Hokitika- Take 2

Real-time

Well, it's been an interesting (and frustrating) few days. We're back in Hokitika sitting out the wet weather again. And the aftershocks! It's a very lonely park too, I think everyone has headed home. What with the earthquakes and the severe rain storms that have been sweeping along the Coast over the last few days.

Of course our experience of the 'quake was nothing like the terrifying shake that Kaikoura and surrounds on the east coast of the South Island experienced but the initial earthquake, just after midnight on Sunday night, certainly shook the hell out of us and the van here on the West Coast which is not that far, as the crow flies, from the epicentre. It also kept us awake all night with the continuous jolts and shaking as the aftershocks came thick and fast.

This very aptly named motorhome was at the Hokitika Park when we arrived yesterday morning. I bet they were!

But, I have jumped ahead of myself, just as I get photos ready for a blog, we move sites so now I have to catch-up quickly before we head out again tomorrow (if the rain stops!). I'm hoping to post a second blog not long after this one, mainly with photos of the last few days to fill in a few more gaps. Keep your eye out for it.

Our stay at Lake Kaniere didn't end as well as we'd have liked. We arrived there last Thursday and David put the Takacat dinghy up that afternoon ready for a few days fishing. He left in light drizzle on Friday morning and not long after the drizzle turned to steady rain. Then it became heavy rain and by the time he returned home late in the afternoon it was torrential. He looked like a drowned rat and to add insult to injury he hadn't caught one fish, not even a pesky perch!

It then rained solid all night and blew up a gale, there were quite a few people in camp for the Christchurch Anniversary weekend, in small caravans and tents. The rain collapsed the roof of the gazebo tent next door and then the wind blew the sides in! I give them their dues though, they put the gazebo back up and stayed another night....when it rained again just as hard!

I was doing the dishes when they were packing up the next day (they did set up quite close to us) and smiled when I spotted the infamous Mrs Weka exiting their car while they were otherwise occupied! 

Saturday was a little better, I even managed a decent sunset before the heavy rain returned again during the night and by Sunday morning we were over it. Especially when we could see back on the coast, 20kms away, a distinct line of blue sky. Lake Kaniere can wait for another time (perhaps). At least we'd done most of the walks in the area on our last visit.

So we packed up and headed out just as the rain started again. Ten kilometres down the road the sun was shining and the roads were dry. Lake Kaniere is tucked under the mountains of the Southern Alps and obviously gets a lot more rain than the coastal strip back near the ocean, which is saying something as that area gets more than enough too.

We headed to the DOC camp at Lake Mahinapua, just 10kms south of Hokitika and not far from the ocean. The drive into the lake is one way through some beautiful bush.

Lake Mahinapua is a popular camping, boating and picnic spot and it was busy on a Sunday afternoon. 

We haven't stayed at the lake before but we did visit on one of our previous trips through and thought it would be a lovely place to stop.

We stayed hitched as we were only going to stay a night before heading off, south if the weather improved, or back to Hokitika if it deteriorated, as was forecast. Which was just as well as this is where we were when the 'quake hit early in the morning. It was very reassuring to know that nothing could fall on us and we wouldn't fall off our blocks either. 

The only issue was there was no internet connection so we couldn't let family and friends know we were safe and I couldn't keep up to date with the developing news via the newspapers, Twitter or Facebook. Luckily we were able to listen to the radio.

It rained heavily again overnight and keen to reassure family & friends and have access to up-to-date earthquake news we headed off early, back to the NZMCA Park at Hokitika. Where yet again, we had very heavy rain overnight; 54mm to be exact. It was torrential for over an hour, the noise on the roof was deafening and in fact it's probably the loudest I have ever heard it. And that is saying something because it is loud at the best of times. 

The Hokitika River, which is next door to the park, was in flood this morning. The whitebait season finished on the weekend and the 'baiters have a couple of weeks to remove their stands. I think nature might have done it for a few of them.

'Killer' Kaniere- West Coast

Real-time

That got your attention didn't it. You may remember my 'Murder at Monowai' blog post, well now I have this one to go with it.

We're now parked at the DOC camp at another one of our favourite West Coast lakes, Lake Kaniere, just 20 kms inland from Hokitika.

The last time we were here, we were the only ones in camp for a few days and then all hell broke loose; it was the Easter jet boats champs! 

Every available blade of grass was taken by people, motorhomes, tents and boats, the noise was ear-piercing and the fish headed to the depths of the lake. We also had torrential rain for 3 of the 4 days over Easter. I think we've jinx it again, these photos were taken yesterday; today it's persisting down and it's Christchurch Anniversary day and the camp is busy. Poor people.

Behind our camp the grass and buttercups grow thick and wild, the ground is uneven and covered with great mounds of old grass clumps. There's also a dry, narrow and deep ditch running through the middle of it. 

I was standing on our steps watching a couple of pukeko pushing their way through the grass heading for the open ground around the camp. Pukeko aren't as common on the Coast as they are elsewhere in NZ and especially in the North Island. 

As I watched I spotted two pukeko chicks trying to fight their way through the grass behind the adults, one caught up but the other lost sight of his family and was stranded on the other side of the ditch.

I put on my gumboots and set off through the tangle to see if I could get some closer shots. 

It was then that I spotted a weka popping its head out of the undergrowth and making a stealthy beeline for the lost chick. The chick must have spotted it too as it disappeared under the grass. 

As I got closer the weka appeared again right beside me, launched itself across the ditch dived into the grass and started madly attacking the hidden chick. 

The noise from the chick was terrible, I thought the pukeko adults would have flown back to fight for their baby but no, they just let out loud squawks too. 

I wasn't sure what to do, I had my camera in one hand and I was on the other side of the ditch so I started jumping up and down, shouting like a banshee woman at the weka and throwing clumps of grass that I was ripping out of the ground beside me at it. There was nothing else nearby to throw.

It must have decided I meant business because it stopped the attack and disappeared into the ditch to hide under a clump of fern growing there. I jumped the ditch and looked for the chick but couldn't find it, I hoped it had made a hasty retreat back through the nearby fence. I saw the other one making a dash back across open ground.

The weka kept trying to return to the spot and I kept shooing it away. It wasn't scared though, they are a very crafty bird, it tried a few different routes to get to where I was standing. After 10 minutes or so, just when I thought all was good and the adult pukeko had returned over the fence, the weka launched itself across the ditch stabbing its beak into clump of grass and grabbed the chick again! They must have super hearing. The chick had been hiding right beside me all along.

This time I was able to flail my arms and legs at it, aiming and missing with a couple of kicks as the chick screamed in protest. The weka let go and jumped out of the way and I managed to grab the poor chick in one hand (I'm still holding my camera in the other, nowhere to put it), it continued screeching and next minute a whole pukeko posse, about 6 birds, came flapping from up the back towards the fence at me. Like I was the problem!  Pukeko chicks do fly, 'cause I had to quickly throw the chick over the fence towards an adult as the weka came in for another go. It landed in the soft grass where it disappeared. I watched a while longer and saw it weaving it way back towards the others, safe at last. 

Back at the van, a juvenile weka was doing the rounds, scrounging for scraps and digging in the mud. His mother was still hiding in the grass, I have no doubt she would have brought the chick back to feed to her chick if she'd been left alone. They do prefer bugs and grubs etc and now I know for sure they hunt and catch other birds too. Weka are in my bad books for now, I've seen a nasty streak.

And Mrs Paradise Duck better keep a close eye on her duckling when she's in camp...

Kaniere Canaries

In this, the last post from Lake Kaniere, I wanted to share with you a few of the lovely bird shots I took. Our birds might not sing like canaries but they all have their own special tunes.

Of course my favourite little bird is first. This tiny adorable male South Island Tomtit (Maori name Miromiro) was full of spunk, he wasn’t afraid to let you know you were intruding in his patch. Just because he’d chosen part of the DOC campground as his territory didn’t mean he was going to vacate it when it became overrun with campers, dogs, cars, boats & caravans. He just had more things to hang from or use as vantage points in his hunt for bugs and intruders. Often I saw him sitting on the very top point of a gazebo or tent, on boat rod holders, camp tables and even the satellite dish on a bus.

I’d hear his sweet little song as he rested in the bush near our van and then his high pitched alarm call rang out when I stepped outside- this was good because I could then get a fix on him and follow him from spot to spot as he flew the circuit of his territory. He caught a number of caterpillars in this tree, bashing them on a branch to soften them up before swallowing them whole.

He kept up the attack on his reflection in any car mirror or shiny window as he had done on the day we arrived. Every day he would spend five minutes or so flapping at the reflection before giving up and moving on. Until his next circuit.

It must be a thing with Tomtits because you might remember we first saw it happen when a female Tomtit attacked the ute mirror when we were driving up the Arrow River to Macetown.

After all the rain we had, you would have thought that a tiny little bird would have had enough of water. Not this little guy, he had a ball (bath) in this muddy puddle for at least 5 minutes.

And here is his mate- well actually it’s not, but it is a female South Island Tomtit, they are much less confiding than their male counterparts. This one was very cautious and even though she came in close she made sure she always had a branch between me and her.

The camp was full of Bellbirds/Korimako feeding on the berries of the many sub-alpine trees that grew around camp. Usually the bellbird has a very melodious song but going by the weird squawking we quite often heard, the juveniles have a lot of trouble learning to sing in tune. They do practice alot though which helps me locate them in the thick branches. This juvenile wasn’t too worried about me standing underneath him, I think he was glad of the audience. In between trying to perfect his singing ability he was filling his belly with mingimingi berries.

There were also a number of large Mahoe (aka Whiteywood) bushes, they were usually full of noise as the Bellbirds, Tuis, Silvereyes, along with a few introduced bird such as Blackbirds had a feast feeding on the plentiful supply of small purple berries.

There were about ten weka around camp- although two died while we were there- we’re not too sure how, they could have been ill or it could have been one of the 15 or so dogs that were in camp over Easter. Once again the sign said ‘no dogs allowed’ and once again nobody took a blind bit of notice.

I know a lot of people think weka are pesky buggers (and they are) but I’m quite fond of them; they have a heap of character to go with their inquisitive nature. A solid beak (that they often poke where it’s not wanted) and strong legs (to carry them off faster than the shoe that whistles past their head).

One day after Easter and after the camp ground had cleared out, I happened to look out the back window and there down near the bottom of the road was a small black ball of fluff snuffling about on the grass verge. I couldn’t believe my eyes, surely not, not another possum out in daylight (you’ll remember we saw a possum on our walk at Cave Creek).

I grabbed my camera and crept down the edge hiding behind some rocks on the way. He didn’t move until I got within a couple of metres of him, when he got a bit of a fright and stumbled off into the undergrowth. He then tried to climb up the flax. Of course that didn’t work, he just shredded the leaves with his massive claws and slid back to the bottom where he just sat there staring at me.

I left him alone thinking he must be ill and would probably die in the next day or two. Especially after the torrential rain we had for the next two days, but no, the next day at about the same time I saw him out on the verge again. Then he slowly made his way up the road casually grazing along the way. He spent alot of time stripping the leaves off a large dock plant before moving on and then making his way down another path.

On the third day, he was starting to look like a drowned rat and he had lost the little bit of fear he had, not even bothering to stop eating as we approached. I gave David a piece of banana to feed him and he scoffed it, checking around for more as soon as it was gone. Ok, Ok, I know, don’t shout at me. But how could I not feel sorry for this cute little fellow even though I know he is one of the most destructive imported pests in New Zealand.

By the fourth day, he was following me up the road. And not stopping when I got down low to take a photo! Perhaps he had been someone’s pet? Although I think unlikely, his ears had a few war wounds so maybe he was just old and being nocturnal, his eyesight would have been impaired by the light.

We were leaving on the fifth day so I checked around by the flax bush where he had appeared each afternoon to see if I could see where he was asleep. I felt rather sad for him, he was curled up in a ball at the base of the flax, out in the open with the rain falling on him. He hadn’t even tucked himself in under the bush in the dark. At first I thought he was dead but he stirred when he heard me and then went back to sleep. So maybe he was sick……or it was too early to get up. We certainly don’t get bored on this journey, there’s always something unusual happening around us.

There are a number of short walks around the lake including the Canoe Cove Rimu Forest Walk which ended on a small beach with a sheltered cove tucked around the corner.

It was a thrill to find quite a number of Sky-Blue Mushrooms or Blue Pinkgill (Entoloma hochstetteri) alongside the track. While not rare they are more frequently found in the Coromandel (North Island) and West Coast (South Island) areas of New Zealand. A blue mushroom is quite rare in the world though, New Zealand, and of all places, India are the only countries that have this bright blue fungi.

With a conical shape it does look like something out of a fairy tale and the lush green backdrop of the moss simply adds to the expectation that a fairy or elf is about to emerge from behind one.

And while hunting for more Sky-Blues we found other fungi, not in such a brilliant colour though but interesting all the same. In the bottom left is the birds nest fungus- a tiny fungi no bigger than my little fingernail, the small brown dots are the spores(‘pills’) that have been splashed out of the ‘nest’ by rain once the top has fallen free. The white helmet fungus on the top right is also very small, & delicate. I have no idea about the weird coral looking fungus in the top left and in the bottom right the fungi were whiter than white, almost opaque.

Another short walk was the Kahikatea Forest Walk through virgin kahikatea forest. Kahikatea like having wet feet so some of the track is along a boardwalk over swampy land. Once the track leaves the boardwalk and moves deeper into the dark and damp forest, the trees are literally dripping in moss.

Towards the end the forest opens up again and we can see why, once again we see the destruction that has been caused by Cyclone Ita. Rather than the Beech trees we’ve seen elsewhere, it’s huge rimu trees that have been ripped out of the ground here. Back at the carpark we talk to a guy who is working at preparing the rimu to be lifted out by helicopter- it’s taken a year for consent to be granted to remove this valuable wood from conservation land and if they don’t start lifting it out soon it will spoil. He heads off into the bush with his chainsaw and we can hear another one off in the distance.

And a few days later and the night before we were due to leave, DOC arrived with a van load of road cones to block off our area of the camp. An Iroquois helicopter was going to start lifting out the logs the next day and it was going to be landing at the camp to refuel. As we were due to leave anyway, we stayed in our spot overnight and moved the cones into place the next morning for them.

We might have been tempted to shift the van over to another site and stay and watch but the weather was still not that great; David had to pack the boat up in the pouring rain. We decided it was time to move on. We both loved Lake Kaniere, is was one of the prettiest lakes we’ve visited, it was just a pity the weather wasn’t a little better given the two weeks we spent there.