Bushy Park Forest Sanctuary, Kai Iwi, Whanganui

Surrounding the historic Bushy Park homestead is the 89 hectare Bushy Park Tarapuruhi Forest which is a Forest & Bird Project.  

The forest is a rare example of North Island temperate lowland forest. Lowland forests such as Bushy Park historically harboured the largest and most diverse communities of native and endemic plants and animals. 

Bushy Park Tarapuruhi is unusual in that it survived (most lowland forest was clear felled) and it is relatively unmodified; there has been no logging or burning of the main forest. It was also fenced to exclude domestic livestock in the mid/early 1900s and is now surrounded by a 4.8km pest & predator fence protecting the forest and birdlife from introduced mammals.

Astelia epiphyte 

David searching for frogs. They were having their very own concert in the Bushy Parks wetland. But so typical of frogs, they stopped as soon as they spotted us.

I think the little jetties are so school & other education groups can check out the pond for bugs & insects.

A male Hihi/Stitchbird on high alert. There's a feed station nearby & several males are trying to use it hence this one zipping about chasing them.

The stitchbird was both rare and poorly known about until the 1990s as few people had an opportunity to visit the single remnant population on Little Barrier Island. With careful management & conservation Hihi can now be seen at several protected sanctuaries.

The female Hihi/Stitchbird is hardly ever seen because the boys take over the feed stations. This one approached but was soon seen off (hence the blurry photo, you have got to be quick to capture them!).

Ratanui the big rata tree of Tarapuruhi/Bushy Park is 36.2mtrs tall. Hard to believe that this rata started out as a small vine that grew up it's host tree and then sent out roots down to the ground, became established & slowly swallowed up its host (often a rimu). And look at all those 'widow makers', large clumps of the epiphyte astelia. Epiphytes growing on a tree that started life as an epiphyte.

A big plump Kereru/Wood pigeon grazes on the homestead's front lawn. Our native pigeons often graze on the ground in large flocks, I once saw a group of around 50 or so birds in a paddock in Golden Bay. And if they're not grazing they are often being goof-balls, chasing each other, rolling over, doing mock attacks & aerobatics just off the ground.

There were so many Tieke/Saddleback in the forest, they were calling to each other, flying about & pulling apart rotting trees on the ground & scratching about in the forest litter but they are very hard to take a photo as it's so dark in the bush & they are so fast in amongst the tangle of undergrowth. So as I was checking out the homestead garden...

... I don't know who got the biggest fright, me or the Tieke when I heard some rustling in the undergrowth & crept up to see what it might be. And look who popped out!

Tieke are endemic (found only in NZ) and classed as 'relic'- a small population stabilised after declining. North Island Saddlebacks (and South Island Saddlebacks) are found only on predator free islands or in protected mainland sanctuaries. Because they are weak fliers & spend a lot of time on and near the ground they are easy prey for predators especially rats & stoats.

Did you know that the South Island Saddleback/Tieke has a different coloured juvenile to the North Island Tieke? South Island juveniles (commonly referred to as ‘jackbirds’) are covered entirely in chocolate brown plumage for their first year whereas North Island juveniles have the adult black plumage with the beginnings of the coloured saddle. 

Tieke/Saddleback Jackbird- Ulva Island, Rakiura/Stewart Island

The homestead's lower carpark is also a POP #4565 (park over property), with a maximum of 3 vehicles a night at $20 for two people ($7 extra person). We visited Bushy Park in the ute but thought it would be great to stay & wake up to a dawn chorus although I think our size rig would be borderline getting up the narrow drive & manoeuvring around in the carpark.  

Revisiting The Catlins

Catch-up

With a dose of cabin-fever threatening after nearly two weeks of inclement weather and the forecast promising sun on the horizon, we decided it was time to leave Invercargill. 

Originally we'd planned to head to one of our favourite places, Mavora Lakes, for a couple of weeks but with no internet & a 20km drive to make a connection, we decided we'd head east to the Catlins for another visit instead. Not having the internet wouldn't usually have worried us but during the busy holiday season we needed to be available should anything urgent happen at the cottages.

Fortrose Bluff- where the wind does blow

This would be our fourth visit to the Catlins so you'd think we'd have seen it all by now especially as the previous visits were for several weeks at a time. But I had a few camping sites on the radar, ones that we hadn't stayed at before, & also a few favourite places to revisit.

Toetoe Bay from Fortrose Bluff

Our first port of call was the freedom camping area at Fortrose, right on the edge of Toetoe Harbour, a large estuary and where the mighty Mataura River ends its journey. We've always stopped here for lunch on our way in or out of the Catlins, never staying overnight as our destination (Winton or Invercargill) isn't too far away. 

I'm always fascinated by the dozens of whitebait huts that line the Mataura and the smaller Titiroa Stream, not so much by the huts themselves (although one day I'm going to walk the river bank and photograph every one of them!) but the way the rivers meander back and forth several times before reaching the estuary. And the huts of course do the same so when you look across the river flats lots of  tiny sheds dot the landscape (check it out by clicking the photo to enlarge).

There's a two night maximum stay at Fortrose, the first night we had to ourselves, the second night there were a few more campers as it was the beginning of the weekend. It's nothing like it used to be though, before Covid closed the borders. Then there were dozens & dozens of campers here every night. 

We settled in overlooking the estuary on another gloomy day but by mid afternoon and as promised by the forecasters, the sun finally came out and so did a local rider, conveniently photobombing my shot as I prepared to take photos of the spoonbills.

A flock of fourteen or so Royal Spoonbills spent most of the incoming & outgoing tides sweeping back and forward in the shallow waters along the shoreline, not taking much notice of me creeping along in the mud beside them, and only disappearing  once the tide was fully in.

I love how they move in unison and in line, like mine sweepers moving their bills back and forward through the water as they slowly move forward. I'm guessing any small fish or crustacean disturbed by one flees into the bill of the one next door. 

The odd bird out was a rusty coloured female with no topknot (top right- she was always with a bigger plumed male). I've not seen any this dirty looking before, I'm not sure whether it's natural or she's been feeding in some tannin stained waters somewhere.

And the sun sets on another day....

Fortrose Sunset

While at Fortrose I took myself on a tiki-tour to visit Waipapa Point and Slope Point again, both are at the south end of the Catlins; David having seen it all before decided to have the afternoon off. 

Waipapa Lighthouse

Waipapa Point is a favourite of mine, there's plenty to take photos of; the lighthouse, sealions, shorebirds, including- if you're lucky- Hoiho/Yellow-eyed Penguins and the famous wind-blown macracapa trees.

And it makes it far more interesting when you have an unusual cloud formation above the lighthouse. 

One day I might make it here when the Southern Lights are playing, this is another great place to view Lady Aurora and photograph her with the lighthouse in the foreground.  

The beach below the lighthouse is a popular haul out pad for Sealions/Whakahao, today there is just one big boy snoozing on the sand and looking like a large clump of seaweed. On one of my previous visits there were five or six sealions on the sand and at least two dozen tourists vying for a place to photograph them without getting too close.

Today there's just me and him and he takes no notice of me. Although I saw him open one eye very slowly when a seagull landed close by.

I head up the beach checking for hoiho/penguins, it's where we saw one on our last visit. It came waddling out of the breakers and headed up into the dunes. It was just before their moult and it was probably looking for a safe haven to shelter in while it went through a rather traumatic time of the year for them.  

I didn't see any penguins this time but enjoyed beachcombing and taking photos of all the different seaweeds that had been thrown up in the recent rough seas. 

A pair of Variable Oystercatchers (who were nesting on the last visit, if they are the same pair) were also running along the froth line checking for food & treats thrown up by the sea. I thought this was a shellfish that he was stabbing & whacking on the stones but it was one of those tuber  things in the photo above.

The Black-fronted Terns/Tara had mostly finished looking after their chicks with only one or two fledglings in the flock; this one was squawking very loudly for some food. I like how all the others pretend it isn't there.

A family had arrived on the beach when I got back to the sealion, they stayed on the rocks...

...while another visitor was warily taking photos of the sleeping sealion from the sand. His girlfriend wasn't having a bar of going down to see it no matter how many times he called out to her. She said she'd be quite fine standing up on the dunes. It's great to see people giving the sealions their space although unless they are in a boisterous mood they are usually quite harmless while sleeping as long as you keep a respectable distance (10 metres) from them. 

I leave the lighthouse & sealion behind and walk the loop track back to the carpark via the old lighthouse keepers house site. 

But it's not the site I'm keen to see (that's just a small overgrown concrete pad, the house long gone) it's the square of macrocapa trees that once sheltered the house from the ferocious southerly winds that blow in here straight out of the Antarctic. They have grown into a strangely stunted & twisted row of trees. 

I smile when I see this photo; the trees look like a row of ladies baring their bottoms after having their skirts blow up over their heads!

From Waipapa Point I head north towards Slope Point which is actually the southernmost point of the South Island. Weird I know but it's because the South Island is on a slight angle. Before I get there though I take a side road to what was once a favourite freedom camping site of ours; Weir Beach.

And I'm pleasantly surprised to see the reserve looking very much like it used to; not over run with dozens of vehicles and people. Selfish I know, but things were changing before Covid, and mostly in a bad way for many camp sites with no restrictions and not enough resources to support the huge influx of visitors.

I carry on down the road to Slope Point and follow the 20 minute track across farmland  to the sign post dodging huge piles of sheep poo along the way. Who knew they could do such monster deposits! I worried for the guy I saw walking in bare feet, actually I worried for his sheets that night if he didn't wash his feet! And then there was the girl in high heel shoes...... 

The cliffs around Slope Point are very scary; high and dangerous if you get too close as they drop away into the wild surf directly below. Although when the sea is rough it's quite exhilarating watching the waves crash in on the rocks and the surge push in through a narrow gap in the land.

Slope Point done & dusted.... for a third time! David would say to me 'Why do you need to walk there again, you've already been twice?'  I'd answer, 'Because I have to, can't come that far and not do the walk'. 

Just like I have to drive further on down the road to check out the sea caves under the Point, but the tide's in and they don't show so much this time.

So I make do with a rocky point that takes in the view looking south (and I hear my mother telling me not to get too close to the edge). It is a long way down, I can imagine a few people standing out there and taking selfies for Instagram.

It's time to head for home before I do do something that needs a search party call out. 

Although it's a slow trip home because there's something like 15kms of 30kph road works and nobody working! They're doing (or were doing until they called it quits for the weekend) the road edges and vehicles are passing me at full speed.  Who leaves all the signs up when there are really no hazards other than speeding vehicles? 1 or 2kms would be fine but not 15!

'Yeah Right'

Real Time

But don't panic, I'm just taking a short break to do the next three blogs before they too become history. I'll be back to do the remainder of the Far North & Northland posts as soon as possible. I certainly don't want to miss those as they take in our travels down the stunning & more remote areas of the Hokianga and the west coast of Northland and North Auckland.

We are now back in the South Island having left Napier nearly three weeks ago. Our first overnight stay was at the 'famous in NZ' Tui Brewery in Mangatainoka in the Tararua District. More on that later, but I think this just about sums up why I get so far behind on my blogs!

We had a lovely time in Napier, parked once again at our own private POP in Greenmeadows- on the concrete pad beside Mum & Dads'. We caught up family & friends, had numerous lunches & dinners out, celebrated a significant birthday and generally had a relaxing time. I'd been a little disappointed that we wouldn't be back in Central Otago for autumn again but in fact Hawkes Bay put on a wonderful display of colour.

My first port of call was nearby Anderson Park, to not only check on the colours, but more importantly, to check up on my favourite ducks. 

It didn't take me long to locate them either; my two Plumed Whistling Ducks were resting on the far side of the pond. Check out the link to find out why these ducks are very special, I have been checking in on them (there used to be three ducks) since 2013. 

While on my walk I also spied two mallard ducks roosting in a tree which is unusual behaviour for them. Duck shooting season had just begun so the ponds had more than their usual amount of waterfowl visiting, perhaps they were looking for some space. A pair of NZ Shoveler/Kuruwhengi ducks (bottom right) kept a wary eye on me as did two cute wee Grey Teal/Tete Moroiti ducks (centre left). On a later walk I was surprised to find one of the whistling ducks all by itself along one of the streams that join the ponds. In all my visits I have never seen them that far away from the top pond or by themselves.

I also spotted two more vagabonds; large (dinner plate size) Red Eared Slider Turtles that quickly disappeared into the murky depths when they spotted me. I've seen them before in one of the other ponds but not in this one, abandoned pets that have adapted to their new lifestyle in a suburban pond. They are regarded by conservation people as a pest, one of the world's 100 most evasive species.

I walked to the south end of the park on the look out for another regular visitor to the ponds; many of the trees along the way had changed colour or were in the process of changing. 

And sure enough, tucked in behind a tree, resting in his usual place on the miniature railway bridge, was another familiar bird; a rare White Heron/Kotuku. This particular bird and sometimes a smaller female have returned to Anderson Park for the winter for many years.

"If I look like a stick she might not see me"

Here's a photo I took of him on the same bridge railing, 6 years ago in 2013. I must have been visiting later in the month back then as the Swamp Cypress had already turned it's rustic red.

I did a couple of tiki-tour drives around the Bay on the lookout for more autumn colour and especially the golden tones in the vineyards. With many of the vineyards planted on the Heretaunga Plains, it was a little difficult to get above them to get an overall view of the rows. I took this one from the side of the road, just south of Waiohiki near Taradale. 

Never one to miss a photo opportunity (or two), I stopped just a little further on at Omahu to shoot these two abandoned houses. Not all Art Deco homes make it to the big time.

The golden colours were much more noticeable as I moved into the open expanse of vineyards near Roys Hill in the famous Gimblett Gravel area. I walked to the top of a small knoll in a reserve to look down on this great swathe of gold.

My next stop was across the other side of Hastings at the Te Mata Estate Winery in Havelock North. Te Mata Estate has some of the oldest winery buildings in New Zealand...

...and also one of the most recognisable houses. Buck House' sits in the Coleraine Vineyard, started by John Buck as part of his Te Mata Estate Winery. The house was designed by the late Sir Ian Athfield for the Buck family, was built in 1980 and is a NZ Heritage listed building. Buck House is an important example of Modern Movement architecture in New Zealand.

On my quest for colour I also travelled to the other side of Napier and managed to shoot more golden hues at the Esk Valley Estate Winery near Bay View (see below).  But of course the best autumn colour has to go to the Acer/Japanese maple trees. I found this magnificent specimen (below bottom) with its beautiful range of colours...

...beside a road side stall that had a ready supply of my most favourite autumn fruit; the humble fig. Ok, first equal favourite autumn fruit, it also sold feijoas!  I think these are Adriatic Candy, they were very sweet and very delicious. Between Mum & I, we kept the road side stall in business for a couple of weeks. I so know where I got my love of seasonal fruits from.

Of course a blog post wouldn't be complete without a church photo. This isn't just any old church though, this is 'The Old Church', near Taradale. Now a restaurant & wedding venue, St Mary of the Assumption Church was deconsecrated in 1972 and subsequently leased to the Taradale Pottery Club of which Mum was once a member and secretary.

I took one last walk around Anderson Park before we left Napier...

...it was amazing to see how much the Swamp Cypress had changed colour in the three week time frame between these two photos. We had a glorious autumn in Hawkes Bay and like summer we had no significant rain during the five weeks we were in Napier. Towards the end of our stay Mum & I were both hoping for a wet day so we could stay in bed for the day. But winter had arrived and it was time for us to leave sunny Hawkes Bay and head south. South to the middle of the South Island for a snowy, frosty winter (hopefully).

So that is how we found ourselves at the Tui Brewery for the night. But not before we stopped just north of Norsewood at Anzac Park (#3946 $2pp per night), for a late lunch with the thought that we might stay here for the night. 

OMG- what's with that photo on the back, now I have to get used to having it in my shots! 

But after a bite to eat and a quick walk through the bush- which I'm afraid didn't inspire me- we decided to continue on south. 

Next stop, Tuiwood!

The Tui Brewery is a POP (NZMCA Park over Property #4930) and the instructions said to drive around to Gate 3. We found the Gate but weren't too sure where to park so drove through the open gate and around the back of the brewery onto a lovely wide open sealed area. Could this be where we park, we asked ourselves.  'OK, stop David' I said, 'I'll take some photos before we turn around and find out for sure'. 

Just as I finished clicking away a ute came speeding up behind us. A lovely young man climbed out and explained that we shouldn't be here, the gate had been left open by mistake and when his boss saw us driving past on the CCTV screen he blew a foo-foo-valve. 

NZMCA parking is back through the gate on the large sealed patch just outside, which we thought was the case anyway but we just wanted to make sure and grab a few photos of the iconic tower without a chain-link fence between us while we were at it! He also gave us a tip on where to park to avoid the nearby security spot lights that burned bright all night.

We left the next morning before the Tui bar & cafe were open but we had a wander through the garden, checked out the brewery and the museum...

...before making our way to the sign board where we make up our signs (which had been on my 'must do' list for awhile).