Karitane, Dunedin, Otago Peninsula: Victory Beach, Albatross Center, Little Blue penguins at Pilot Point

We're staying for 4 nights near Karitane in a professor's house with a great view of a beach and headland. The first day we slept in, had a several hour walk along an estuary, headland, and beach, went swimming, and then Rich worked on his talk. 

Jennifer & Rich on Karitane Headland

Karitane Bay

Sweetpeas & Seashells

The friendly neighbor gave us these sweetpeas. The shells were collected on our beach walk.

We ate dinner with 2 Claremont professorss on sabbatical in Dunedin, Steve Adolph (Mudd lizard guy) and Karen Parfitt (neuroscience professor doing research on Alzheimers and proteins) and 2 sailor guests who'd sailed here from Seattle. It was still light when we drove home last night at 10:30, so basically we were out all day long hiking and driving and looking at beautiful beaches, forests, mountains.

Yesterday Rich gave his talk in Dunedin and I just went to the botanic garden. In Dunedin, all the place names come from Edinburgh: Portobello, Musselburgh, etc., but it's a bit jolting, since the places don't match, although there is a lot of basalt here. 

After Rich finished with his talk and post-talk socializing, it was only 4:00 p.m., so we decided that we had enough daylight left to see at least part of the Otago Peninsula, sticking out from Dunedin. The drive is windy, narrow roads, with gorgeous views of sea on either side. It reminds me a bit of Point Reyes in Marin County, north of San Francisco. Anyway, we bought some cheese at a local market and headed out to Victory Beach alongside an estuary. From the car park, it was about a half hour walk beside sheep pastures and over stabilized dunes to a big empty beach with blue water and crashing waves. We walked to the north end of the beach and saw some fur seals and possibly a sea lion. 

Sheep on the walk out to Victory Beach

Victory Beach, Otago Peninsula

Then we walked back, drove to the end of the peninsula to Taiaroa Head to the Albatross Centre, which the guidebook said was open till dusk, but actually closed at 6:30. Since it was 7:30, we just walked out to the cliff edge and saw tons of seabirds screeching and flying on the edge of the cliff face above the sea. Wonderful views of royal albatross flying overhead and beside and below us quite close. Spoonbills, cormorants, and lots of gulls.

Sunset, Otago Peninsula

Then we walked across to Pilot Beach, where we had heard we might see the little blue penguins, the 3^rd kind of penguin in NZ, since we’d already seen the fiordland crested and yellow-eyed. They were just closing the gate to the beach, so we were disappointed, but the guard said that you could only see them at dusk, about 9:20, on a paid tour and that the other night 140 had come ashore. We decided to make our cheese and crackers and other bits and pieces from lunch do for dinner and paid for the tour. Since Rich had stayed up till 3:30 the night before, waiting till 9:20 seemed a bit of a stretch, but it was a clear night, not too cold, no rain, and probably our only chance. I wish everyone could see these little blues come ashore. We were standing at a platform just above the beach enjoying a gorgeous sunset view of Otago Harbour and peering into the sea to catch the first glimpse. Suddenly a dark v-shaped patch in the water a ways offshore approaches moving very, very fast, and through the binoculars one can see that it’s the first batch of penguins, in a clutch of motion, what they call a raft, and it zooms up to the beach and suddenly 25 small penguins tumble out of the surf and start walking/hopping up the shore to feed their babies in their nest. Enthralling. No problem staying awake. The babies are 3 times the weight of the parents and one nest was close enough to see the wrestling match of the baby forcing the parent to feed him. The parents feed them every half hour. Between wrestling matches, the parents run away for a bit of peace. 4-5 rafts came ashore over the course of the hour/154 penguins in all. One baby positioned itself right along the path where the parents streamed ashore and accosted other baby's parents, trying to force them to feed him. 

We also saw the southern cross for the first time walking up to the parking lot, since it’s been foggy or too light to see stars. Very hard to stay awake on the sharp curves driving home, but well worth staying up for. 

Today we’re back at Karitane,our last night here. Rich finished a letter of recommendation, so we’re at the local library for some internet access and then we'll walk through an estuary to a beach. We tried to sleep in, but the sunshine pours in starting before 6:00 and shines in our eyes before 8:00. Doing laundry, since tomorrow we’ll have been on the South Island a week, and it’s our last night in this house. Tomorrow we drive north up the coast to Christchurch and stay with friends from David Rankin’s lab in Edinburgh and Rich gives a talk on Monday. We also need to plan the rest of our vacation and book the ferry and hostels until we return to Auckland next weekend.

To the southern tip of the South Island, Curio Bay, Catlins, Nugget Point Lighthouse, Karitane

We drove from Te Anu in Fiordland National Park, south to the sea with nothing between us and Antartica and across the whole country along the coast. We giggled as two yellow-eyed penguins hopped and waddled slowly up the rocks at Curio Bay (with petrified forest stumps along the beach) and watched another 2 at Nugget Point in the Catlins. A lighthouse and beach walk, a ferny waterfall walk, and sea lions and spoonbills. 

Seaweed along the southern coast

Yellow-eyed Penguin at Curio Bay

Walk to Matai Falls, Catlins

Matai Falls, Catlins

Jennifer by Nugget Point Lighthouse

We didn't get to our house in Karitane until very late, driving in the fog and dark along a narrow beach road, using a flashlight to find the key under some wood, and tramping through tall weeds trying to find the front door. We didn't eat dinner till 11:00. It's hard to resist one last walk when it's light so late and who knows if we'll every get to New Zealand again.

Fiordland: Milford Sound

We’ve had a fantastic day here… perfect weather for Milford Sound.  The kayaking we wanted to do was full so we settled for a large boat nature cruise, which made it all the way out to Brig Rock in the Tasman Sea and back.  While just offshore an albatross (White-capped) obligingly put in an appearance, as well as a single Fiordland Penguin.  We also saw a kea and some fur seals. On the drive in and back we did several short hikes and nature walks and stopped numerous times to look at views of waterfalls, jagged peaks, and glaciers. The day was a miracle. Milford Sound gets 7 meters of rain a year, so we could have seen nothing but cloud and drizzle. Instead, we got drifts of cloud on the drive down and a spectacularly clear day. 

Early morning mountain reflection in a lake on the drive in

Drifts of cloud below the mountaintops

Up early--almost empty road

Coming down from the top of the pass

Milford Sound: Waterfalls and mountains dropping straight into the sea

Fur seals

Jennifer & Rich on Milford Sound Cruise

View on the way back to Te Anu: hike up to Lake Marian

Shaggy moss hiking the other end of the Routeburn Track

Mossy base of a tree along Routeburn Track

V. tired, but happy. We've been leaving our hostels fairly early in the morning and are out all day till late hiking and driving. Last night was the earliest we have eaten supper, starting just before 8:00. Since it's light so late, it's hard to stop before 7:30. We have a big day tomorrow in the Catlins and then we'll try to take a rest day in Karitane, north of Dunedin, so that Rich can put the finishing touches on his talk.

Fiordland: Te Anu, Routeburn Track

We drove from Queenstown to Te Anu to a busy youth hostel on the lake. Spent most of the day walking the beginning of the Kepler Track. Each walk seems to begin with a suspension bridge.

Just as when trying to take pictures of redwoods, one can only take pictures of the top, the middle, or the trunk, but never take a picture that gives an accurate impression of the whole giant tree.

We hiked to the first hostel and swam in the lake before heading back.

Lake Manapouri (with Pomona Island)

Flight to South Island, Routeburn Track

We got up early yesterday morning to catch a plane to the South Island. An amazing plane ride looking down at ocean, beaches, and then the southern alps with glaciers and craggy peaks. As soon as we got off the plane near Queenstown and got our rental car, we shopped for a picnic at a farmers market and then drove along the side of a wonderful glacial lake, Lake Wakatipu: clear brilliant  green water, with huge, craggy, snow-topped mountains on all sides. We drove to the end of the lake at Glenorchy and then up a valley with a braided stream to park for a 5-mile hike up the Routeburn Track through a beech wood: cool, mossy, with a rushing, green river alongside, several suspension bridges, views of snow-topped peaks. Stunning. Reminded me of the poem: "Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen..." Very hard to turn around instead of hiking onward.

Lake Wakatipu

Jennifer on the beach in Glenorchy.

Back to our youth hostel at 8:00 and still lots of daylight. We walked into town along the lakefront looking at boats and alpenglow to buy some dinner. 

Boats on the lake near Queenstown

Lawn bowling at Queenstown Gardens

We saw people lawn bowling (bocce ball, boules) around the world: Laos to Iceland.

Ready for bed and another day of hiking. Rich gives 2 talks on the South Island and then we're back in Auckland for 2 more weeks.

First Weekend in New Zealand: Piha, Tiritiri

We had a big first weekend. We rented a car Fri. evening and drove to Piha beach on the west coast, only an hour away, with a Russian physicist his wife. It has a big rock, sort of like Morro Rock, and a long, empty, windswept, volcanic black sand beach with huge waves. Sort of like a beach up in Marin, except 75 degrees and much warmer water. Gorgeous. 

Then Sat. morning we drove over to a Gulf Harbour on a peninsula northwest of here to take the ferry to Tiritiri Matangi, an island off the coast where they've restored the native vegetation and reintroduced the native birds. We went on a bird walk with a guide through the bush up to a picnic spot on the top of the island by the lighthouse, with wonderful views of Auckland Bay and the 14 islands and lots of boats. Green tropical water. Very windy with whitecaps. Spectacular. 

Arriving by ferry on Tiritiri

Walking through the bush to the lighthouse on top

When the ferry returned at 4, we still had 5 hours of daylight, so we drove north, stopping to walk on several beautiful beaches and ate fish and chips at a historic pub at Puhoi. 
Sat. a friend of a friend (Fiona) picked us up to go to church. Then she took us to Davenport and we took the ferry from there into the city for lunch and a visit to the Maritime Museum. 

Auckland from the Davenport Ferry

JLFM in the Maritime Museum

For us, boats, ferries, beaches, wildlife, lots of walking--New Zealand is ideal. Rich gave his talk on Friday, so that was one pressure out of the way.

First Week in New Zealand

Rich is still at the university, working on a talk he is giving tomorrow. I am looking out the window at a blustery day, drinking a cup of tea, and tired from a day out being a tourist in Auckland. Massey University is in a small suburb north of the city, so I took a bus downtown, walked through several parks and a botanic garden, and then spent several wonderful hours in the Auckland Museum: one floor of Maori and Pacific Island culture, one floor of natural history, and one floor of war memorial + a special exhibit on nature photography of New Zealand. 

 Bearded Tree, Albert Park, Auckland

Maori Carved Faces, Auckland Museum

Then I took a bus to the ferry building and walked along the waterfront, looking at sailboats and beautiful old buildings. It's almost 6 NZ time, but there are still 3 hours of daylight since it's high summer. When Rich gets home, we'll make a simple supper. One of the other scientists, a Russian physicist visiting from the uni in Sydney, showed us a way to walk to the uni along a creek. It's about a 15-min. pleasant walk with several bridges over the creek, so Rich may be waiting for the rain to stop to walk home. It seems to be a bit like Scotland, with rain showers interspersed with sunny intervals, but 30 degrees warmer. No need for a jacket, but I keep taking my raincoat on and off and stuffing it back in my backpack.

We've got a very comfortable extended stay room with a kitchenette and pots and pans. We'll be here for another week and then 10 days on the south island and then 2 more weeks here. We fly on to Bangkok Feb. 22.

I must say I'm enjoying having nothing to do after our very strenuous sorting/packing/cleaning at home + both of us packing up our offices at work.

Layover in Sydney + Arrival in Albany, near Auckland, New Zealand

We have arrived safely in Auckland, although our flight was delayed, so we didn't get here till 3:30 in the morning. We had a glorious day in Sydney during our 10-hour layover. We bought a train/ferry day pass, took the train down to the harbor and hopped on the Manley beach ferry. There had been a big storm the day before and there were white caps, a 20 mph wind, and scudding white clouds. The views from the ferry of the Sydney opera house, skyscrapers, bridges, and boats were wonderful. We had a picnic on the beach watching kayakers surfing and then walked along the ocean to a small cove where I went swimming. Then we walked up to the headland and back to the ferry. We took the returning ferry and then another ferry around the harbor, just drinking in the day and the sights. Then we walked out to the Sydney opera house. I'd always imagined it was white, but it's more of an creamy eggshell color; it reminds me of ostrich eggs. We went in the foyer, then walked through the edge of the botanic garden back to the train to the airport, extremely tired, but happy.

Today I went with Rich to the university, where he was immediately plunged into hard physics/chemistry discussions with some brilliant physicists and chemists. I joined the group for lunch and then headed off to the grocery store. I always like grocery shopping in other countries, seeing different vegetables and fruits. Just when we got settled at home, this famous physicist came by to take us for an evening walk, so we joined him on a long ramble along a creek and up a hill. The vegetation is a weird mix of familiar and unfamiliar. The mimosa trees and watsonia (wild) are in bloom everywhere. There are 30 foot high ferns and lots of subtropical plants growing wild. Under the forest canopy it is dark and cool. The birds are all unfamiliar: a cute fantail, some weird 2-foot high bright blue birds with long curving red beaks, long legs, and bright red feet (pukekos). The bird calls sound like the soundtrack for a B jungle movie. The man-made development is also a weird juxtaposition. A street sign will have an English-sounding name like Greenwithe beside a Maori name like Takapuna.