South Island Saga continued: The importance of lava trees.

New Zealand has a great many endemic species of plants; that is, native, and found only in New Zealand. I've talked in other posts about some of these fascinating species. The kauri tree is a prime example.   

It was therefore no surprise, when Alan, our bus driver, and saga sage, announced to us over the bus intercom as we drove along the coast toward Invercargill, that our first stop today, would be to see some lava trees.  

Jeanne and I looked at each other.  Lava trees?  Cool!  We've been in New Zealand for over ten years now but had never heard of lava trees before.  Must be a South Island species.  Probably more hearty due to the cold and windy climate down here. Must not grow in the north.  

At the same time, we each commented privately, "I hope they have rest rooms wherever we stop. I shouldn't have had that second cup of coffee."

Just minutes later, we pulled in at Moturata Island Scenic Reserve.  

We were off the bus in moments and looking around.

"That's a rather odd-looking tree-like thing over there, but I don't see why it would be called a lava tree. That can't be it."

"But look over there, I see the men's and women's signs; there are indeed restrooms  Thank goodness. Let's get in line before we do anything else."

Approaching them, all became clear.  They were lavatories.  Lava trees!  Hardly an endemic species. They have rather, worldwide distribution, and nothing could be more welcome at certain times.  From now on, lava trees would be one of our favorite Kiwi flora.  

About 15 minutes later, we all clambered back onto the bus with a new lease on life. Refreshed, you might say.  You know the feeling. And pleased to have expanded our knowledge of the South Island Kiwi language.  

On the road again, and it soon became clear that we were heading into some wild weather.  

We were climbing, and climbing further, up into the hills.

It started snowing. This is a real rarity for Aucklanders to see.  

The flakes started getting bigger and the windshield soon showed the result.

Our world was soon transformed.

Fortunately, we came down out of the hills, and when I say hills, I should maybe instead say, Hills.  Not mountains, not yet, but pretty impressive hills to be sure.  

We returned to the coast, to sea level, to the small town of Kaka Point, The Point Restaurant; and springtime as well.  

We had been told that The Point offered us two choices for lunch. Blue cod or steak.  I think everyone chose the blue cod, which is a specialty of this area.  

Blue cod, Parapercis colias, is not actually a cod. That name error dates back to Captain Cook's time. Wikipedia describes it as having 'a delicate, salty-sweet flavor and a unique, light texture.'  A perfect description I think.  As is most common here, it was served to us as fish and chips. 

Unlike lava trees, Blue cod is endemic to New Zealand and is mostly found around this portion of the South Island.  The people here are very proud, and rightfully so, of this resource.   

Being a fast eater, and wanting to snap a few more pictures, I left the restaurant ahead of the pack and hurried down to the beach.  

A rather grizzly sight awaited, but interesting too.  The south half of a seal.  Sea Lion or fur seal, I didn't know. I thought though that it was probably a fur seal. Those are smaller than sea lions and this one isn't very big.   

I scooped up a bit of clean sand, a hundred meters or so away from the seal, and put it into one of the collection bags I carried.  

 

It was time to go. Alan was warming up the bus. 

The home made, automatic door mechanism swung the door shut after the last of us and we were off for more adventures.  

Shoot, it was only about 2 p.m. Who knows what lay ahead for us before we settled in that evening at the Kelvin Hotel?  If I had to describe it in one word, I'd say, "Yipes!  -djf

South Island Saga continued: Sailors

 As a kid, I read a great many sea stories.  The Old Man and the Sea, by Hemingway, Moby Dick, by Melville, Two Years before the Mast, by R. H. Dana, Jr., The Log from the Sea of Cortez, by one of my favorite authors, John Steinbeck, Kon Tiki, by Thor Heyerdahl, and many others.  

Because of this early interest and immersion (no pun intended) in all things nautical, you might suppose that I grew into a competent sailor. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is true that with age, I have grown into quite a corpulent sailor, if by sailor you mean 'one who staggers his way around tour boats, resolutely trying to focus his camera on passing marine scenes of interest against the pitching, rolling, heaving, swaying, and surging that boats are fond of doing, especially when land-lubbers are aboard, which is almost always.'  

Fortunately for me, and for this photographic record, I did eventually find my sea legs. My Sea Legs are an over-the-counter product that comes in a bottle of 12 tablets and provide the child over six years of age who ingests one of them, or the adult who doubles that dosage, with 24 hours of relief from the effects of the pitching, rolling, heaving, etc. They didn't stop me from staggering around the moving deck, but they did prevent me from hanging over the side looking green. It makes all the difference. With them I can weather the storm; without them, our four-hour cruise may have seemed like at least two years before the mast to me.   

Needless to say, on the morning before our cruise through the harbor and out into the Pacific, I had followed the directions on the bottle's label and had swallowed a pair of what I considered to be life-savers. These were much more likely to benefit me I thought than the bright orange floatation devices than the Monarch, by law, was required to have for each person on board.  

I thought that I should tell you all this before you look at the next series of pictures. Some of them were taken while under the influence of the Pacific Ocean, which, as we approached it, made sure I knew who, or rather what, was in charge.  One or two of these shots is not quite as clear as I would have liked, but that is because this photographer was hanging on to his seat on the edge of a pitching, rolling, etc., boat with his knees and trying to snap the button on his camera as the intended object pitched into view and before it rolled out again.   

Fortunately for you, you will see only the moment of the photograph. You won't see the up, down, and sideways scenes that precede and follow each of the shots I'll share. If you did, you might also need a dose of something preventative before proceeding. Nor will you see the photos I snapped there were composed of all sky, all waves, or my fellow passenger's left ear.  I discarded those.  

This is a colony of gannets.  We have also seen these on Muriwai Beach near Auckland.

A closer look. 

What you see here on this hillside, are the last few Royal Albatross chicks remaining from the colony.  Talk about a terrible childhood.  When their biological clock tells them to, and when the winds are strong enough to assist them into the air, these chicks will take wing, head out to sea, and spend the next several years living alone, above and on it, as they hunt for squid, their preferred prey, and fish, a close runner-up.  

They seem small at a distance, but these 'chicks' are massive. The females average just over eight kilos, (17.6 lbs.) and and some males can reach about 12 kilos, (26.4 lbs.).  Those are the size of really, really big turkeys up there, and ones that will have an adult wingspan of 2.9 to 3.3 meters, (9.5 to 10.8 feet)  

The adults have abandoned them. They stopped feeding them, apparently to induce them to leave the nest. If they do not, they will starve. Because of their size, they need a wind speed of at least 16 meters per second (almost 36 miles per hour) to become airborne.  

In The Rime* of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Coleridge, a sailor's killing of an albatross brings bad luck upon the ship and his shipmates retaliate against him by hanging the dead bird around his neck. Can you imagine that?  

The headlands and lighthouse. This is where the sea got rougher. 

More fur seals

Some impressive cliffs here, and take a look at the long coats that were provided by the Monarch against the elements.  They were much appreciated.  

It's amazing to me that the seals can haul themselves up there.  

We're on our way back in and I admire a cave I hadn't noticed on the way out.  Note that the color of the water is starting to show a bit of sun again. 

BTW, Jeanne reminded me that this cave, we were told, is where one can sometimes see little blue penguins. Unfortunately for us, they generally prefer to come out into the light of day during the dark of the night. We didn't see any with reverse insomnia.  

Ah, this is the sort of water surface this sailor prefers. 

Actually, the trip through the harbor was very smooth. It was only when we were in the ocean that I felt the waves, and then, mainly because I had my camera on zoom and that emphasized the effects of the waves.  If you look at the photos, the ocean wasn't really all that rough.   

Such scenery.  We passed this hill not long before we stopped briefly at Carey's Bay Hotel and picked up box lunches of fish and chips which we ate aboard the Monarch. I have to say, they were among the best f & c's I can ever remember eating. They were still hot; the coating crisp on the fish, good salty chips and tangy tartare sauce.  Maybe it was the liberal dose of sea air which especially fueled my appetite.  

We then returned to the wharf, our expedition complete.  

(Home is the Sailor, home from the sea: a line from Requiem, by Robert Louis Stevenson) 

The chemicals within the Sea Legs, still coursing through my veins and arteries for at least another 14 hours, could relax, a job well done and their services no longer required. 

If you know anything at all about sailors, you know that we, as a rule, waste no time, having made port, in finding the nearest tavern, where we slake the thirst that sailing past gannets, albatrosses and seals can produce.  

Similarly, our group of hearties, swaying slightly to compensate for the ground beneath them remaining fixed, made our way into the happy hour facilities provided by our hotel, where tall, cold, nutritious beverages healed mind and body from the effects of wind and waves.  

(I did notice that some of our sailors had a harder time than others adjusting to being on land again. They clearly still felt the motions of the boat and were swaying as they walked, even more noticeably, after happy hour. Just one of those sailor things, I suppose.)  

The next morning, we were up and at it again, a long bus journey down to Invercargill anticipated.  Our first rest stop was along this beach, and looking out at the breaking waves, we could see that the winds were rising.  We might be in for it later.  

I'll stop here for this week.  I hope you've enjoyed the scenery so far.  Much, much more to come.  -djf

*-Rime  

I thought that I should explain this word. It's not a misspelling. 

It sounds like the word rhyme of course, which you might expect since The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a poem.

Rime however, means a kind of frost that can form on the sides of ships in cold fog and wind. It can also be salty due to the spray.  

What an interesting title, huh?  Just goes to show that Coleridge knew his stuff.  

South Island Saga: Dunedin continues to impress

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you already know that Jeanne and I have been exploring, together with an adventurous group of individuals and couples from our retirement village, on the South Island of New Zealand.   

Some of the people out in Henderson who saw us leave our village, if they referred to us and wished to be politically correct, might have described us as mature, or senior when they spoke to others about seeing us ride by, but to themselves they might have chuckled about the tour bus they saw filled to busting with geezers from the old folk's home.   

They would not be aware of the 12 days, 11 night epic journey we were starting. Nor would they know of the endless kilometers of roads we'd travel, the sights we'd see, the wild creatures we'd photograph, the winds, waves, snow and fogs we'd survive. (with ease) 

They would not have recognized that each of our group, despite having lived for so very many years, had lived those years well. To a man or woman, each of us could boast that like Moses, his eye was not dim, nor her vigor abated.  We were a hearty crew.  

I have already shown you two very short posts about the beginnings of our tour. With this post, I am going to expand the number of pictures up to my usual level.  

I hope that you enjoy my South Island Saga over the coming weeks.   

Dunedin enjoys many 'claims to fame.'  The first one we surveyed was the famous Baldwin Street, the world's steepest street. 

I think that if it had not been for our tight schedule, several of our group would have opted to climb the thing to it's top. 

Just below, you'll find a link to a fun event held on this steepest of streets.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U6p8oemFYM

You can see that Dunedin's weather is not as balmy as Auckland's. Jeanne has several layers on.  We are on our way to the harbor, where we will board a boat for a four hour cruise out through the 'Heads' (Headlands) into the Pacific, and back.  

Before the harbor though, we stopped at a scenic overlook above the city.

The next two shots are of figures on a memorial to the pioneers that first settled Dunedin.  

This is a view of Dunedin and its harbor. Notice that there is a relatively narrow strip of land at one point between the harbor and the Pacific Ocean. The actual harbor extends for 12 miles to the left of this picture before it reaches the ocean. 

A proposal was made during the Second World War, according to our bus driver and tour guide Alan, by the United States, who had soldiers stationed here, that their Corps of Engineers could assist New Zealand in building a channel through that strip of land, making the ocean much more accessible. Obviously, it was never done.  

The next series of pictures were taken aboard the boat that took us the length of the harbor and out past the Heads into the Pacific.  

The trip out to the ocean was beautiful, albeit cold and windy.  Shortly after I took this picture, the crew came around with knee-length, oversize jackets that would further protect us from the elements during the cruise.  Many people took advantage of this additional layer.  

This is Larnach Castle.

A white capped albatross. (I'm pretty sure) 

A close up side view

A fur seal basking, partially covered in sand. 

The Heads are coming up.

Well, by reading this post, you've started on your own personal mini-saga, retracing our footsteps and following our wake, as we learned about a whole new kind of New Zealand.  

We learned that this part of the country can be rough.  One day, we had such winds, well, I've never, ever, felt stronger.  They would have actually been dangerous to a child. You'll see where soon.  

But it was a thrill.  The whole trip was, despite some long days and challenges to our stamina. Each night, we had a happy hour, a great meal and a really comfortable bed. Breakfasts were amazing. 

Several choices of cereals, fruits, both dried and fresh, juices, choices of baked goods, two kinds of eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, and more.  

I'm going to continue with the sights around the heads in the next post. We'll also cruise back to Dunedin and then head for Invercargill and some wild weather.  

See you next time.   -djf

South Island, continued

Today will be another short post from the South Island of New Zealand.  I just haven't had the time to work on the sort of post I usually publish each week.  

We've been all over the place and I intend to do posts about each area that we've toured. I've taken hundreds of pictures.  This tour has been more than I imagined it would be.  They even managed to surprise us with some fun things.  (More about that when I get back to doing normal posts. ) 

Here is a haphazard assemblage of shots to whet your appetites.  

 

That's it for now. We've seen some amazing sights and next week, I'll start presenting them in order of appearance.  -djf

Dunedin

Hello from the South Island and specifically, Dunedin, New Zealand.  

Our flight down was uneventful, and we were met at the airport and bused into the city.  After a short sight-seeing tour we checked into the Scenic Southern Cross Hotel and began to unwind with a free happy-hour. It actually turned out to be more like a happy hour and a half.  

Then a dinner of either fish or twice-cooked pork belly.  We're done now for the day and are beat.  I'm going to make this just a very short, quick look at what we've seen of Dunedin so far.  

Sorry for the brevity, but I'm out of steam.  I need to get horizontal.  

Tomorrow we have a cruise out through The Heads and into the Pacific.  Then the return trip and some afternoon fish and chips.  Sounds good doesn't it?

I'll be doing proper posts again soon.  -djf