The Catlins

Although not quite as remote as Stewart Island (we didn’t have to take a ferry), the Catlins are not on the beaten track, especially with winter close at hand.  But it didn’t rain too much, we had okay places to stay, and occasionally phone service. But the beauty of this southeastern part of the South Island is not to be missed. And, yes, I do say that about most of New Zealand!

Fossilized kauri and matai tress-180 million years old

More of the petrified forest

One of the most beautiful beaches that we have seen

Purakaunui Falls

We always have to watch for the sheep

Like a millpond

     Cathedral Caves, accessible only at low tide

Interesting plant life everywhere

Rare yellow-eyed penguins climbing from the ocean to their nest

Stewart Island

A six day week end!

We had an easy plane ride to Invercargill and a few hours of time to pass before the ferry to Stewart Island (Jim visited a former Palmy radiologist at the hospital while I strolled through the gardens and the museum).

It doesn't look too bad at the wharf.

 And then we rode the ferry across Foveaux Strait-no more easy riding.  Rocking, rolling, bouncing, slamming-you name it! Even with Dramamine we didn’t feel well. The motion sickness instructions said to keep your eyes on the horizon, but it was darn hard to find that horizon. I held on and concentrated on my breathing and even Jim didn’t think to take pictures until the worst was over. We were told we were probably in three meter waves and forty knot winds, but later found that the winds were probably fifty knots, which would be about fifty-eight mph. I think the company was close to the limit for cancelling the trip and it was well over my limit. 

It was bad in the strait

 We had a wonderfully warm room with a lovely view of the harbor and were visited by kakas on our balcony. (One doesn’t take a warm room for granted in NZ.) We took three tours, one of the tiny harbor town of Oban, a kiwi spotting tour and a guided nature tour of Ulva Island. All were excellent and with our wool underwear and many layers, we stayed nice and warm. 

 

 

The pots are used to collect fish, mainly crayfish, blue cod and paua. The people of Oban take only what they need and share with the community.

 This 2.1 km ecologically engineered fence on Stewart Island with video and satellite communication encloses more than 400 acres of an ecological preserve of native species of plants and wildlife and is predator free. Ulva Island was predator free in 2010, but some rats were found after that and work is being done to eradicate them from the island.

 

We saw kiwis on the beach after walking through the bush at night with our torches-so cool. On the water taxi to Ulva Island we saw two blue-eyed penguins swimming, and on the island identified birds by sight and calls, trees, mosses, ferns and even penguin tracks. And I had all I could do to leave behind the beautiful shells and sand on the beach. But seeing that we were in a virgin forest…

Blue-eyed penguins

I left this shell on the beach right where I found it.

 The return trip across the strait was lovely with a beautiful sunrise. Not quite like a mill pond, but smooth enough for us.

Weekend in Palmy (April 28-29)

Saturday in Palmy was Art on Edge with street performances, demonstrations, exhibits, and workshops. For two hours I was entertained by many music groups, readings, art exhibits, and a drawing class. One of the fun surprises was a Latin American band, Canta Conmigo, and they were quite good- a nice touch of my Texas home. (We seem to have a lot of homes these days.) The group that I sing with, the Manawatu Community Choir also performed, which was a lot of fun. It was a pleasant autumn afternoon, and an enjoyable low key couple of hours.

 

A barbershop group that is very good.

Saturday night we visited with a couple from Albuqueque who have been in Palmy for a few weeks, both doing locums here for six months. We had a great time and were reminded of the difficulties we had when we first arrived. After seven months we feel quite comfortable here and are already anticipating the challenge of the transition back to the states. 

Sunday morning we joined about 1500 walkers on the Lion’s sponsored gorge walk. This walk was on the railroad tracks that go through the Manawatu Gorge. Because of the huge slip and the work not yet completed, we have seen only parts of the gorge and the highway that cuts through it. A bus took us on an alternate path to get to the other side of the gorge, and then we walked along the rocky railroad track for about 8 km back to the car. Once again we were happy to have our sturdy walking shoes, some warm clothes and our torches as we went through two long, black tunnels. 

Jim worked about six hours on Saturday and was able to put a dent in the backlog of over one thousand ultrasound cases. I know-YIKES!

Notice the windmills from Te Apiti Wind Farm

 

There is still a lot of work to be done on this slip which occurred in August 2011. Can you imagine taking this long to fix a major state highway in the states?

Martinborough

Sunny weather was predicted for the week end, and these twenty-five year Texans hoped to get some sun along with a couple of lazy days in the pinot noir Martinborough region. We arrived at our B&B Friday evening to the pinot noir that our gracious hosts had ready for us. Nice. 

We spent the morning at the large and interesting Martinborough fair that had been rescheduled from February-a nice bonus to the week end. After the hard work of shopping, we relaxed with a pleasant bike ride in the country and wine tasting at a couple of wineries.

Vynfields, a boutique, organic/biodynamic vineyard. It was "lovely".

As it was National Alpaca Day, we went an open house at a local farm. I have never been much of a farm or ranch person, but these alpacas are just too cute! They are so much better than sheep. I understand the castrated male alpacas make good pets, although I don’t think we have enough room in our Palmy yard or in our Austin yard. And there are those pesky zoning codes..

These guys will make great pets, but will never be dads.

We weren’t ready to wrap up the week end so we took a side trip to Riversdale Beach on the Pacific. As always, we were calmed and nourished as we walked in the sand, watched the waves, and looked for rocks and shells.We topped it off by meeting someone almost from home, the owner of the small beach store, who has been in New Zealand for thirty years, but still has an ear for our midwest accent. She is from Antigo, Wisconsin.

There are still a few blossoms on the pohutukawa trees.

Every once in awhile we find a beautiful paua shell.

We had only about an hour of sun during the week end, but the choice to go to Martinborough was a very good one.