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.