Bill and I had breakfast with Stephen Horn from the Department of Conservation (DOC). DOC is looking to eradicate mice, goats and cats from Auckland Island, one of the islands we will visit on our trip. Stephen said they would have to have huts for the team to stay in for 2 weeks at a time, helicopter sheds and a tanker with helicopter pads because of the weather. There would be a team of at least 20 people. Stephen led the 'Million Dollar Mouse' eradication on Antipodes Island (which we will also visit), which was completed 2 years ago. That was mice and cats too. That cost $2.3 million. Auckland Island is 5 and a half times bigger. The price to do this now he thinks would be between $60 and $100 million.
This is Stephen doing what he really likes.
Before going on the boat, there was a tour to Curio Bay in the Catlins by bus in the morning. Bill stayed back and worked, I did the trip on my own with 42 others, and loved being out in this special part of New Zealand. I hadn't been there before.
The bus took an hour. We were dropped off at Curio Bay. The options were Curioscape - (the interactive centre to share Curio Bay) and walking. I started off at Curioscape for half an hour.
I loved the Maori video about how the earth was formed. The screen below opened and each of these panels told a story. The Maori weavings on each told a part in the story of how the earth began - the stars, the earth, the sky, the land, and the early flora and fauna. When the movie finished, each part of the story folded back into these five panels.
It was very cool and I love the way Maori see the world. Ko au te whenua and Ko te whenua ko au - I am the land or and the land is me. From Pinterest - Ko Au Te Whenua, Amber Smith Artist.
I love the Maori’s respect for the natural world. They acknowledge it at meetings. These are called karakia. I would like karakia to become more widespread.
A karakia is used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection. They are generally used to increase the spiritual goodwill of a gathering, so as to increase the likelihood of a favourable outcome. They are also considered a formal greeting when beginning a ceremony. For me it is a 'nature is with you' kind of feeling.' I am nature.
The Māori way is to be sustainable. Did it get passed on down the generations to look after nature because you are part of it? Or when Māori came to New Zealand, maybe they saw that their world was finite (they knew their space and they roamed within it), so there was a need to look after what you have and respect it, because you come back to it.
We can learn a lot from this perspective. Today people treat the world as infinite and move from country to country, as if you can move on to the next place and take out trees from where you came from and build a home, and then move on to the next place and do the same! What if we behaved as if we were an intruder to nature, and in awe of everything about it around us, rather than the one who says I can cut down a tree to build a house.
If we didn't focus so much on increasing profit, or GDP, or acquiring stuff and technology, the natural environment might have a chance. Could we have a new start, and get it looking a bit like the 1700’s before Cook arrived? Here is The Mangatainoko River, Seventy Mile Bush, N.Z. From the album: Views of New Zealand Scenery/Views of England, N. America, Hawaii and N.Z., circa 1875.
I learned the lifecycle of the hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin) at Curiospace. I am going to imagine I am one for a minute.
I am much more at home in the water. I don’t stray far from home. I can sometimes but rarely herd fish - that is where a group of us turn into a ball, and bait fish.
We breed chicks on land. This is at 6-7 weeks old, my partner and I alternating with feeding to keep a very hungry chick healthy.
Life cycle of the yellow-eyed penguin / hoiho:
Mid-August: The 28-week breeding season begins when partnerships are formed or renewed, and nest sites are selected. Mating takes place.
Mid-September/October: Two greenish-white eggs, about 75×55 mm in size, are laid. Both parents take turns to incubate, which takes about 43 days.
November/December: The eggs hatch and the guard stage begins. This is a 40-50 day period when one parent stays at the nest to brood while the other fishes. Upon their return they perform an elaborate greeting ceremony of trills and calls before feeding their hungry chicks. Although guarded constantly during this stage, the chicks are still vulnerable to predators.
January: By the time chicks are 6-7 weeks old, both parents must fish each day to satisfy the voracious appetites of their demanding young. This is the post-guard stage and towards the end the chicks will start to lose their soft brown down.
February: The chicks fledge into their waterproof plumage and go to sea, an extremely hazardous time, with fewer than 20% surviving to maturity.
March/April: The parents have just a few weeks to recover and put on weight before beginning the annual moult. They are confined to land whilst they wait for their old feather coat to be replaced.
Early-May: Sleek and shiny in their new plumage, the penguins head out to sea, but return most nights to sleep, preen and socialise.
Soon it will be August and the busy breeding season will begin again. About 80% of surviving juveniles will return to breed at the place where they were hatched. Hoiho are devoted parents. Incubation of eggs and raising of young are shared responsibilities. During a good breeding season yellow-eyed penguin pairs can successfully raise two chicks.
I also learnt about the kanakana/lamprey eel. Again I am going to imagine I am one .
I have no bones, no fins, and no jaws. I often hear people call me the vampire of the sea, because of my abnormalities. But I am ancient, beautiful, and have evolved to be this way over 80 million years. I have my place in a river ecosystem here. Please get to know me.
I can attach to fish and whales (I heard once I attached to the scrotum of a 2 year old - ouch for him.) I get a bad rap and I am unique, so leave me be please. I mean no harm.
I took the walk to Slope Point.
This is the underwater forest on the shore.
Here is a fossilised log, photo given to me by Robert. Thanks Robert. The ash in the volcano floods waterways rich with silica, which impregnated the standing trees, literally turning them into stone in the space of months.
And a broader view.
Then I came back through the Rainforest Park, then back along the road to Curio Bay. This is Cathy next to an endemic cabbage tree (kōuka).
We took the bus to Niagara cafe and had a lovely lasagne lunch. We have a lot of bird watchers in the group. Some went crazy over the New Zealand falcon they saw outside the cafe. Maybe I could study this bird some more.
I sat next to Marete on the bus. She is Danish and the mother of Heidi who is the Operations Manager on the ship . Merete last saw her Heidi nine months ago, and is looking forward to catching up with her. I would love that too after that time if it was Anna.
Then I catch up with Bill at the hotel, we get our bags and head to the ship. It is a Russian ice expedition vessel, now permanently leased by Heritage Expeditions and named Spirit of Enderby.
We go from the bus to the bridge to hand in our passports. I am really excited. This is a bit different.
There are immigration officers already on the boat and the first thing we do is passports with them because one of the islands we go to is Australian. So we will actually be leaving New Zealand for a couple of days.
Then we head to our room. We are number 521.
This is where we will travel over 18 days.
We explore the ship - this is on the bridge.
We are name tagged and ready to go. We say goodbye to Bluff.
The pilot is initially on board to help us get us out of the harbour, then he gets off.
We have a safety talk in the lecture room. We get introduced to some of the staff. These are the guides - from right to left - Judd the expedition leader, Eric, Daniel, Alex, Doug and Niall.
After we have settled in for a few minutes, there is a life boat drill.
A roll call.
Someone took a photo of Bill and I. The boats did not go in the water.
Then at 8.30 we were in the bar to be given the bird list - Bill and I look at one another, and go with the flow. We are going to learn a lot on this trip! We were not complaining. The list has 151 bird species we can find in the trip, as well as 24 possible whales, seals, sea lions and dolphins to sight.
I have a little giggle. It is a real bird watching trip. We are happy, we just did not click what 'Birding Down Under' was? This is all good. We are learners. I will be an emerging bird watcher. I am intrigued what bird watchers do?
Firstly they tick off their list the birds they saw today - either their own, and/or the group's. So if you saw the birds you tick them in your sheet.
Just some of the shore birds and seabirds are below. There were also 19 bush birds. 12 of these I knew I had seen before. I can see I have a lot to learn!
Albatrosses - Southern royal, Black browed, White - capped, Salvins, Chatham, Buller’s,
Petrels - Cape, mottled, cooks, white-faced storm, common diving and white chinned.
Fairy prion and lots of other prions
Sooty shearwater
Brown skua
White-fronted tern
White-faced heron
Two types of cormorants, shags, gulls.
Black swan, Paradise shelduck, Mallard.
Somebody also saw a Hectors dolphin (I didn’t).
I will be honest - I knew 7 of them. I won’t tell you which ones. Let’s just say I need to read the books and observe and learn from the bird watchers. It will be a challenge and fun for sure.
Then to bed in our 521 cabin.
