NZ Post #8: Seabirds, Semis and Baby Seals

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Our view of the scenic South Island of New Zealand

Our Introduction to the South Island of New Zealand 

Quick summary of our two weeks on the South Island: it rained.

Quick summary of our itinerary:

Thursday, 18 April:  Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton; night near Picton (delightful backpacker). Great fish chowder at the “Jolly Pirate”.

Friday 19 April:  Change of plans: We abandoned the planned trip west to Nelson, Abel Tasman Park and Golden Bay, due to pouring rain. Went south instead. Picton to Blenheim and Renwick: drove on State Highway 1 (SH1) along east coast south to Blenheim and Renwick (the Marlborough region wine country); wonderful Blenheim Library; Omaka Aviation Heritage Center--Knights of the Sky; so-so backpacker in Renwick; delightful pub supper at The Cork and Keg. (Turned out it rained so hard in Abel Tasman Park that some hikers got stranded by the floods.)

On the Ferry, Cook Strait. 

Albatrosses, gulls, sooty shearwaters, fairy prions.

Sat., 20 April:  Renwick to Cheviot:  Second Breakfast among the wineries; continued south on SH1; baby seals at Ohau south of Kaikoura; The Store restaurant for lunch; busy motel for supper and night.

Sun. 21 April (Happy Birthday, Owen!):  Cheviot to Oamaru:  south again on SH1; stop in Christchurch; handsome Victorian old town in Oamaru in cold driving rain; delicious supper at The Last Post restaurant (triple pun--more on that later, maybe).

Mon. 22 April:  Oamaru to Dunedin. We got to Dunedin!  SH1 AGAIN south to Dunedin at last. Royally hosted at the University of Otago’s Executive Residence, since Mike was a visiting scholar. By sheer chance, learned of a Benjamin Britten concert, we went, the music was beautifully sung and played.

Tues. 23 April: Dunedin. Mike spoke to the Faculty of Law; we touristed about Dunedin admiring handsome old stone buildings; LS took a bird-watching boat tour out the harbor past Otago Peninsula to sea. Albatrosses! More albatrosses! [Albatri?]

Scary semis on SH1 in the rain.
Repeat for 1,000 Km.

More scary semis on SH1 in the rain.

Repeat for another 1,000 Km.

REALLY scary semi on SH1 in the rain (cliffs down to sea on left, falling rocks sign on right...).
Try NOT to repeat too often.
Michael calls this “the convergence of undesirable events”.

Wed. 24 April: Dunedin to Manapouri. STILL south in SH1, then west--yes, west--to Manapouri, a gateway to Fiordland at the southwest corner of the South Island. Marx Bros. arrivals at our backpacker; sunset. Yes, that’s right: SUNset.

[Change of plans again. We’d planned to drive back north, probably along the east coast again. We’d abandoned a trip to Queenstown and Aoraki/Mount Cook due to rain. (If you cannot see the mountains, are they really there?) But Mike’s breakfast meeting person said, “Go to Fiordland! Cruise Doubtful Sound! Even in the rain!” We were persuaded. So, much last-minute re-arranging and makings of reservations, since Mike would have to fly back to the N. Island if we did the Doubtful Sound tour; then we took off west instead.]

Map of our trek--we went clockwise from Picton at the top.
Dunedin is above the lower right corner;
Fiordlands by red star at lower left.

                  

Thurs. 25 April:  Manapouri to the middle of Doubtful Sound on the Fiordland Navigator. Ferry across Lake Manapouri, bus over Wilmot Pass down to Doubtful Sound, went aboard the Navigator. Yeah, a  mini cruise ship. Fantastic meal and hospitality. We Cruised the Sound and its side fiords; waterfalls; kayaking at dusk; slept on board.

Friday, 26 April:  Doubtful Sound to Te Anau:  AM on the ship; bus back over Wilmot Pass; amazing private tour (by chance) of Manapouri Power Station; ferry back down Lake Manapouri; drove to Te Anau. By chance, we saw an extraordinary movie in Te Anau:  “Ata Whenua--Shadowland” (Fiordland on Film). 

Sat. 27 April:  Te Anau to Queenstown Airport; dropped Mike off at the airport to fly back to North Island.  Spectacular take off from big airport in tiny valley--he flew over the NZ Alps--in the sunshine--they exist!, MHD flew back to Hamilton (well flew to Auckland and then bus to Hamilton); LS started back north on a six-day drive to bring back the car. LS drove west to Haast on the west coast, via Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea and the Haast Pass. Lakes (still some sun!); enormous waterfalls, some quick hikes, night at Haast (arrived in dark and rain because I stopped at too many waterfalls in the Haast Pass).

Sun. 28 April:  MHD in Hamilton, doing laundry. Haast to Hokitika:  drove north on SH6 up west coast, hiked to Franz Josef Glacier; didn’t see any tops of mountains. (Inside joke for George Cole:  “You could see the top of Mt. Cook, right there, if it wasn’t raining!”), on to the Bird Song Backpacker in Hokitika. LOVELY stay with the birds, by the sea.

Mon. 29 April:  MHD in Hamilton still doing laundry. LS Hokitika to the Hu Ha Backpacker in Glenhope (Glenhope is not on most maps).  Fossicked around in Hokitika immersed in jade. 

Hokitika is one of the greenstone (Pounamu) center of NZ, the town is full of jade stores and museums. Continued north to Greymouth (more jade); headed north-east, aiming toward Picton and the ferry. LS the sole guest at the Hu Ha Backpacker.

Tues. 30 April:  MHD taught his class at the Uni. in Hamilton. LS: Glenhope--Picton--Ferry--Wellington (back on the North Island)--Palmerston North. Sun shone most of the day. Delightful stay at the Legends Motel in Palmerston North.

Wed. May 1 (Happy May Day, Mom and Joyce!):  MHD writing in Hamilton. LS:  Stayed over in Palmerston North. Needed a rest from driving day. Plus, I was in a motel with reasonable rates, which gave guests a complimentary glass of wine on arrival, and breakfast in bed. Te Apiti Wind Farm! Hike in the Manawatu Gorge.

Thurs. May 2:  MHD writing in Hamilton. LS:  Palmy (Palmerston North) back to Hamilton, via Lake Taupo.

PHEW!

Winery wall in Blenheim

Some Highlights

Renwick and Blenheim, Sat. 20 April

We saw amazing amounts of vines. They stretched for miles along the roads.

Second breakfast in Renwick. 

Sodden --but cheerful--motorcyclists warming up.

Roses in Renwick

Lovely taverna in wine country--in a downpour-- 

so we ate lunch inside, by the fire.

Omaka Aviation Heritage Center--Knights of the Sky

 By chance, we saw this museum at Renwick. 

Real plane in a dogfight diorama.
This Etrich Taube really was built like a bird--
the tail had feather formation, and the wings 
also had rounded feather design at edges.

It’s an entire museum--several giant connected hangars--of WWI airplanes and their pilots, and WWI life. It is beautifully presented. Turns out that Peter Jackson collects WWI airplanes; the entire collection of dozens of planes is his;  and Weta Studios designed and built the extraordinary displays and life-sized dioramas.

“At the time war broke out in Europe, Austrian designer Igo Etrich's elegant Taube had already been a successful aircraft for four years, having first flown in 1910. Harking back to the centuries of man wanting to 'fly like a bird', the Taube (Dove) has the distinction of being the most bird-like of any successful aeroplane ever built."

Image from Omaka Aviation website

Also the Taube

“This is one of the most dramatic exhibits. The aircraft is displayed as though flying in formation with another Taube, at height above a huge photographic background. It is under fire from a British Be2c and the observer is twisting round to fire his rifle back at the attacker.”

Diorama of crash and death of the Red Baron.

When Von Richtofen crashed, the first Allied troops on the scene 

were burnt-out trench troops. They looted.

The collection at the museum includes planes, plane parts,

engines, uniforms, posters, audio, etc. etc.

Some of the handsome posters at the museum

Many of the planes are actually flyable, and are flown often by enthusiasts.

The Baby Seals at Ohau

Somewhere south of Kaikoura, the driver saw one too many semis and swerved into a scenic outlook by the sea for a break. Turns out it was a seal colony. 

There was a group of Kiwis trying to take photos of themselves with the seals in background; we did the usual offer to take their photo; chat ensued; they said, “You MUST go back up the road to Ohau. That’s where the baby seals climb up the stream and play in the waterfall.” So we went.

Parent seals getting a break from child care

These are NZ fur seals, which are now protected and making a big comeback. At this time of year (late fall), while the parents rest in the ocean surf and feed, hundreds of baby seals go inland. 

They clamber several hundred yards up a rocky stream, finally arriving at a pool under a giant waterfall. There, with endless delight, they leap and leap in the waves under the falls. 

As we hiked up the trail to the waterfall, the stream was full of them, climbing over boulders, resting like blobs in pools and on rocks.

When we finally arrived at the pool under the waterfall, they were all over the place! There were maybe eighty or so. The stream was full of them, piling up on each other resting, or tussling in the water, or wandering over to the path to check out the people. And in the mist and thunder of the pool under the waterfall, they were leaping like dolphins. 

Leaping and leaping in the falls

Even in the now-pouring rain, groups of human visitors came and went. As each group came out of the woods to the pool, they exclaimed with delight. As we all stood dripping, gazing, exclaiming, and of course photographing and videoing,

They came right up to us

whiskery faces would appear at our ankles, peering and sniffing. And always, there were the leapers and divers in the pool.

This was one of the magical moments of a lifetime.

More on the South Island to follow--including more World Heritage Sites, Dunedin, and.... Doubtful Sound.

As we draft this post to the blog (Sunday, May 12) we are packing and getting ready to leave New Zealand. For the next few days, Mike has a conference at the Law School’s Centre for Environmental, Resources And Energy Law, co-sponsored by the International Bar Association and the Energy Law Association of New Zealand.

By the seal colony, Ohau

We fly from Auckland Wed. evening NZ time, and arrive back in Burlington VT Thursday May 16.

Best to all, Loring and Michael