Sunday, February 23, 2020

Postcards from Australasia #20

From our motel in Whakatani we forayed out to explore the volunteer run reserve at the Waiotahi River, negotiating the moisture left from the overnight rain:


One of the hardest birds to see generally but common in New Zealand is the Fernbird:


They put us in mind of the Emu-Wrens in Australia particularly the tail, that and their skulking behaviour.  From Whakatane we headed toward Rotorua, stopping briefly at Lake Rotoiti where we saw our first New Zealand Dabchicks offshore, this is a view from one of the many fishing platforms around the lake:


We had decided to detour on our travel day to visit the Sanctuary Mountain reserve at Maungatautari, an inland reserve surrounded by 47km of pest-proof fence.   The fence stops stoats, rats, rabbits, goats, dogs, etc. from accessing the forest and killing the birds.

There are intensive pest management and fence maintenance programmes in place, providing a future for some of New Zealand's scarcest and most threatened birds including the Kaka:


We arrived in Rotorua and took in the sights (steam everywhere) and smells (rotten eggs, constantly).  On our first morning, having booked to stay three nights, we arrived at opening time at Waimangu, one of the youngest geothermal sites on earth, precisely dated based on the eruption that created it:


It's a fascinating place to explore, early mornings have more steam, as the sun heats the place the air warms and there's less steam as a consequence:


I love the colours made by the various minerals depsoited in the geothermal pools:


I'd recommend the boat trip in particular as well as the walk, fun, informative and with a reliable geyser towards the end!

The following morning, same again, we arrived before opening time at Wai-o-Tapu, the more popular and older geothermal site in Rotorua.   The geothermal processes have eroded large craters over time:


And created fascinating and large-scale tiers of deposits:


Isolated pools of mineral-rich boiling water:


And layers of different mineral deposits, creating colourful shelves in the extensive pools:


Walking around the site takes you through some remnant forest where they have a healthy population of Tomtits, this a young male:


From Rotorua we headed down to the Art Deco city of Napier.   It's dated to the earthquake that destroyed every building in the city except two.  We picked one of these two to stay in, the County Hotel.   Unbeknownst to us Elton John was playing a local winery during our stay so there was lots of stuff going on around the concert.  We headed out instead to explore the hills just beyond the town of Clive, though i couldn't get to the very highest point as my vertigo persauded me otherwise:


We really enjoyed exploring Napier and surrounds though it was quite gentle.   Our highlight from there was visiting the mainland Island Sanctuary at Boundary Stream Reserve and seeing a bird i really didn't think i was going to see, the North Island Kokako, this is a poor photograph but you can clearly make out the identifying blue wattles:


This sighting was probably my birding highlight of our time on North Island, magic!

The landscape around the reserve was breathtaking too, we also saw some of the rare Admiral butterflies on the walk and got to go up and down hill constantly for hours, so lots of fun!


From Napier we headed to rendevous with our friends from Brisbane for our third meet-up on this tour of ours, in Turangi, close to the volcanoes including Tongariro, famous for a long day walk that lots and lots and lots of people do.   Having recovered from a catch-up evening we therefore decided the next day to walk instead to Taranaki Falls in Whakapapa:


The walk was a little longer than expected but very enjoyable, significanly enhanced as it was with the company we shared.

After another all-too-brief 48 hours it was on again, this time a long drive South to Wellington, the small but cool Capital of New Zealand.   

On our first day we visited Otari-Wilton's Bush, where we heard and then saw lots of Tui:


They have a haunting call of their own and are very good mimics too.

The next day was a treat, spending a day, well two sessions before the rain, watching the Test Match India vs New Zealand first day at the Basin Reserve in the city:


New Zealand were very much on top.   The cricket was good, the weather so-so and the beer ferociously expensive! 

We explored a bit more of Wellington including the waterfront, the Botanic Gardens taking the funicular up the hill, the Government District, etc.

This evening we're attend a performance of modern classic music performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra ahead of our interislander trip to South Island tomorrow morning and the next stage of our tour.

Sunday, February 09, 2020

Postcards from Australasia #18

We started our New Zealand trip working through some unexpected jetlag and arriving on Auckland Day (we worked out the artillery-like noise was in fact fireworks on the other side of the building we were staying in).

Our first birding trip was to Tiritiri Matangi, catching a cat from Auckland Harbour:


New Zealand's wildlife has been devastated by the waves of human settlement since first peopled by the Maori (from Taiwan) around 1100 and then the British invasion of the 1700's.   39 species of bird were lost under the Maori, 19 more since the British ran things.   Currently of 49 land birds, 25 are critically endangered.   Some species are down to a handful of nesting pairs or are entirely in captivity to try and ensure their survival.

Another approach has been pest eradication of remote islands, one such is Tiritiri Matangi.   You get there by boat, it's far enough away from other land that rats can't swim there (they do on other islands that are closer together) and everyone is asked to check themselves and their bags to ensure nothing is taken to the island.

Birds are thriving in these few spots.   This is the Kereru or New Zealand Pigeon:


We also saw North Island Saddlback, Hihi (Stichbird), North Island Robin, Red-crowned Parakeet, Bellbirds and Takahe, giant Gallinules.

Having completed our giuded walk we took off to find a nice spot for lunch, this is Fisherman's Bay:


Back on the mainland we left Auckland and headed North, exploring along the way, this is an old farm in a typically bumpy Kiwi landscape:


We visited another sanctuary, Tawharanui Regional Park, which has a huge pest-proof gate for access that cuts off the peninsula.   The location is stunning:


And we saw New Zealand Dotterel on the beach:


They have Kiwis there too but they're are amost exclusively a night bird and we're not night owls :) 

We stayed near Sandspit so i could hop aboard a pelagic out to some remote sea-stacks:


We saw a good number of species though not that many individuals, but we did see Shearwaters and Petrels including this Flesh-footed Shearwater:


Until 2007 the New Zealand Storm-Petrel was considered extinct.   It turns out they survived on a few unvisited rocks.   Pest eradication of the proximate sea stacks has provided habitat for them to expand back into, which they are now doing:


The next day we visited Ruapekapeka Pa, the last defence of the Maori against a British attack, seeking to quell any resistance to the rule of the crown, land seizures, etc.   As well as a fascinating site and significant part of the human history of the island, we found this Carronade (cast in Falkirk) atop the Pa:


From there it was on to the Bay of Islands and our first night in Russell, from where we watched the sunset over the water:


A beautiful sight:


We got the ferry on Sunday morning from Russell to Urupukapuka, another pest-free island, seeing Bottlenosed Dolphins on the way.   It's a beautful island to explore, very up and down, but the replanting is still young so only a few native species have so far been reintroduced.  Well worth a wander with some lovely scenery in the hills and the bays and beaches:


Back on the mainland we continued to the Far North of Northland, visiting various forests, which are noteable for their tree ferns:


We also walked the only open track around Kauri trees, they are distinctive, much harvested for their wood for furniture as they grow fat but not very tall.   There are very few older specimens left and those that remain are dying off with a human introduced fungus so most access is now closed apart from boardwalks that isolate the visitors from trees.  I wonder if the bark patterns are related in some way to the art of Maori people:


After Northland we visited the Coromandel Peninsula, a popular and busy spot just 90 minutes from downtown Auckland and it's easy to see why:


A hot spot for tourists is cathedral cove, we were advised to avoid a few such spots due to huge overcrowding.  Instead of visiting during the day, having enjoyed exploring some of the peninsula and doing a bit of beaching, we pitched up above the cove just after sunrise as we headed back out and further south and east:


We drove on to Miranda and the shorebird centre there (don't try and follow this on a map it'll look like a spider possessed and wandering randomly!) to see the shorebirds at a very high tide.

First-up the self introduced White-faced Heron:


We saw roughly 1,500 of the endemic Wrybills, hundreds of Pacific Golden Plover, a few Banded Dotterel, a single Broad-billed Sandpiper, Far Eastern Curlew, various shags and thousands of Godwits, here spooked by a passing harrier:


From Miranda we drove on to Whakatane (pronounced Fak-a-ta-neh), jump off point for the now defunct White Island tours, to visit Ohiwa Harbour and Estuary, where this story will be continued...