January 1st 2009

Today was two Lord of the Rings tours, the first of which was departing at 0845am.  Damn early considering I was up so late the night before.  I used the company called Nomad Safaris.  I made it though and the morning tour explored many important LOTR sites like The Remarkables mountain range (The Misty Mountains in the movies) and various sites around Queenstown including Skippers canyon.  At the end of the morning tour was a gold panning trip. 

The scenery was amazing throughout the tour.  I had a moment of absolute hilarity as we were leaving Skippers Canyon.  My morning tour was me and 3 teenage girls who were VERY hungover.  They whined the whole time about the ride, and being sick, and every time we stopped for photos they brought out this stupid little garden gnome and placed it in the foreground of every photo.  How lame…  Okay, I know what you’re thinking, the way I put my truck in all my photos back home is different!  Anyway, we stopped at this nice overlook and they set their lame gnome out on a ledge was taking photos.  It was hella windy out and I had just asked how long they’ve had the lame gnome and they told me about all the trips he’s been on with them, lame, and then I said “Wow, I’m surprised you never broke him” and right then as if the Gods had heard me, a gust of wind whipped up from the canyon and ever so gently pushed the lame gnome and we all watched in slow motion as the lame gnome fell to his demise and broke into many pieces.  All three of the teens looked at me with hatred in their eyes like it was my fault!!!  It didn’t help that I had a huge smile on my face. :)  It took all my strength to not fall on the ground laughing, I’m not sure how I contained it, but I couldn’t help the smile.  Oh man, that was funny… 

After that debacle, I found myself in a much better mood and actually not hungover anymore.  The last part of the trip was a ride up one of the local rivers to do some gold panning.  The cool part was the road crossed the river several times.  The river had some real deep sections and a good flow too and the Defender 110 diesel never faltered.  The Defender is great off-road, but damn they are not comfortable to ride in. 

A Disco from another group navigating the water.

After lunch I met for the next tour and we went north to Glenorchy.  This drive was one of the best of the trip.  I wish this had been in the morning instead of the afternoon because the light was too harsh for decent photos.  Still, I had an amazing time and wished I had more time the next day to explore this area more. 

The evening was quiet with me, Vikram, and the girls going out for pizza and a few beers. 

January 2nd 2009

After goodbyes with everyone, I hit the road and drove up to Dunedin and out on the Otago peninsula.  I wanted to go out to see the albatrosses.  Along the way out to the peninsula I saw a royal spoonbill that was pretty spectacular. 

Pied stilt

Variable oystercatcher

Once out to the Royal Albatross Center I toured the grounds some, then ducked inside because a gale force storm was hitting.  I paid for a tour of the albatross nesting overlook and my group got a short orientation on the birds, then we hiked up to the observation building.  Thankfully it was a real building, fully enclosed because it was raining like crazy and the wind was howling.  This was actually very fortuitous though because the albatross tended to take to flight in such conditions.  They loved gale force winds!  At a weight of 8kg (17 pounds) and a wingspan of 3.5 meters (12.4 feet) they need all the help they can get to get off the ground. 

The royal albatross spends years out at sea never touching land, but this species comes to this small point in New Zealand to breed on land.  Pretty amazing I think.  Several of the world’s albatrosses breed on NZ too.  As we watched outside we saw a lone albatross was heading our way riding the gale force winds effortlessly.   They can lock their wings open and just tilt their wings to change direction.  As it came closer the folks crowded around the windows and I was probably not going to be able to get a photo, then a small space opened and I nailed a few shots.  Not bad considering the poor light and shooting through tinted glass. 

On the nest Shags nesting below

After the albatross success, I thought I’d try for a yellow-eyed penguin while I still had daylight.  They are the world’s rarest penguin and they nest on the Otago and it was nesting season!  I drove down to a beach that they frequent and tried to hike down but the storms pushed me back.  It was simply too windy, rainy, and damn cold to hike miles down to the beach.  I retreated to my van and drove back to Dunedin and grabbed a spot at a holiday park there. 

January 3rd 2009

Today was a nice drive.  I drove from Dunedin down to Invercargill via the scenic route that winds along the coast.  I saw another beach called Roaring Beach where yellow-eyed nest, but the weather was still shit so I just enjoyed the drive and the scenery.  After lunch and exploring the old town of Invercargill, I went to find a campsite at a large wetland north of town.  Unfortunately I missed out on a cool opportunity in Invercargill.  There is a place called the Southland Museum and they are home to the oldest living tuatara, his name is Henry and he is at least 111 years old and he just bred again last year.  To be 111 and still breeding is so awesome.  I’ll have to check it out next time.  They may not even have Henry on display, who knows.    

North a little is the Awarua Wetlands, internationally recognized under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, this area has huge value to migratory birds around the world as they migrate through.  I was the only tourist here, so I took some hikes and explored as much as I could in the brutal roaring 40s.  Back in the van I found some seldom used two-track north of the wetland that followed the beach.  I drove back as far as my little van would get me and made camp next to the South Pacific.  The looming sunset was pretty with all the storm clouds on the horizon. 

Wetlands

Video inside the van as I hide from the wind. (38 MB)

Later at sunset:

January 4th 2009

Today is Stewart Island!  I was excited to see the southern island of NZ because it is known as a birders paradise.  I drove back into town and to the ferry terminal in Bluff to get my tickets for the ferry crossing.  The distance across is about 20 miles and takes about an hour.  The boat itself is a double-hulled catamaran style boat specially built for this sometimes rough crossing.  The crossing is very shallow in places causing really exaggerated swells. 

Loading up the luggage bins.

Once underway I was wondering how bad it would get and once we cleared the channel, it got fun!  This was the roughest boat ride I think I’ve ever been on.  I didn’t get sick, but lots of folks were losing their breakfasts.  It was best to sit out back and look at the horizon, but it was wet back there with all the splashing.  There were a lot of mollymawks, shearwaters, and terns flying outside but it was too rough to actually hold my binoculars up to my face.  I just enjoyed the ride.  I asked and they told me that the swells were maybe 1.5 meters, but there was a lot of chop from the wind which made it seem worse.  They told me when the swells neared 4-5 meters, they would sometimes cancel the crossings. 

Once at Stewart Island, I should have taken the taxi ride over to Ulva Island because being a Sunday they only had a few services scheduled.  Instead I went on a hike for several hours on the main island.  It was a great hike, but when I got back and inquired about a quick trip to Ulva Island, they told me that they didn’t have any more services for the day.  Bummer. 

I took the last ferry back at the end of the day after several day hikes.  The ride back over wasn’t as rough, but still several folks got pretty sick. 

Once back at Bluff, I decided to make a run for the beach I had visited a few days earlier to try to catch the evening return of the yellow-eyed penguin.  It took a few hours and I arrived well after sunset and I hiked down to Roaring Beach’s lookout, but all the penguins were back in their nests.  In fact, I could hear them vocalizing all around me.  Even up at the parking area, some half a kilometer away from the beach there were penguins hidden nearby vocalizing.  They really have a long walk every morning and night to feed the chicks.  I just decided to sleep in the van right there and try to see the penguins the next morning. 

January 5th 2009

This morning I got up before the sunrise and hiked down to the blind overlooking Roaring Beach.  I started seeing movement after twilight started to lift.  Slowly, usually one at a time, a yellow-eyed penguin would waddle down the hillside and make his or her way to the beach and out to sea to forage for the day.  This was a real treat and I sat in the blind for about 3 hours taking it all in.  Not another person showed up either, I had the whole place to myself, just me and several of the world’s rarest penguins. 

They nest all throughout these shrubby hills.

After the penguins, I started west heading to Te Anau.  My Milford Track tramp was starting to loom big on the horizon, just a few more days!  I explored Te Anau and really liked it.  It was a lot like Queenstown, but without all the crazy BS.  I spent the night at a nice holiday park outside town. 

January 6th 2009

Today was my day to gear up.  I stopped by the Department of Conservation offices to pick up my tickets for the Milford Track and they advised me of the adverse weather.  Yeah, like I didn’t know that the whole last week wasn’t adverse??!!  Still, after talking to them I realized that I needed a little more gear.  I needed gloves and something warmer to wear if the weather really turned.  I picked up a nice Marino Wool pullover and some cheap wool gloves, and food for the 4 days ahead on the track, and I was set.

I was getting out of the van to go into the grocery when I dropped by point and shoot camera.  The liner inside my rain jacket looked like a pocket, but it wasn’t so when I slipped the camera in there, it went right through and down to the pavement.  Wham!  No more Canon G9.  It was done…  I had brought this nice waterproof case for it for the Milford Track too.  I spent some time in the only camera store in Te Anau and no G9s were available.  I  bought a much cheaper Powershot model for the rest of the trip.  My dSLR doesn’t do video, so I wanted some video capabilities and I also hoped to use the point and shoot more in adverse weather, but now since I can’t use my waterproof case, that was a moot point… 

Me, disappointed...

The old and new waterproofing...

That evening I slept well, ready for my big walk that started in the morning….

End of part 2...