South Island (East Coast), New Zealand
What a relief it was to step off the plane into cool, dry, sunny New Zealand weather. I swear, if I had to spend another day in Cairns with the tropical rain, high humidity and unbearable heat, my brain would have probably just completely shut down. As it was, me, a Scottish Lass, and the two Manchester Lesbians I was hanging out with could barely put a sentence together. We spent four days trying to find air conditioning, watching movies (Ray..The Ray Charles Story was surprisingly non-disappointing) and laying on our beds, barely able to speak the phrases "must leave Australia" and "Change tickets...must go New Zealand". Honestly, I don't know how people live in that kind of weather...but they do.. If I go to hell, it will have the weatner of Cairns Australia in late January...I swear.
I landed in Christchurch on the south island. It's a lovely town, with victorian architecture and a big church in the main square. There was a buskers festival going on (street theater festival) and the day or so I was there I spent wandering and sleeping in the Botanic gardens. I also shelled out 8 bucks to go to the aquariam to see a kiwi bird and watch some guy in a wetsuit feed the sharks. Seeing as I didn't have any shark experiences in Australia, I figured this would be the next best thing. It's safe to say that I was exhausted. Completely flattened by the weather in Australia and am still recovering. I have a bad cold now and am convinced it is from the heat and humidity of northern Queensland.
I decided to rent a car for a couple of weeks to really see the south island. I got a good deal from the hostel and headed one hour south to Akaroa (Banks Peninusula). The Banks peninsula is actually the remains of a giant volcanic crater ... the edges of the peninsula being the surrounding walls. The opening eventually eroded into the sea, but it is because of this unsusual geography that such shallow waters exist and the (world's smallest and rarest) Hector's Dolphins evolved to such a petite size.
http://www.kcc.org.nz/animals/hectorsdolphin.asp
When I arrived in the small french hamlet, all the hostels were full. I was resigned to sleeping in the car that night until I noticed one more listing for a hostel outside of town. It's funny, when you read the rough guide or lonely planet, they can really downplay a place. The farm was called Onuku farm and just happened to be 1000 acres of the massive and very famous banks peninsula track (a tramping/walking track that people pay good money for to take a 4 day walk).
http://www.jolyworld.com/nz/onukufarm/
The farm was stunning, absolute Eden! It overlooked the harbor, and on the drive up to the farm, you could see the dolphins jumping and swimming. A young Brittish guy welcomed me (he was from Leeds) and he told me he arrived a year and a half ago and never left. I asked him if all of New Zealand was this amazing and he said no. If you go to New Zealand, you must stay at this farm. The first night I stayed in one of the cheap huts (for about 8 bucks). No electricity, but it had hot showers outside and outdoor sinks and eco toilets. A hedgehog was sniffing around our front door at dusk and the surrounding trees exploded with singing birds. It didn't get dark till about 10:30 at night, but I was exhausted and slept at 8 until 7 the next morning when I got up for my sea kayaking trip to see the dolphins.
Our Kayaking guide, Muffy (If I were her, I'd change my name...she didn't look like a muffy at all), was Swiss and had the coolest dog that followed behind our truck all the way down to the edge of the sea (it was about a half hour drive on a dirt road). Muffy too arrived here a couple of years ago and never left. I was starting to believe that I would do the same as the place had a overpowering magic about it. The man who owns the farm is a direct descendant to the Pakeha (white) settlers who first staked claim on the land over a hundred and fifty years ago. He also runs boat tours if you want to swim with the dolphins. He was a nice down to earth guy who you could tell really loved the land and the wildlife. The hector's dolphins are rare because they make their home in shallow water (the Akoroa harbor is only about 25 feet deep...amazing considering a princess cruiseliner edges into the harbor in the middle of the day). Because of the shallow waters, they also become susceptible to fishing nets. As a result, New Zealand has made net fishing in the harbor and around illegal when they are breading and giving birth (November to April). He was saying you'd have to be a real asshole to set up nets. It's understood by the community that net fishing is a big no no, so no one does it.
We paddled out into the harbor and you could see the little guys emerging in the distance, black shimmering skin. Then, you'd look down, and they were right under you, looking up to check you out . At one point, it seemed they were all round us, popping up, swimming under the kayaks. They seemed to be enjoying keeping us on our toes, remaining curiously elusive. They were a total tease. We also saw a blue penguin floating in the water (more about those later). I thought it was a seagul, but the little guy was just floating along like a duck. Evidently they sleep while they swim, and I think we woke it up accidently.
That night I stayed in a stargazer hut which is a small little wooden ten with a glass ceiling that overlooked the ocean. I woke up in the morning to sheep munching on grass at my door step and a chicken scratching under the hut. It was fabulous and had I not rented the car, I wouldn't have left. I could have quite happily spent my entire 1.5 months in that little hut overlooking the Banks peninsula.
I hopped in the car and headed to Oamaru to see the yellow eyed and blue eyed penguin colonies. The south east coast from Akaroa to Oamaru is mostly farm land, resembling southern England. Maori culture dots the countryside through the street names and occasional maori community house. I arrived in Oamaru, a cute little town with old white stoned buildings. I stayed at an old hotel that has been there for over one hundred years (the Empire Hotel). The owners were super sweet and there was hardly anyone there minus some Germans (who are everywhere of course). The Germans drove me crazy. They were nice...but SO GERMAN!!! One woman offered me a piece of candy, then shouted "not the white one" after I grabbed it. Considering there was only a red piece and a white piece in her hand, I was afraid to grab the red one. I politely declined the second attempt at her candy offer. She was strange.
At 6pm. I made my way to the yellow eyed penguin colony about 3 km away.
http://www.penguin.net.nz/yep/yeps.html
There I sat with about a dozen Brittish tourists in a lookout hut that really was just a toolshed with a bench. We waited and waited. They talked and talked. I sat and watched. They talked some more. I stared at the ocean, what seemed like for hours. One tourist mentioned that the yellow eyed penguins are virtually extinct. This year alone, all of their chicks died due to biotoxin poisoning...a common occurance. Only 15% of babies make it to adulthood as it is. Combine this with habitat destruction, depletion of food source from Global warming, seals, nets, dogs, cars and you can see these guys really don't stand a chance in hell.
We waited some more and noticed a seal off shore, rolling around in the kelp beds.
Seals eat penguins don't they? Maybe they got the last 7 of this colony, I thought.
One guy said we'd be lucky to see any penguins at all...it's pretty unlikely
About two hours later I noticed a bird up on the bank. We had been looking at the ocean waiting for them to come in....but they were already in! THERE IT WAS! A YELLOW EYED PENGUIN! One of the rarest animals on earth, only found on the South Island of New Zealand from Oamaru to Otago. And another one was just a few feet below under a bush. It was just two of them. They seemed so alone. Penguin colonies normally have dozens if not hundreds. I thought it must be very lonely being an endangered animal...being the last of your kind....what an uphill battle...annoying tourists on one side being too noisy with their oos and awes and a hungry sea lion on the other side waiting to make YOU and your partner (the last hopes for genetic survival) into lunch. And when you're gone...that's it...your genes are confined to history. I felt very sad watching these little guys waddle across the bank to an out of site location...and into oblivion. Of course a whorde of tourists decided to ignore the signs and stand right next to them away from the hut). People can get so wildlife greedy...just to see an animal in the wild....even if it means distrubing them or worse yet interefering in their survival.
At 9pm I went to the Blue Penguin colony.
http://www.penguins.co.nz/
Blue penguins are the smallest penguins on earth, and are also found in Southern Australia. This colony is also a sanctuary that protects the little guys from dogs and other critters by charging tourists 13 dollars to sit in bleachers and watch them come in. Even though the set up was a bit pat on the tourist scale, the penguins (38 in all) were quite amazing to watch. Every day, they swim out to 40 kilometers into the ocean. They do on average 1500 9 meter dives every day (I've only done 6 to date since my Padi course). When dusk comes, they miraculously regather and swim to shore as a group (called a raft). About three sets of rafts trickled in. They stood at the shore rocks while their feathers dried.
Up top, hungry chicks came running out of their burrows, and whenever an adult wearily climbed up, the chicks would attack it. It was like a penguin welcome home. The little chicks would chase the adult around until the next adult would arrive. Basically they were looking for mom who was returning with food. Sometimes the mom doesn't return. There have been cases where surrogate parents will step in and feed the hungry babies but not always. The guide at the sanctuary said the penguins are having a hard time at the moment, having to swim out farther and longer for food. There seems to be a shortage. She seemed to think it may have been the tsunami or global warming. It was interesting to see them all as a group. Being a community seemed so key to their survival, and considering penguins have been in Oamaru for 34 million years, makes it even more epic. Sitting next to me were two sets of couples. One was standing, the other began shouting at them to sit down "because we can't see ...you stupid people". All this happened while we were supposed to be quiet while the penguins made their way to their nests. It made me think how as humans, we are so detached from that basic entity that even penguins understand and depend on so completely....community.
I'm in Dunedin now, a beautiful little town that was founded by scottish settlers. All the streets have the same names as streets in Edinburgh. It's a beautiful town, with stone, eduardian architecture and a hip/young student scene. There's loads of Universities here hence the youthful element. I'll be heading to Otago tomorrow and then to Fiordland and Milford sound. Then I'll be going up the glorious west coast.
I landed in Christchurch on the south island. It's a lovely town, with victorian architecture and a big church in the main square. There was a buskers festival going on (street theater festival) and the day or so I was there I spent wandering and sleeping in the Botanic gardens. I also shelled out 8 bucks to go to the aquariam to see a kiwi bird and watch some guy in a wetsuit feed the sharks. Seeing as I didn't have any shark experiences in Australia, I figured this would be the next best thing. It's safe to say that I was exhausted. Completely flattened by the weather in Australia and am still recovering. I have a bad cold now and am convinced it is from the heat and humidity of northern Queensland.
I decided to rent a car for a couple of weeks to really see the south island. I got a good deal from the hostel and headed one hour south to Akaroa (Banks Peninusula). The Banks peninsula is actually the remains of a giant volcanic crater ... the edges of the peninsula being the surrounding walls. The opening eventually eroded into the sea, but it is because of this unsusual geography that such shallow waters exist and the (world's smallest and rarest) Hector's Dolphins evolved to such a petite size.
http://www.kcc.org.nz/animals/hectorsdolphin.asp
When I arrived in the small french hamlet, all the hostels were full. I was resigned to sleeping in the car that night until I noticed one more listing for a hostel outside of town. It's funny, when you read the rough guide or lonely planet, they can really downplay a place. The farm was called Onuku farm and just happened to be 1000 acres of the massive and very famous banks peninsula track (a tramping/walking track that people pay good money for to take a 4 day walk).
http://www.jolyworld.com/nz/onukufarm/
The farm was stunning, absolute Eden! It overlooked the harbor, and on the drive up to the farm, you could see the dolphins jumping and swimming. A young Brittish guy welcomed me (he was from Leeds) and he told me he arrived a year and a half ago and never left. I asked him if all of New Zealand was this amazing and he said no. If you go to New Zealand, you must stay at this farm. The first night I stayed in one of the cheap huts (for about 8 bucks). No electricity, but it had hot showers outside and outdoor sinks and eco toilets. A hedgehog was sniffing around our front door at dusk and the surrounding trees exploded with singing birds. It didn't get dark till about 10:30 at night, but I was exhausted and slept at 8 until 7 the next morning when I got up for my sea kayaking trip to see the dolphins.
Our Kayaking guide, Muffy (If I were her, I'd change my name...she didn't look like a muffy at all), was Swiss and had the coolest dog that followed behind our truck all the way down to the edge of the sea (it was about a half hour drive on a dirt road). Muffy too arrived here a couple of years ago and never left. I was starting to believe that I would do the same as the place had a overpowering magic about it. The man who owns the farm is a direct descendant to the Pakeha (white) settlers who first staked claim on the land over a hundred and fifty years ago. He also runs boat tours if you want to swim with the dolphins. He was a nice down to earth guy who you could tell really loved the land and the wildlife. The hector's dolphins are rare because they make their home in shallow water (the Akoroa harbor is only about 25 feet deep...amazing considering a princess cruiseliner edges into the harbor in the middle of the day). Because of the shallow waters, they also become susceptible to fishing nets. As a result, New Zealand has made net fishing in the harbor and around illegal when they are breading and giving birth (November to April). He was saying you'd have to be a real asshole to set up nets. It's understood by the community that net fishing is a big no no, so no one does it.
We paddled out into the harbor and you could see the little guys emerging in the distance, black shimmering skin. Then, you'd look down, and they were right under you, looking up to check you out . At one point, it seemed they were all round us, popping up, swimming under the kayaks. They seemed to be enjoying keeping us on our toes, remaining curiously elusive. They were a total tease. We also saw a blue penguin floating in the water (more about those later). I thought it was a seagul, but the little guy was just floating along like a duck. Evidently they sleep while they swim, and I think we woke it up accidently.
That night I stayed in a stargazer hut which is a small little wooden ten with a glass ceiling that overlooked the ocean. I woke up in the morning to sheep munching on grass at my door step and a chicken scratching under the hut. It was fabulous and had I not rented the car, I wouldn't have left. I could have quite happily spent my entire 1.5 months in that little hut overlooking the Banks peninsula.
I hopped in the car and headed to Oamaru to see the yellow eyed and blue eyed penguin colonies. The south east coast from Akaroa to Oamaru is mostly farm land, resembling southern England. Maori culture dots the countryside through the street names and occasional maori community house. I arrived in Oamaru, a cute little town with old white stoned buildings. I stayed at an old hotel that has been there for over one hundred years (the Empire Hotel). The owners were super sweet and there was hardly anyone there minus some Germans (who are everywhere of course). The Germans drove me crazy. They were nice...but SO GERMAN!!! One woman offered me a piece of candy, then shouted "not the white one" after I grabbed it. Considering there was only a red piece and a white piece in her hand, I was afraid to grab the red one. I politely declined the second attempt at her candy offer. She was strange.
At 6pm. I made my way to the yellow eyed penguin colony about 3 km away.
http://www.penguin.net.nz/yep/yeps.html
There I sat with about a dozen Brittish tourists in a lookout hut that really was just a toolshed with a bench. We waited and waited. They talked and talked. I sat and watched. They talked some more. I stared at the ocean, what seemed like for hours. One tourist mentioned that the yellow eyed penguins are virtually extinct. This year alone, all of their chicks died due to biotoxin poisoning...a common occurance. Only 15% of babies make it to adulthood as it is. Combine this with habitat destruction, depletion of food source from Global warming, seals, nets, dogs, cars and you can see these guys really don't stand a chance in hell.
We waited some more and noticed a seal off shore, rolling around in the kelp beds.
Seals eat penguins don't they? Maybe they got the last 7 of this colony, I thought.
One guy said we'd be lucky to see any penguins at all...it's pretty unlikely
About two hours later I noticed a bird up on the bank. We had been looking at the ocean waiting for them to come in....but they were already in! THERE IT WAS! A YELLOW EYED PENGUIN! One of the rarest animals on earth, only found on the South Island of New Zealand from Oamaru to Otago. And another one was just a few feet below under a bush. It was just two of them. They seemed so alone. Penguin colonies normally have dozens if not hundreds. I thought it must be very lonely being an endangered animal...being the last of your kind....what an uphill battle...annoying tourists on one side being too noisy with their oos and awes and a hungry sea lion on the other side waiting to make YOU and your partner (the last hopes for genetic survival) into lunch. And when you're gone...that's it...your genes are confined to history. I felt very sad watching these little guys waddle across the bank to an out of site location...and into oblivion. Of course a whorde of tourists decided to ignore the signs and stand right next to them away from the hut). People can get so wildlife greedy...just to see an animal in the wild....even if it means distrubing them or worse yet interefering in their survival.
At 9pm I went to the Blue Penguin colony.
http://www.penguins.co.nz/
Blue penguins are the smallest penguins on earth, and are also found in Southern Australia. This colony is also a sanctuary that protects the little guys from dogs and other critters by charging tourists 13 dollars to sit in bleachers and watch them come in. Even though the set up was a bit pat on the tourist scale, the penguins (38 in all) were quite amazing to watch. Every day, they swim out to 40 kilometers into the ocean. They do on average 1500 9 meter dives every day (I've only done 6 to date since my Padi course). When dusk comes, they miraculously regather and swim to shore as a group (called a raft). About three sets of rafts trickled in. They stood at the shore rocks while their feathers dried.
Up top, hungry chicks came running out of their burrows, and whenever an adult wearily climbed up, the chicks would attack it. It was like a penguin welcome home. The little chicks would chase the adult around until the next adult would arrive. Basically they were looking for mom who was returning with food. Sometimes the mom doesn't return. There have been cases where surrogate parents will step in and feed the hungry babies but not always. The guide at the sanctuary said the penguins are having a hard time at the moment, having to swim out farther and longer for food. There seems to be a shortage. She seemed to think it may have been the tsunami or global warming. It was interesting to see them all as a group. Being a community seemed so key to their survival, and considering penguins have been in Oamaru for 34 million years, makes it even more epic. Sitting next to me were two sets of couples. One was standing, the other began shouting at them to sit down "because we can't see ...you stupid people". All this happened while we were supposed to be quiet while the penguins made their way to their nests. It made me think how as humans, we are so detached from that basic entity that even penguins understand and depend on so completely....community.
I'm in Dunedin now, a beautiful little town that was founded by scottish settlers. All the streets have the same names as streets in Edinburgh. It's a beautiful town, with stone, eduardian architecture and a hip/young student scene. There's loads of Universities here hence the youthful element. I'll be heading to Otago tomorrow and then to Fiordland and Milford sound. Then I'll be going up the glorious west coast.
posted by Mr. Sophie at 4:28 PM
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