables and topped it off with delicious apple and apricot danish with fresh cream and custard...yummy...

Not a light in the sky the Sound was pitch black, wonderfully quiet and very very cold. Not that we were worried all snug in our cosy bunks...

Easter Monday: 7am and the engine started, silently we slipped out of First Arm and made our way back down Doubtful Sound. A beautifully clear crisp morning welcomed us on deck, but a cold wind kept us on the rear deck this morning. A few small, wispy clouds hung low over the Sound, turning pink in the morning sun. Close to Deep Cove and we stopped for a while, the sun burst over the mountain top spilling golden light over the silky black waters of the Sound. The sound of bird song filtered through the forest, a seal popped its head up and then disappeared amongst the ripples. Our time in Doubtful Sound was coming to an end and we savoured the last few moment on board our peaceful boat.

Once back at Deep Cove we thanked Wendy and then Dave took us back over the Wilmot Pass to West Arm and our waiting water taxi. The clear blue skies continued to stretch across Lake Manapouri as we whizzed back.

Back in Te Anau we collected our car and then drove half way up the Milford Road, a wonderful, scenic road through the Eglington Valley towards Milford Sound. We stopped and went for a short walk through a beautiful beech forest, enjoying the golden sunlight that filtered through the branches, highlighting the soft green moss that carpeted the forest floor.

This evening we camped at a beautifully secluded camp surrounded by towering mountains. A wonderful spread of stars replaced the endless blue sky once the sun had disappeared.

Tuesday: The tops of the mountains were covered with grey misty clouds, overcast and rather dull we did not let the weather dampen our spirits and continued up the valley towards Milford Sound. A short distance later and the road started to climb over the mountains, low cloud swirled over the trees that covered the slopes and it started to rain. Still we climbed.

Soon we reached the Homer Tunnel, a 1.2km steep descent through the mountains to Milford Sound. Still it rained. On the other side the rain eased as we continued our descent down the steep valley to the Sound. We stopped near the bottom at the Chasm, a walkway led us through tall beech trees draped with ferns, mosses and lichens, and then over a series of waterfalls. Below us the water had sculptured smooth holes and plunge pools into which icy blue water raced in a wave of white water.

Further on and we arrived in Milford Sound, although much more accessible and touristy than Doubtful Sound this took nothing away from the stunning beauty of Milford Sound. Tall, sheer walls of rock rose up from the grey blue waters, curtains of misty rain and clouds drifted through the Sound, partly obscuring the peaks and lending an air of mystery to the waters beyond.

As the rain came in once more we headed back up the valley and through the Homer Tunnel, stopping on the other side to search a small nature walk for Rock Wren, another small endemic bird of New Zealand. Ribbons of water cascaded down the sheer cliffs around the tunnel as we spent two hours through showers of icy wind and rain, searching the tumble of rocks for this small bird. It was not to be, cold and more than a little damp we gave in and drove back down the valley to Te Anau.

From here we drove to Queenstown, nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by jagged mountain ranges including the famous Remarkables. We camped just outside the town itself on the shores of the lake.

Wednesday: Grey, rainy clouds drifted low over the mountains and lake, as we drove up the road to Glenorchy the mountains turned through shades of grey, bluey purple as clouds of rain drifted down the valleys.

After a little investigative work in Glenorchy we continued up a gravel road to Lake Sylvan nestled in the Mount Aspring National Park. Wrapped up against the wind and rain we went for a walk through the ancient beech forest to the shores of the lake and then round it. We squelched through muddy puddles and scrambled over slippery, fallen tree trunks as we searched for that elusive little bird, the Yellowhead....

After nearly two hours of walking we were almost at the point of turning round and heading for the car when we heard a noisy group of birds up ahead. Slowly we followed craning our necks as we searched the canopy, through our binoculars we caught sight of a bird....a Tomtit =/ almost ready to call it a day, suddenly Lee quietly calls out "Yellowhead" scanning, there high in the trees was a beautiful bird with a brown back and bright yellow head and chest! After nearly 14 hours of searching in various locations we had finally found the Yellowhead!!

We watched as 2-3 Yellowheads fed on the tree trunks, pulling moss away with their feet and then pecking at the food beneath. They were feeding and moving with a larger flock of birds that also including Brown Creeper and Yellow-crowned Parakeet.

Soon the group moved off and we headed back for our car at a quick pace.

Patchy showers continued to move down the valley, leaving behind blue sky and wispy clouds. We stopped briefly in Queenstown before driving on over the tussock covered Crown Mountain Range to Wanaka.

Thursday: A relaxing morning, showering, washing and sorting the car, making the most of a sunny morning before driving north from Wanaka towards Haast.

Driving between mountain ranges we caught our first glimpses of snow capped mountains, glinting in the sun against a bright blue sky. The road snaked through the valleys, Mount Aspring National Park to our left and too the right various conservation areas in the foothills before the Southern Alps.
We stopped at a beautiful waterfall cascading through the forest, then at a torrent of white water rushing below the road, and finally at the high falls of Thunder Creek.

Arriving in Haast on the West Coast and the clouds had filled the sky, coming in low over the mountain tops. We pushed on following the coastal road through tall podocarp and beech forests to Fox Glacier. Even in the dimming light we could appreciate the beauty of the glacier so close by, a swathe of white and blue ice cutting down between dark rock valleys, behind the snow capped peaks of Mt Tasman and Mt Cook.

We camped at Gillespies Beach, 20km from the town as the rain started to pour down.

Friday: The rain cleared during the night, leaving behind a clear star filled night that turned into a clear, morning, although high cloud still clung to the mountains behind us. We took a short walk on the wind swept Gillespies Beach, huge, white waves crashed onto the pebbly beach that was dotted with massive tree roots and trunks.

Then having eaten and sorted our tent we drove back to Fox Glacier Town admiring the stunning panoramic of mountains and glaciers as we went.
We then booked ourselves onto a scenic flight in a helicopter!

With the arrival of two other passengers we were taken a short way out of town to the helipad where we waited the arrival of our chopper. Once ready we made our wave over, instinctively ducking as the roater blades swirled over head. Neither of us had ever been in a helicopter and it was exhilarating. We watched as the ground fell away and we gained height, houses, cars and people becoming minuscule below us. The helicopter swayed and bounced a bit in the wind as we headed over and then up the Franz Josef Glacier. A river of ice cascaded down the valley, towering blocks of ice and deep blue crevasses transversed the surface. At the top the peaks were all covered in snow and ice, dazzling white in the sunshine. We crossed over the mountains, jagged peaks of dark rock rising up from the snow, circled and then landed at the head of the Fox Glacier! Here we were able to get out and walk onto the ice and snow!!! Low cloud had swirled in, blocking the view of the surrounding peaks, locking us into our own magical world of white snow. We took a few photos and threw a few snowballs (naturally!) and then it was back into the helicopter. Once last circle at the head of the glacier and then we were swooping down the Fox Glacier, peering out over masses of ice, it was an awesome sight.

In the blink of an eye we were back on the ground, breathless from our whirlwind tour of the glaciers.

Having seen it from above we now made our way to Fox Glacier from the ground, driving up the road that wound through the glacial river valley and then continuing on foot as the glacier loomed ahead of us! We couldn't get right up to the terminal face as it is really unstable and roped off to the public, a point proven as while we were there a huge chunk of ice fell away crashing to the ground with a loud Boom! The face of the glacier was a mix of white and blue ice with patches of dark gravel, it towered high above us with jagged peaks of ice soaring into the sky. It was an impressive display of nature.

The milky white waters of the Fox River ran through the flat, pebbled river bed, piles of moraine and dead ice lay at the edges and steep, forested slopes along with sheer, rock walls rose up on either side - the marks of the glacier.

A final look at the glacier from the valley side, we then drove to Lake Matheson, a mirror lake which on a fine day reflects the peaks of Mt Tasman and Mt Cook in its waters. We walked round, enjoying the play of colours on the peaks, which were unfortunately covered by high cloud, as the sun set behind us.

Saturday: We got up ridiculously early and returned to Lake Matheson to watch the sunrise over the mountain peaks... and was it worth it....you bet it was!

A perfectly clear, still morning, the snow covered peaks of Mt Cook and Tasman reflecting in the calm waters of the lake, the light continually changing...from dark blues and purples, to bright bluey greens, the snow touched pink and then golden in the rays of the rising sun...a beautiful scene, a perfect memory...

South to Stewart Island!

I bet your wondering what this is... Its a fossilized tree trunk that fell at least 20,000 million years ago.

Here we are Lee, Rachael and Lisa at the most southerly point on the South Island. The weather was more like the Antarctic with the rain and wind (shown here with the lack of grass that probably blew away).

Guess where we are here! Yep the Brown trout capital of the world!!!!!! Not surprising if this is the size of the fish here!


This Buller's mollymawk was perfectly at home in the air. We hadn't seen one before but got great views on our fishing trip at Stewart Island.

Rachael with a beautiful Scarlet wrasse. There were only a few caught on this trip. Rachael also caught Blue cod and Spiny dogfish.

Lee with his Blue cod. This was the main fish caught on the trip and the best eating to our delight. Not sure what we are going to do with the 6 meals of fish we got off this trip.

With 20,000 Southern Totoeka (Brown Kiwi) on Stewart Island you would expect to see loads although this is not the case. The best and easiest way to find one is to go on a tour to see them feeding on the beach.

Before we get complaints about the quality of this picture, please spare a thought for how difficult it is to take a picture in the dark with no flash.

Bottom of the South
Friday: Well after writing last weeks Blog entry (which took me 2 and a half hours! eek) We drove to the Dunedin bus station and picked LISA up!!! Yay! Haven't seen my best friend in 10 months and it was great to see her again and to get to spend a couple of days with her as she does a whirlwind tour of New Zealand.

It was warm and sunny, the first time in three days as we drove out of the city and along the coast stopping for some lunch at Brighton!

We couldn't stop chatting as we headed off into the Catlins at the south eastern end of the South Island. We drove for a while, winding through forested hillsides until we came to a campsite nestled between them in the middle of nowhere!

This evening as we sat chatting we heard morepork and spur winged plover calling into the night air, and were even fooled by a morepork into thinking we were hearing a Kiwi! We sussed him out eventually though.

Saturday: A walk along the Catlins River Walk was this mornings activity. The over night rain had passed and we were left with warm sunshine as we walked along the river through a damp, beech forest. Droplets of water dripped from leaves sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the branches. Soft mosses of varying shades of green draped the trees, bright coloured mushrooms including the classic red and white spotted Fly a garic covered the damp forest floor and grew from fallen tree trunks. We watched small birds flitting amongst the trees.

After an hour and a half walking along the slippy, muddy trail a big black cloud appeared over the horizon, visible amongst the trees and shortly later the heavens opened dropping its deluge on us! Despite having waterproofs we decided it was probably a good time to make our way back to the car.

The rain cleared quickly as we ate lunch at the campsite and we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine as we drove back towards the coast, following sandy beaches with rolling white breakers crashing onto them we drove up to Nugget Point.

First stop here was Roaring Bay, a small bay with a hide for viewing penguins and sea lions, unfortunately we saw neither but did manage to spot White-capped Mollymawks (type of small albatross) and Sooty Shearwaters gliding over the deep blue, white tipped ocean waves.
Next we made our way up to Nugget Point itself and stopped overlooking a cluster of rocky islands, there were New Zealand Fur Seals everywhere! They covered the large rocky islands, right to the top! we marveled at how they had managed to climb up these steep slopes. In the rock pools below numerous young pups swam and played, splashing around while their elders slumbered on the rocks nearby.

Out over the deep blue sea, scattered with white caps as the wind raced across its surface, more White-capped Mollymawks, Sooty Shearwaters and Giant Petrels skimmed the waves, white Stewart Island Shags rested on the very top of the rocks.

Back to the car and we drove along more gravel roads to another wind swept sandy beach, called Cannibal Bay. The sun was getting low sending long shadows across the golden sand when Lisa spotted a young Hooker Sea Lion slumbering on the sand! We then continued down the beach, across a sand dune covered in grass and flax until we came to the next bay and were greeted by an even longer stretch of sand, the golden evening light catching the spray of breaking waves as they rolled up onto the sand. Here we found an absolutely massive male Hooker Sea Lion! cautiously we watched him slumber amongst the sand before making our way back to the car. We then drove for a couple of hours into the darkness to Curio Bay where we camped amongst the forests of flax near the shore.

Sunday: We awoke very excited, we were camping overlooking Porpoise Bay where there is a resident population of Hectors Dolphins that come close into shore, Rach in particular was brimming with excitement about showing these wonderful dolphins to Lisa. However it was dull, grey and raining when we emerged from our tent....

Not going to let the rain stop us we headed for the camp office, here while Lisa and Lee looked inside at leaflets Rachael stood at the door scanning the dark, grey green waters of Porpoise Bay. Two fishing boats were moored in the middle of the bay, hundreds of sea birds sat nearby and then close to the shore, amongst the small breaking waves at the far side of the bay she spotted the black, rounded dorsal fins of three Hector's Dolphins! Calling the others over we were each able to watch them feed with the aid of our binoculars. The dolphins were surfacing three or four times then going under for a few minutes before re surfacing, classic feeding behaviour, they also seemed to be coming closer. We walked down onto the beach walking to the waters edge, squinting through the wind and rain, searching again for the dolphins. Lisa and Lee spotted them right away, it took Rachael a little while longer as she constantly had to clean her glasses!

Cold and rather wet we left the beach and returned to a shelter on the bank overlooking the beach. From here, out of the wind and rain we were able to watch the dolphins and birds with our telescope =)

It was soon time to make a move, we still had a few more places we wanted to visit before going to Gore where Lisa would get the bus to go to Fiordland. The rain had briefly stopped and the weather cleared a little, Rachael was just taking the rubbish to the bins when she spotted the dolphins really close to the campsite! Once more calling Lisa and Lee we spent another few minutes watching the dolphins still feeding, really close this time =)

Almost dragging ourselves away from the dolphins we drove a short distance to a petrified forest. At a look out over looking a rocky beach we could make out the fossil remains of a forest that had stood here millions of years ago. Trunks turned to stone where they fell and we could even make out the tree rings on various stumps. While looking at the remains Rachael suddenly spotted a Yellow-eyed Penguin waddling up the beach on the far side, then stopping to preen itself! We were all really pleased to have found one, especially Lisa!

Our next stop was the Niagara Falls of New Zealand, and we must say it is the most pitiful falls we have ever seen! Someone was having a big laugh when they named it!
It started to rain heavily again, the surrounding landscape obscured by grey clouds, still we pushed on not letting the dismal weather stop our sight seeing. Our final stop in the Catlin's was Slope Point, the most southerly point of the South Island! We arrived and it was still raining and very windy, still we had not driven all this way down gravel roads to stop at the car park. So battling against the driving wind and rain we crossed two fields to a cliff edge where a sign indicated we had indeed reached the bottom of the south island! Needless to say we did not hang around!

Back in the shelter of the car we drove along the coast and up to Gore, our final destination with Lisa, she was heading off on this evenings bus for Doubtful Sound while we would stay in Gore tonight before heading down to Stewart Island over the next couple of days. It was sad to say goodbye, we had had so much fun and it had all gone so quickly, just a few days was never enough but still we all had many more adventures to experience before we would meet up back in the UK and enjoy the memories together.

Thank you Lisa for sharing part of our trip with us!

Monday: A sunny morning in Southland we drove from Gore to Invercagill where we booked ourselves onto the Stewart Island ferry for tomorrow morning.

The rest of the afternoon we explored Invercagill, hanging around as we had finally found someone who would make a very special ring for us at not an extraordinarily expensive price! Since proposing with a lovely ring he had carried all the way from the UK we had been looking for another ring to remind us of New Zealand. Our idea was for a ring with New Zealand Greenstone or Jade on it. We both loved the ring he had proposed with but wanted something a little more special from the country where we had got engaged.
After searching since leaving Kaikoura we had finally found a jeweller who was willing to put a bit of jade onto a diamond and gold ring within the afternoon!

We collected the ring later that afternoon, both of us really really pleased with it =)

Tuesday: Early start in order to drive to Bluff to get the 9.30am ferry to Stewart Island! It was grey and overcast on the mainland but over the Foveaux Strait between here and Stewart Island a large area of blue sky was moving our way.

During the hour crossing, which was rather bumpy and rolly, with white capped waves dancing around the boat, we kept an eye out for birds and were rewarded with huge rafts of Sooty Shearwaters lifting off and gliding close to the water as we passed and White-capped Mollymawks skimming the waves a short distance away.

On arriving in Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island where the main town of Oban is located, the sun finally burst past the bank of grey cloud, welcoming us to a beautiful sunny Stewart Island. Once we had booked into a Backpackers we spent a while exploring Oban, a small town nestled between native forest and the blue waters of the bay. We booked ourselves onto various activities over the next couple of days and then went for a walk through the native forest around Halfmoon Bay.

With the Kiwi tour fully booked this evening we decided to do our own search around Oban, so once the Kaka had finished their noisy evening display and the night had got dark we headed out for a walk in search of the Stewart Island Brown Kiwi.

First stop was Traill Park where Kiwi have been sighted in the past, slowly we squelched round the edge of the grassy park, scanning the bush at the edge. Nothing.
We walked back to town, sheltering from a brief rain shower, then up Main Street to a track though native forest behind the town.
The bright moon now shone as we entered the damp forest, ferns and trees lit up in our torchlight as we searched for any sign of a kiwi. An hour or so walking through the forest we were getting tired, a sudden loud, scream like a squealing pig from the bush next to us freaked us both out. Not really wanting to investigate the source of the scary noise, we walked back through the forest to Oban and our room at the backpackers. Hopefully we would be able to get on the Kiwi tour the next night, which heads to more remote areas where Kiwi are more likely to be.

Wednesday: 9am we took a small ferry over the waters of Paterson Inlet to Ulva Island, a predator free, open bird sanctuary run by the DOC where a number of rare New Zealand birds now thrive, much like on Tiritiri Matangi.

Dropped off at Post Office Bay, the site of the original post office, we were greeted by an extremely inquisitive Stewart Island Robin! Our first stop after this was Flagstaff Point overlooking the island and across Paterson Inlet to Stewart Island. We then spent 5 hours walking the trails through the native forest to Boulder Beach and West End Beach, searching for the Yellowhead, a rare endemic passerine. Although we did not manage to find this bird we saw over 20 species of birds, not one of which was a European introduction and included the rare Saddleback. We also had wonderful close encounters with rather cheeky and inquisitive Weka.

For the final two hours (yep we were on Ulva for 7 hours!!) we relaxed on the beautiful golden beach of Sydney Cove watching shags and white-fronted terns feeding in the calm blue waters of the bay. At 4pm the ferry collected us and took us back to Stewart Island, here on finding that there was no Kiwi trip tonight we decided to spend the evening relaxing at the backpackers.

Thursday: Another trip starting at 9am, this time a fishing/pelagic bird watching trip with Aurora Charters. Patchy sunshine and cloud greeted us as we were welcomed aboard by Graham our skipper and then headed out through the calm waters of Halfmoon Bay and into the wavy waters of Foveaux Straits.

Stopping near a couple of offshore islands we started fishing as the sun dipped in and out from behind clouds. Straight away White-capped Mollymawks and Buller's Mollymawks started gathering around the boat as the smell of fish wafted through the salty air! They hung around the boat, squabbling over any scraps thrown over board, it was great bird watching and great fishing! We all started bringing up good sized Blue Cod straight away, a couple of us even managed to catch Scarlett Wrasse, Spiny Dogfish and one guys caught a Trumpeter!
Soon the mass of birds around the boat was joined by 3 Royal Albatross!

When the wind and tide picked up, Graham moved us to a slightly more sheltered spot closer to the islands. As we moved off our entourage of mollymawks followed, soaring with arms reach of us close to the back of the boat and providing wonderful photographic opportunities!

The time flew by, we had an absolutely wonderful morning fishing and watching beautiful birds. As we headed back into shore we were once more followed by mollymawks gliding over the waves and circling the boat! And after three hours fishing we were also given two kilos of filleted blue cod, thats the next few nights dinner sorted!

After an afternoon of sorting photos and relaxing we finally headed off this evening for the kiwi watching tour! As the Kaka started their evening display, we made our way onto MV Wildfire where we were greeted by our skipper Philip who would be taking us to a remote beach in search of Southern Tokoeka Brown Kiwi!

The whole way through the 35 minute boat trip into the dimming light a Buller's Mollymawk shadowed us, swooping in close for a look then moving further off, wheeling up and down over the grey waves.
Finally we moored up at a small jetty at a remote beach, before going ashore Philip gave us a small talk on the kiwi found on Stewart Island and played us a tape of their calls. We were both surprised when the call of the female sounded like a screaming pig, exactly like we had heard the other night!

Excited over the fact that we had heard a kiwi while searching on our own and that we were hopefully now going to see one we followed Philip up a trail through native bush, slowly searching for those shy Kiwi. With no luck in the bush, and the rain now falling we felt a little apprehensive that this would be the first trip all summer that had not found a kiwi! Still our search continued onto the beach and into the rain. Kiwi on Stewart Island not only often feed during the day they also spend a few hours in the evening feeding on sandhoppers on remote beaches. A short while after starting our search on the beach finally a round brown shape, with a long bill probing into the sand appeared in Philip's torch light! A female Southern Tokoeka Brown Kiwi! Yay!!

We all watched quietly as she continued feeding along the beach only a short distance away. The rain stopped and a moon just off full rose up from behind the clouds, glistening on the water and giving us a little more light. We continued on down the beach and found another female and a smaller male feeding also! Three kiwi in one night!

Once we reached the end of the beach we made our way through another area of bush, carefully walking over exposed, slippery tree roots all the time searching for more kiwi. We came out onto a small beach overlooking the bay where the boat was moored, no kiwi here we made our way back round to the boat, and then back to Oban. The tour was over and we were excited! we had seen three different individuals of our second species of Kiwi, it was nice to have let someone else lead the way after all the hours we have spent searching over the last couple of weeks!

Friday: Early morning ferry back to the south island, we're both a little sad to be leaving Stewart Island and are both keen to return some day to do some of the longer tramps over the island and maybe find kiwi out feeding during the day.

The ferry trip back was uneventful, a little wavy with some distant mollymawks gliding over the grey waters, we were soon back in Bluff collecting our bags and returning to our car.

On leaving Bluff we headed to Anawaru Wetland Reserve to do a little bird watching. It was freezing, exposed to the cold wind on the mud flats and the tide was out which meant the birds were distant! Still we managed to identify a few before seeking shelter in the car and heading back to Invercagill. From here we followed the scenic route along the south coast and then along the border of the Fiordland National Park to Te Anau. The coast was cold and wind swept, bays of dark green grey waters with white breakers crashing onto deserted beaches. We stopped briefly for lunch and at a look out over TeWaewae Bay where we saw two Hector's Dolphins surfacing briefly amongst the waves.

Te Anau, at the edge of Fiordland National Park will be our base for the next couple of days as we explore this world heritage site, its stunning scenery and wonderful wildlife.