Albatross & Blue Penguins

The unusual Moeraki Boulders along the seashore. These round rocks are septarian concretions which have been exposed from mudstone enclosing them by erosion. Local Morai legend is that these are the remains of eel baskets washed ashore after a large canoe wreck.


We have been heading up the east coast of the South Island during the last 3 days and have almost reached Christchurch (the largest city on the South Island). The weather the first 2 days was probably the worst we have experienced so far – fog, drizzle, hail, and rain – but today was a beautiful day as the sun came out and brightened everything.

Two days ago we started out by visiting the Royal Albatross Centre at the end of Otago Peninsula. From an enclosed viewing area we were able to see 3 or 4 of these great birds sitting on nests and 2 more soaring thru the air. We then drove to Oamaru and at dusk we were mesmerized watching over 200 small rare blue penguins come ashore for the night. What a great sight to watch them make their way from shore to their nest and waiting mate with their 2 hungry chicks demanding to be fed (at times almost pushing over the adult with the food).

Today we traveled over the flattest place in New Zealand and then back into mountains before reaching Akaroa southeast of Christchurch. We continue to see what seem like millions of sheep. At one time there were over 70 million of them here, but there are fewer now since many farmers have switched to the more profitable dairy cows

Along the way we, or course, managed to stop at 2 quilt shops and see 3 lighthouses (one which required a kilometer hike along the coast to reach it), plus see the largest jersey (sweater) in the world.

One additional note: It is pleasant to be in smoke free holday/motor camps since it seems that people can go camping here without feeling it necessary to build a fire.

A royal albatross sitting on the nest. The albatross is a very large bird (about 10 ft. wingspan) and spend most of their time circumventing the southern seas coming on land only to breed and raise their young every 2 years. After leaving the nest they fly 5 or 6 years without ever landing on land and start breeding after about 8 years.

Blue penguins. These small penguins (only 10-12 inches high) leave their mate about 4:30 in the morning and swim out about 10-15 kilometers and fish all day. They then return when it is almost dark since they feel safer then). This is a photo of a picture since they did not permit any photography at the viewing site. Photo by Len Doel.

Blue Penguin Crossing sign – We had to watch as we drove away from the viewing site since some late arriving penguins crossed the road in front of us.

Royal Spoonbill. With their spoon-shaped bills food is located by touch, so they can feed at night. They move forward sweeping with their bills to trap small fish, insects, crustaceans etc.

Yellow Eyed Penguins

Yellow Eyed Penguins cooling off after a day of fishing (photo taken from a blind on a nature preserve). They are the 3rd largest penguin, there are only 7,000 of them in the world, and they only live on the shores of New Zealand’s South & Stewart Islands + some small Pacific Islands south of there. They live in one place all year and go out each day to catch fish & return in the late afternoon. They raise their young in a shady sheltered grassy area (not like in the movies where those penguins stand on the ice keeping the egg warm between their feet). Also, these penguins do not congregate in large groups but stay in separate places as pairs. One disturbing note is that only 25% of the chicks lived this year (it is speculated that it may be too warm this year for them – maybe “global warming”?).

We have been keeping busy the last 3 days traveling from the far south up around thru the Catlins (“where the forests meet the sea”), and into Dundein. Here are some of the high and low lights:

• Saw 2 great lighthouses - at Waipap Point and Nugget Point
• Enjoyed watching sea lions interact on the beach at Waipapa Point
• Had to leave instructions with our friends in Invercargill to forward our mail to Auckland. The mail did not make it from the USA in 10 days (hopefully it will catch up with us before we leave New Zealand).
• Saw 3 waterfalls - one of them called Niagara Falls as a joke (it was so small that it looked more like rapids).
• Had to really clean up the dust that accumulated in the campervan as we drove many miles on dusty gravel roads to get to the lighthouses.
• Walked in the Octagon area (the center of town shaped with 8 sides) in Dunedin (a medium sized city on the South Island). Quite a busy place on a Saturday with locals + many tourists.
• Of course, Cathy visited the quilt shops in town.
• While taking a break and reading the newspaper in a McDonald’s McCafe, we heard bagpipes coming down the street. Dunedin is a college town & one of the traditions here is that college graduates parade thru town in their caps & gowns lead by bagpipers & drums. It was great to see so many really happy faces pass by.
• Visited the beautiful train station that was built in the late 1800’s.
• Attended church in the very large & beautiful First Presbyterian Church (built in 1873). It happened to be St. Andrews day and many people wore their Scottish clan plaids. After church we talked with a delightful 94 year old lady that told us about her interesting life living in this area.
• Toured Larnach Castle built by a banker in the late 1800’s. This is the only castle in New Zealand and after many years of neglect has been restored. The most interesting thing to us was the beautiful furniture which had been made out of many of the native trees here.
• Visited Penguin Place to see the yellow eyed penguins. This is a non-profit preserve supported only by tours and donations.
• Endured a couple of days of blustery weather (windy, overcast, some light rain, and quite cool.
• Reached the ½ way point of our ‘holiday’ below the equator in New Zealand & then in Australia.

Sea lions on the beach. Two of them in front are arguing and the large one on the right is rapidly coming in from the sea to settle it. He then came up and pushed and shoved one of them (who left the area and sulked for a while).

Nugget Point lighthouse situated on a ridge. It is so windy here that the lightkeepers sometimes had to crawl along the ridge to reach the lighthouse.

Larnach castle (photo taken from a trellis covered by laburnum [with yellow flowers] in the garden area).

Penguins preening each other after the day’s swim for food.

Stewart Island

Signpost at Sterling Point - the southern end of Hwy 1 on the South Island.

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends and family back home. Since the Pilgrims did not make a side trip to New Zealand, Thanksgiving is not celebrated here and we did not get our traditional turkey dinner. Even though we missed the dinner we are still very thankful for being in and enjoying such a beautiful place here.

We spent a couple of days taking it easy for a change. One evening we enjoyed supper and conversation with some friends from Texas that are here on a 6-month work assignment. It was also time to replenish our food supply and get a routine blood test done (fortunately this was made very easy since our friend is a doctor and could write the request for lab work). It was also enjoyable to be able to go thru the museum here in a more relaxed mode. Cathy, of course, had to visit the local quilt shop.

Last evening we drove down to Bluff for the night. This is the most southern town on the South Island and we have now made it from the start of Hwy 1 at the very northern tip of the North Island down to the end here on the South Island.

One of our goals has been to visit Stewart Island – the 3rd largest island in New Zealand which is an hour ferry ride south from Bluff. Rakiura National Park takes up 85% of the island and 400 residents live in and around the small community of Oban (also known as Halfmoon Bay). There are less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) of roads on the island and most of the national park is a huge wilderness area with no tracks (trails) in most of it.

Today , we fulfilled our goal with a very full day to the island. We started out with a 1 hour catamaran ferry ride across Foveaux Strait from Bluff to Stewart Island on very rough seas (so rough that Cathy got seasick and Jan got a headache). After arriving on the island, we took it easy in the visitor centers and then enjoyed a light lunch in the “southernmost” café in New Zealand. At 1 o’clock ,we rode on a boat to Ulva Island (a small island in the national park) that has been set aside and restored back to its natural state. Major efforts have been made to rid the island of introduced animals (rats, possums, deer etc.) that harm birds and the vegetation. What a treat to be able to enjoy the bird calls and walk thru the lush rain forest with our guide pointing out numerous trees and plants that are unique to this area. After a driving tour of the community and supper we came back to Bluff on the ferry (much better ride back) and drove into Invercargill for the evening.

Harry (a “living fossil”), the Tuatara who is over 120 years old. He is the star in the Tuatarium in the Southland Museum in Invercargill and was brought there from Stephens Island in 1970. The tuatara is not a lizard, but is a separate reptilian species that is descended from the dinosaurs and has not changed significantly over millions of years.

Distinctive historic 1889 red brick Neo-Romanesque industrial designed water tower in Invercargill

Small lady slipper tree orchids

Soaring mollymawk following our ferry back from Stewart Island

Milford Sound

Fiordland Crested Penguins.

Yesterday we drove over the Milford Road from Te Anau to Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park (the largest National Park in New Zealand). The road was so scenic that it took a long time because of the many stops for the view and photos. On the way, we had to wait at the Homer tunnel for about 15 minutes for traffic in the opposite direction. The tunnel is 1,200 m (3,940 ft) long and slopes steeply down to the Milford side. While waiting we enjoyed watching the antics of the Kea bird plus people walking in the snow.

Milford Sound is a true fiord carved out by massive glaciers with sheer mountain walls. The mountains rise up from below the water line so most places there is no shoreline and the cruise boats can go very close to them. On our ride the boat went so close that the waterfalls drenched us (of course we had fun with our raincoats on). Many of the lower mountain sides are covered with lush green plants since this is in a rainforest that gets 8-9 meters (over 300 inches) of rain each year. There are only a couple of permanent waterfalls, but when it rains, dozens of waterfalls appear as if by magic and seem to be everywhere. We did not have any rain on our trip, but it did rain right after we got off the boat and rained all the way back to Te Anau - so we got to experience the mountains covered with larger and ‘new’ waterfalls that we had not seen on the way to Milford.

On our cruise we were able to see seals and penguins and we also visited the Underwater Observatory to see the unusual black coral, red coral, anemones, starfish, and fish that live in the fiord. High rainfall means that there is a 3-4 m (10-13 ft) layer of fresh water above the underlying salt water. We also saw seals and our first penguins on some of the few rocks that line the fiord in places.

Today, we drove the Southern Scenic route into Invercargill on the southern part of the South Island. We passed thru beautiful areas of grazing land and it seemed like thousands of sheep seemed to be everywhere in their paddocks. We also saw some domesticated red deer herds that they raise for their meat and also for the velvet on their antlers (which is used for medicinal purposes). This area is ideal for raising sheep and deer that 4% of the population in New Zealand produces about 20% of the exports from this country.

Water drenched rainforest walls in Milford Sound

Kea – The only alpine parrot in the world. They are very playful, but can also be destructive when they peck away at rubber parts of a car - such as the rubber around the windscreen (windshield).

Peacefully sleeping seal (nicknamed Harry by the cruise boat crew)

Lady Bowen Falls in Milford Sound.

Half Way

Paradise shelducks. We always see these in pairs. The male is on the left (with one of the small furry ducklings beside it) and the female is on the right.

As we reach the halfway mark on our 7 week exploring journey thru New Zealand we recall the many blessings that we have for being safe, healthy, and actually reaching our ½ way point in our scheduled itinerary. After covering the southern part of the South island (including Milford Sound and Stewart Island) we will continue up the east coast before crossing to the North Island ending up back in Auckland.

We thought at this time that we should give you some miscellaneous info about this great country.

• The only native mammal remaining here is an almost extinct bat. This means that there are no natural enemies for mammals brought into the country and this has caused problems. Example: The Brushtail Possum was introduced in the mid 1800’s to raise them for the fur. Now there are over 40 million of them and they are really a serious pest damaging forests and bird life. One good thing is that hikers do not have to worry about bears, mountain lions etc. In fact, they don’t have to worry about poisonous snakes and the only thing to watch out for is a poisonous spider in some coastal areas.
  
• In looking at the change in our pockets, we noticed that we do not have any pennies or nickels. The coins here are 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, 1 dollar, & 2 dollars. The paper money is in $5, $10, $20, $50 etc. denominations.


• Things that are opposite from the states and Canada:
  o Hurricanes in the southern hemisphere are called tropical cyclones and spin in the clockwise direction
  o The light switches are reversed (on is down, not up)
  o Driving is on the left side of the road and it seems that most people walk on the left side of the sidewalk when passing someone else


• The farthest point inland from the sea at any point in the country is only 128 Km (80 miles).


• There are over 200,000 working sheep dogs in the country. These are mostly border collies (which don't bark unless really excited) or the the very intelligent locally bred Hunterways (mixture of border collie, lab, etc. which do bark)


• The economy has been hit harder here than back home. Even though the price of oil has dropped worldwide, the price has not fallen much here because the value of the New Zealand dollar has been falling. And with less than 5 million people in the whole country, there is not much of a tax base from which to draw.


• As opposed to many law enforcement agencies back home there is only the one national police + the national fire, and EMS services.


• Many of the rivers are crystal clear and are a fly fisherman’s ‘paradise’ for catching trout, bass and salmon
  
  
• Brushtail possum (pictured here eating a bird’s egg). Photo taken in a visitor centre.

Commode flush buttons (the one on the left only uses ½ the water)

Electrical outlets which are 220/240 volts here. Note that each outlet has an on/off switch.

Universal plug converter so that we can plug our 110/120 volt plugs into

Plug and socket (on the right) to plug the Campervan into at a holiday park. The socket is usually mounted on a post about 5 ft tall.

Twenty dollar bill. Notice a much younger Queen Elizabeth and the Kea bird. Also note the clear oval & fern. These are some kind of see-thru plastic.

Queenstown

Beautiful tree. We asked some people what kind of tree it was and they replied "yellow flowering tree". Still don't know the name yet.

Before leaving Wanaka, we stopped at Stuart Lansborough's Puzzling World where we experienced numerous illusions and attempted to go thru a maze (we gave up after about 40 minutes). Then a drive out into the countryside brought us to Christofer Robyn Quilts where Cathy took photos of the quilts and bought some unique New Zealand fabric for future projects. Then we had a ‘fun’ trip over the Crown Range Mountains on a road that does not permit any towed vehicles and has numerous tight switchbacks. After surviving this we headed to a beautiful gorge to watch people bungy jumping into the river below. We did enjoy watching people jump, but decided it was not for us.

Queenstown has been our home for the last 2 days. This is definitely a tourist town and is the adventure capital of New Zealand with bungy jumping, parasailing from the top of the hill next to town, jet boating rides, mountain biking, and skiing in winter. The town is named for being located in such a beautiful setting next to Lake Wakaipu that it was “fit for Queen Victoria”.

Fortunately, our holiday park is was within walking distance of downtown and the first night we enjoyed some Mexican food (not quite like Tex-Mex but still good). Deciding not to try some of the more extreme activities, we enjoyed a more sedate ride across the lake on the TSS Earnslaw - a 1912 steamer which is still powered by the original coal fired steam engine. It took us back in time as we listened to piano music from an earlier era and watched them shoveling coal into the fire. After reaching the other shore we visited a farm where we fed the sheep, watched one being sheared, and then watched a sheep dog demonstration. After a BBQ lunch (including, of course, lamb chops) it was time to ride back on the steamer to town and some time to rest.

Accessing the Internet has been easier than we had envisioned. Many of the holiday parks now have WiFi, but with so many different providers it is sometimes a chore to get online and figure out what is the best plan to pay for. The cost varies from free (only 1 place so far), up to $6 NZD per hour or $20 NZD per day [NZD is New Zealand Dollars – where $10.00 NZD is now equivalent to about $5.40 US]. Also having Internet access allows us to use Skype to place unlimited phone calls to most places all over the world for only $9.95/month using our computer as a speaker phone. This has really been a blessing to talk to our loved ones and friends, as well as conduct business, without worrying about costs or time limits. However, we do have to remember the difference in time zones (we are 18 hours ahead of Central Time Zone).

Jan "holding up" leaning buidling at the puzzle place

Cathy feeding sheep

Sheep getting sheared by Duncan (our guide on the farm)

River gorge. Photo taken from bridge from which the bungy jumpers were taking off.

Glaciers & Transition

Fox Glacier

Yesterday morning we woke up seeing snow on the top of the hills around us. It may be springtime here (like our middle of May) but it can still get cold on the South Island. On the west coast there are 2 readily accessible glaciers in Westland National Park [Franz Joseph Glacier & Fox Glacier). This is a big tourist area and you can take a tour to walk on the glacier and take a plane or helicopter ride to view them from the air. Since we had walked on a glacier in Canada, we decided just to hike to see each one of them. By the way, glacier is pronounced glah-see-ur here.

Then it was on down the western coastline thru lush dense green rainforest to Haast for the night (a small community just before the turn away from the coast and up over the Southern Alps). As in any rainforest, there is rain and this was no exception as it alternated between rain and sun as we traveled. At least we missed an 8 inch downpour that occurred just a couple of days before we got here. One of the characteristics of New Zealand is that there are ferns everywhere. There is even an unofficial silver fern flag that is probably recognized by more people than the official New Zealand one.

As we drove east up and over Haast Pass in the Mt. Aspiring National Park we stopped to take short hikes to see the numerous beautiful waterfalls and to take photos of the ‘Gates of Haast’ where the river flows over large boulders. After going over Haast Pass (almost a non event since this is the lowest pass over the Southern Alps) we left the lush rainforest and transitioned to a landscape that became much more open and with less plant life (due to the mountain range blocking much of the rain). After passing 2 lakes we are spending the night in Wanaka with a great view over one of them.

We might mention that campervaning is extremely popular here and we have passed what seems like thousands of them on our travels. One thing that makes it so popular is that there are numerous ‘Holiday’ or ‘Motor’ parks in which to stay. In each one, there is a large community kitchen where you can cook and eat your meals (some even provide pots & pans). Ovens are even provided in some of them so you can even bake a cake if you want to. Since campervans are relatively small, it does not take up as much real estate as the RV parks in the states (where we have the huge motorhomes and trailers).

Franz Joseph Glacier

Thunder Creek Falls

Pathway thru the rainforest to one of the waterfalls

View across Lake Hawea on the eastern side of the Southern Alps. Note the lack of trees on the mountains.