Easter on the South Island

So as per usual I've been quite late getting this up, but things have been busy since April--I've been teaching quite a bit around Cambridge and Hamilton and I now have a contract at Cambridge High that will see me teaching Social Studies and PE until at least December.

In addition to brainwashing the next generation into thinking that Canada is the best place there is and ever was, another great thing about being a teacher is the holidays! NZ kids get 2 weeks off around Easter, and thus Lisa and I decided to head south to explore the top end of the South Island. Here are a bunch of pictures with a few notes that hopefully explain what is going on. I have probably forgotten some intriguing tidbits of information due to the passage of time but here goes...

Yours truly taking in some morning air along the 'Desert Highway' on the North Island's central plateau. Tussocks predominate along with chilly winds. The kind of place a Rough-legged Hawk would enjoy.

After a long drive (8ish hours with coffee stops), we made it to NZ's beautiful capital city--Wellington for our noon-time ferry departure. Pictured above are the sheep-nibbled hills along Tory Channel in the Marlborough Sounds. My first sight of the South Island since 2008. While this scenery is undeniably stunning, these hills would have been cloaked in thick virgin rainforest when Captain Cook first sailed into Queen Charlotte Sound in 1770. Joseph Banks, a botanist who accompanied Cook on this first expedition to NZ, described waking to the dawn chorus here thus:
"This morn I was awakd by the singing of the birds ashore from whence we are distant not a quarter of a mile, the numbers of them were certainly very great who seemd to strain their throats with emulation perhaps; their voices were certainly the most melodious wild musick I have ever heard, almost imitating small bells but with the most tuneable silver sound imaginable to which maybe the distance was no small addition." 

His description likely refers to the melodious and mournful songs of the Tui, Bellbird, Piopio (NZ Bowerbird), and South Island Kokako. The latter two are now sadly extinct. Ironically (Given the present-day scenery), Cook had this to say while anchored in the same area:

"Last Night the Ewe and Ram I had with so much care and trouble brought to this place, died, we did suppose that they were poisoned by eating of some poisonous plant, thus all my fine hopes of stocking this Country with a breed of Sheep were blasted in a moment."

On our first two nights on the South Island, we were very fortunate to benefit from the supreme hospitality of Lisa's workmate's Robin and Bruce, who have a wonderful house on Waikawa Bay, just around the corner from Picton (Where the Cook Strait Ferry comes into the South Island). As you can see, the native bush is growing back, and significant conservation efforts are underway to return much of the Marlborough Sounds to their former lush beauty (For BC readers, picture a wetter Gulf Islands).

Bruce even took us to his 'secret' Blue Cod-fishing locales. After getting stuck with bait-fish and sharks for most of the day, I eventually came out with the biggest cod, but at 43 cm he was too big to keep. Back to the water to make little codlets! Fortunately there was plenty of legal cod to savour that evening. Yum...

After leaving Picton, we heading west to the lovely town of Nelson (Not unlike the BC version in many respects), then on to Abel Tasman National Park (Named for the first white guy to see NZ, though he didn't do much here other than get a few crew members killed by Maori then he high-tailed it back to Holland, somehow missing Australia completely (Though he did eventually get Tasmania named after him). Abel Tasman (the park) is a lovely spot, famous for multi-day hiking and kayaking. We opted for the casual one night hike-in, as the weather forecast was looking iffy.

Awww, someone knew we were coming!

Just in case the birders were getting frustrated, here's one: NZ Bellbird. Not impressed with my impersonation.

Lisa surveying Marahau Bay

Our camping spot for the evening: Apple Tree Bay. A gorgeous spot with great swimming, even in fall.

Skipping way ahead here. After Abel Tasman, we headed straight over tot he northwestern tip of the South Island. Climbing Takaka Hill then descending into Golden Bay, where hippies and rednecks mingle in a Kootenay-esque sort of way. Cape Farewell is the northern tip of the South Island and this is the gorgeous Wharariki Beach just to the west. We camped here for a few days--a new spot for both of us.

Also enjoying the beach were these baby seals. #JustHavingAGoodTime

Twas a misty morning but we hiked up to Pillar Point before the rain set in. Here we are looking west toward Cape Farewell and Wharariki Beach.

Looking east, you can just make out the beginning of the massive Farewell Spit (Top left); one of the most important shorebird staging and wintering sites in New Zealand and indeed the western Pacific. It also has a gannet colony at the tip which is uniquely barely above sea-level on some shellbanks.

The rain really started pounding down once we got back to the car, so the rest of the day was spent driving around the Golden Bay area and peering out into the storm. In the small town of Collingwood, where everything was shut for the season, we were happy to spy this flock of Royal Spoonbills.

A Great Egret (Kiwis call them "White Herons") approaches the car. Unlike Australia where it is abundant in coastal areas, it's always a treat to come across them in NZ.

During the heaviest of the rain, we retreated to a cafe in the funky village of Takaka, where the walls were covered in anthropomorphised birds delivering puns.

Rain followed us around a bit as we heading south into the interior of the South Island. Here we arrive at Nelson Lakes National Park. It's name includes "lakes" because there are two lakes; Rotoiti and Rotoroa. Everyone has been to Rotoiti because it's along a highway and has a town beside it (St Arnaud), but neither of us had been to Rotoroa as it's a little out of the way. So here it is. Rainy, bug-infested, but definitely beautiful. Okay let's go to the other lake now.

Lake Rotoiti.... They look so similar I almost wonder if I mixed up the photos somehow...

Like other lakes in the world, people come here to feed the ducks. What's a little different, is that you can also feed the eels! (Fun fact: Maori word for eel is TUNA---that's not a joke).

Meet 'Ming' the lone male Mandarin Duck. He showed up at Lake Rotoiti a year ago and never left. No one knows what his backstory is (Likely escaped from a private collection) but he seems to rule the docks here, especially at bread-feeding time).

We camped on the shores of Rotoiti and spent the first evening and the following morning hiking in the montane forests around the lake. Here, Lisa photographs some beech trees covered in a black fungus filled with sap-sucking insects that secret honeydew back out through their anal tubes. Bird's love it. Yummy anal tubes! Unfortunately, introduced wasps have become a major pests in this ecosystem so the Department of Conservation has mounted a major anti-wasp campaign which has reduced wasp numbers by 80% in the last 6 years or so.

Finally reaching the alpine after what seemed like eons of switchbacks.

The view from St Arnaud Ridge, looking down to Lake Rotoiti.

My kinda okay picture of the uncommon black-form of the New Zealand Fantail (This colour phase is only regularly found on the South Island).

Finally some sunshine as we cut across to the east coast. Here we are driving south from the vineyards of Blenheim to the Kaikoura coast (Kaikoura Mountains visible to the south).

Finally back in Kaikoura, one of my favourite places in New Zealand, and truly one of the best whale-watching/sea-birding towns on the planet. Lisa took this great shot, looking north from Point Kean to the Seaward Kaikoura Range. Way up in the alpine is where the endemic Hutton's Shearwater nests! Unfortunately I don't have any photos from the pelagic we did here on my computer and am too lazy to track them down. You've all seen an albatross right? You'll see plenty more on this blog I'm sure ;)

Okay it's getting late so I'll finish off the trip with a couple rare ducks. As we headed back north toward Picton on our second last day on the South Island, Lisa asked me if I'd like to check out the Blenheim Wastewater Treatment Plant. I told her I had never heard more romantic words escape those lovely lips. As luck would have it, we stumbled upon a fairly rare bird for New Zealand. In fact, it's only the 8th accepted record since the 1950s or something like that. It's the brown duck in the far back (centre) with bright white eye. Appropriately, it's a "White-eyed Duck"--and Australian endemic. Here it is sleeping with the smaller/darker/yellow-eyed NZ Scaup, as well as some Pacific Black Duck x Mallard hybrids in the foreground, and a preening Royal Spoonbill in the back.

I had read that a few Plumed Whistling-Ducks had been long-staying at an urban park in Napier (east coast of the North Island), so on our drive back north to Cambridge (We've taken the ferry back at this point), we detoured to Anderson Park. Man this looks like a sketchy tick!

Thankfully, I managed a photo that didn't have an overweight domesticated Muscovy Duck in the background. Feeling better now. Jokes aside, these birds were very wary and occur in city parks in northeastern Australia (where they are native) as well as Southeast Asia. They wander frequently, especially during droughts and show up in New Zealand every couple of years. 

Borneo back from the dead!

Was just getting around to updating the blog on all the great things happening down here in NZ when I came across an old blog draft for Borneo. I was in Borneo in Feb/Mar of 2013 but life was crazy and it took me a while to get around to posting some blog stuff on it. Unfortunately before I could get through the 1.5 month trip, I lost a bunch of photos on my computer (Always back-them-up!) including all of my Borneo shots. So it was a bonus to find a few extra photos buried away on this blog site. Unfortunately it did not include any of my adventures in Brunei or Sarawak but hey... still have the memories! So as a random interlude into all things NZ, here are some shots from the Tawau area of Sabah (Malaysian Broneo's northern state). 

For some background, Tawau is the only city in Sabah that does have tourists. Or at least that was my experience. It's a city of several hundred thousand, and yet there is not a single hostel anywhere and in my 4-5 days there I did not see a single Caucasian person other than the 2 Canadians and 2 Swedes that I convinces to follow me to this area.

When I first arrived in Tawau I was alone as the rest of the gang was scuba-diving off Semporna to the north. I took the time to explore the area on my own, at first in the city, and then by hitching rides out into the countryside. As a white non-local measuring over 2 meters tall, I was obviously a novelty and had to get used to gangs of kids and adults following me around and inviting me to various parties. As luck would have it, I ate some dodgy chicken at a Pakistani restaurant which meant that my forays into the countryside had to be scaled back a bit. More on that soon...

Sabah seems to be the heartland of Islam in Malaysian Borneo, and Tawau is probably one of the more Islamic areas of Sabah. (Note the mosque above and my bank of choice in Borneo). On our bus journey over to this side of Sabah, we were stopped several times by military personnel who were obviously searching for something in particular. It wasn't until after we had just left Tawau (headed back for KK on the west coast), that we found out that during our stay, a large party of Islamic insurgents from the southern Philippines had landed nearby and were hiding out in palm plantations. Clashes with police and the army ensued and a number of fighters were killed. This resulted in the closing of eastern Sabah to tourism so we were very lucky to have explored this area ignorant of some of these dangers. In many ways, Sabah feels more apart of the southern Philippines than Malaysia as most coastal settlements now are teaming with Muslim-Filipino illegal and legal immigrants. Many Mulsin Malays are also sympathetic to their cause and their is a historic link between these regions dating back to the Sultanate of Sulu in the 15th century.

This one is for Blake ;)

The unfortunate coincidence that I experienced my most hellish reaction to dodgy chicken on the same night I opted to rent the cheapest room in Tawau. No windows, a malfunctioning toilet, and a high risk of bed bugs (hence the newspaper). That was not an evening to remember. Thank god for the Pizza Hut across the street! Needless to say, I paid the extra $15 for a 3-star hotel room with A/C, TV, and a great view the following day.

Once the gang showed up, I was itching to get out into the jungle, so we headed for Tawau Hills Park. A beautiful reserve with very few visitors. For most of our 3 day stay we had the place to ourselves... well other than the mobs of macaques that came out each evening to try and score some grub.

Some sort of a babbler... my memory is too hazy right now and I don't have a field guide with me. I would guess it's a Short-tailed Babbler as there were a lot of them around. I scored around 36 lifers at Tawau Hills including these favourites: Blythe's Hawk-Eagle, Brown Hawk-Owl (Northern Boobook), Diard's & Orange-breasted Trogons, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Siberian Blue Robin, and Bornean Spiderhunter.

Erik the Swede, being Erik the Swede

One one day we did a long hike to some hot springs. The springs turned out to be luke-warm and pretty disappointing but still a great day.

The gang after a misguided decision to hike to the World's tallest tropical tree at night with only one light. I also was stoked with my idea of wearing sandals, especially when I stepped on a mass of fire-ants. In the darkness my screams were left open for interpretation, so let's just say there was some panicked running and screaming by everyone before I could explain what had actually happened.

The tall tree in the daytime. I believe it's around 91 meters. Didn't seem that much taller than the other trees though....

The sun sets over Tawau in the hotel I decided to splurge and pay $20 for.
Soooo much better than the $5 one!

Return to Oz

Many of you loyal blog readers will recall with fondness my 6-month stay in Australia in the winter of 2012/2013 (well.... it was summer down there). Many adventures were had, cool reptiles touched, and several vehicles barely made it out of the outback. Not only was Australia a lot of fun but it's also the main reason I jumped over to New Zealand to visit some friends--one by the name of Lisa... and well... the rest is wonderful history! To crank the nostalgia dial back just a little more, the main reason I came to Australia, was because I had bumped into Nigel Jackett and Jaime Hall (an Aussie-Canadian and Canadian-Canadian respectively) in BC as they were completing their cross-Canada cycling birding big year. Nigel jokingly invited me down to Perth where they lived, and I took it seriously and showed up on their doorstep a few months later. Well all these 2 years later Nigel and Jaime were getting married and Lisa and I were more than happy to hop the Tasman and make a holiday camping week of it!

Russ & Lisa: Back in Oz together for the first time since a brief Easter weekend together in Adelaide in 2013. I think this was taken on the waterfront in Ulladulla--a few hours down the New South Wales Coast from Sydney. We were both filled with Thai food, love, and the inherent joy of picking out a lone Long-billed Corella from a flock of Little Corellas.

Waiting for the clouds to part at Fitzroy Falls. (Can you spot me betwixt the Asian tour group?)

Ahh that's better. Clouds gone, sun out--beauty!

I must say that the Hawkesbury Sandstone valleys of the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands of NSW are one of my favourite vistas I've seen. Almost like if the canyons of SE Arizona were filled up with rainforest and a few chattering lyrebirds.

Not far from the tall Fitzroy Falls are these "Twin Falls." And just like my visit with Jukka several years ago... no Rock Warbler!

Lisa going for a fully-clothed dip in this 'infinity-creek'

Still no Rock Warblers... but my eyes were still happy.

It was a sticky afternoon along the muddy Nowra River, so we kept our walk here short and opted for a nap in the shade. Another bust on Rock Warbler but Lisa bagged her lifer Striated Heron and Chestnut Teal, in addition to a pleasant reminder of out New Zealand home: European Blackbird.

After a long night arguing over whether the foul smell was my breath or some nearby cow paddies, Lisa discovered our answer the following morning: Dead Wombat.

As we meandered south (killing time before the wedding), we drove into a gorgeous isolated spot called Pebbly Beach. The rip tide here was a little disconcerting while swimming but the drive in through wonderful lowland forest was mucho fabuloso and the setting on the beach was stunning. Lisa and I were also lucky enough to watch a male Superb Lyrebird sing and display for a rather bored-looking female. Probably just playing hard to get.

Some of the pleasant forest we drove in over the course of the week. White-throated Treecreeper City.

Of course we did many other things that didn't involved nature. Most of that was eating ice-cream but we also did a fair bit of small-town art gallery and general shoppingy stuff. In this photo I was getting pretty hot and thus perhaps a little over-excited to find a 1970s country record of an artist I had actually heard of.

Next up was a day trip to Congo. Congo Beach that is, with its blood-red creek that mingles with the green salt water for some very cool colour combos.

Looks like an amazing beach right? Then why am I the only person swimming here? Well as it turns out, this area is thick with sting rays and just after this photo was taken I almost body-surfed on one that must have been 1.5 m across and was apparently visible to everyone watching from the beach! #TotallyWorthItButDidn'tSwimAgain

Ah and now finally for the main event. The wedding was held up in the hills above Berry (Nigel's parents' place--where I stayed a few times on my first Aussie tour). We didn't take very many shots at the wedding since pros were doing that, plus it's hard when you have wine in your hands. As you can see from this shot of the Mambo Big Band tent, the setting was wonderful. Everything was spot-on, from the touching ceremony to a great group of friends and family, wood-fire pizza, pig on a spit, amazing desserts, dancing, dancing, dancing, and a good number of us nerdy bird-watchers keeping a 'wedding list' that included Topknot Pigeon, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Eastern Yellow-Robin, and Peregrine Falcon. A massive thank you to Nigel and Jaime for the invitation to such a fun night--and if you're reading this, expect another visit some time in the future!

Gettin' all spiffy for the wedding. And capping off a wonderful week in Australia!

Still to come: A summary of what's been happening lately in New Zealand including where I am living, my first time teaching AND getting paid, and various other random highlights from February!