Perfect Puriri Bay- Part 2

Catch-up

Continuing on from Part 1

On a perfectly calm day, David gave fishing a miss for the morning and we went exploring around the Whangaruru Harbour.

This abandoned bach on private Motukauri Island would have been a great place to get away from it all; it's waterfront, air conditioned, fishing available from the lounge door and it comes complete with its own super sized NZ Christmas tree. Paradise lost.

There are several small seaside holiday settlements on the other side of the harbour; one of these, Ohawini Bay can only be reached by driving along the beach two hours either side of low tide. A concrete track around the rocks at the end of the bay allows access to the next beach Parutahi and then it's up over a hill and into Oakura Bay.

I was keen to see Oakura Bay, our family stayed in a bach here when I was 12 and I have memories of us kids walking out to an island at low tide. I'd asked several people about this during our travels but everyone had said 'No, there's no island'. Well I finally saw my 'island', a small rock at the end of a short reef. It obviously seemed liked an island to my 12 year old eyes, and in my memory it even stretched half way across the bay!

While David fished the harbour I went exploring. Picnic Bay is just a short walk around a small bluff at the west end of Puriri Bay. As the same suggests, it's a popular place for day-trippers, and a sheltered bay for swimming if Bland Bay on the ocean side is rough.

I also walked the 5km Whangaruru North Head Track which I'd have to say was quite a challenge. Jocelyn had warned me that there were a couple of steep sections, which weren't too bad...

....and a lot of steps.

But I hadn't quite banked on 53 flights of them; 45 up and 8 down and all of them between 10 and 18 steps long! I like to keep count of the number of flights on walks. Usually I'm OK keeping the number in my head but not this time. I kept a track by taking a photo of the number at the top of a flight when it looked like there would be no more.

And that's why I now have about 10 or so leaf litter numbers in my photos, just when I thought I'd seen my last flight another one appeared! At least making them up gave me a chance to catch my breath before the next lot...

... along with taking photos of the native Greenhood Orchids I kept finding growing out of the steps.

The walk (and stairs) were worth it in the end just for the view of this beautiful little cove (which unfortunately you couldn't easily access)...

...and the rugged coastal views north of it.

I enjoyed the mass of Flax/Harakeke bushes alongside the track, all with flowering or in-bud spikes reaching for the sky. But I'd have to say I was happy to see the light at the end of a tunnel and know that it was all downhill back to camp from there.

During our stay at Puriri Bay, we made a day trip to Russell to top up with supplies. It's been a while since we've driven this road along the south coast of the Bay of Islands and without the rig on the back we were able to stop and admire the views along the way. Though these photos are ocean side south of Cape Brett.

And this is Elliot Bay, a stunningly beautiful private bay and beach. David has fond memories of summer camping here with friends just after he arrived in New Zealand back in the late 1960s, he thought he'd landed in Paradise. The farm, beach and camp area have been for sale for a number of years. It's yours for at a cool $15 million!

Puriri Bay was home to a pair of Variable Oystercatchers/Torea Pango and the day after we arrived I noticed them scratching about and carrying grass to the railings on the edge of one of the camping areas. I was up early the next morning to catch the sunrise and while they were both down on the rocks I went to investigate what they had been doing. A nest and an egg! They soon flew back squawking in alarm and dive-bombing me.

A couple of days later a second egg appeared...

...and then they took turns (although the female seem to do most of it) sitting and waiting...

...right in the middle of the campground on the edge of the bank, beside a track to the beach and with the holiday weekend fast approaching. I went and spoke to the camp manager and she gave me some tape and standards and I roped off the area around them, hoping that would offer them a little protection. It seemed to do the trick, most people avoided them or they were dive-bombed if they got too close- though this was usually little kids who had no idea what the tape was for and wanted to swing on it. They soon learnt.

This particular pair of birds were actually the friendliest Oystercatchers I have come across (when they weren't protecting their nest). They often flew in to get tip-bits from people who were feeding the ducks and I actually gave them pieces of snapper which they took from a couple of metres away. Disappointingly we left before the eggs hatched but I heard from another friend who stayed longer that two healthy chicks eventually hatched and were well looked after by a pair of doting parents.

If you've been a regular blog reader you'll know spring wouldn't be complete without a fluffy duckling drama or three!

I'm a sucker for duckling cuteness and no matter how many times I tell myself (and David tells me) not to get involved, I just can't help myself.

Puriri Bay certainly didn't disappoint. There were two families of ducklings in camp when we arrived and more joining them from the shelter of the reeds & creek on a daily basis as they hatched.

A continuous waddle of fluffiness moved back and forward through camp or along the beach during the day looking for handouts and trying to keep out of harms way.

I took a shine to the family in my photos because they were very friendly, they would often rest for an hour or so by our door mat. The ducklings weren't afraid to walk over my hands when I put them on the ground, so I was able to give them quick cuddles. Mum wasn't too concerned either. But that meant we had to watch where we stepped as they scrambled about over our feet too.

After a suitable rest period the ducklings would start to stir and shuffle about trying for a better place under the shade of mum's wings...

...then ready to go walkabout again, they'd stretch, do a little preening...

...and before waddling off have a drink and a swim in a bowl of water I put out for them. 

I used to have a large shallow planter dish for this purpose but I think somebody who shall remain nameless 'accidentally' left it behind somewhere. 

From the archives

Often the mother would leave the ducklings in a pile in the long grass near our front door, perhaps sensing that they'd be safe with us, while she flew off to God knows where, or sometimes she'd have been chased away by a drake and the ducklings would just wait for her return.

A Puddle of Ducklings

The numbers slowly dwindled as the days passed. It's a big bad world out there for ducklings. It's no wonder they have large broods as there are often only 2-3 left after a few weeks.

If they don't manage to get left behind by their unobservant mothers (I rounded up several ducklings to returned them to their family), they then have to walk the gauntlet past other duck mothers, bigger ducklings and marauding drakes all quick to give the younger ones a hammering.

And then there were the shags & pukeko. We witnessed both of these catching and killing ducklings; the pukeko were the worst, stalking the duck family until they saw a chance to make a grab and then making a run for it back to the high grass. Of course they were only feeding their chicks but still, it wasn't nice to watch (and not be able to do anything because we were too far away unlike the hawk I chased away another day).

I couldn't get close to the pukekos at all to take photos, the race off into the grass at any movement; this photo is at the long end of my lens and blurry but don't you love the chick's big feet!

But wait there's more!

Still to come- Shag City

Autumn at Lowburn, Central Otago

Catch-up

With Easter weekend fast approaching and not needing to be in Queenstown until Easter Monday, we decided to have a few days at Lowburn near Cromwell (3 day limit) and then shift to nearby Rotary Glen for the long weekend. We were expecting Lowburn to be busy but were pleasantly surprised to find very few RVs there.

That might have had something to do with the weather forecast- Cyclone Debbie was due to blast into New Zealand although it wasn't likely to be any more than strong winds this far south. We never got the winds, but we certainly had a torrential downpour overnight. The mat got a free wash and the local ducks spent an age under the van finding tasty morsels before the puddle disappeared a couple of hours later.

The low cloud and grey dismal sky sat low over the lake and surrounding range for the next couple of days.

Which made for some interesting sunsets in the evening.

By the time the sun came out again it was time for us to move onto the NZMCA park at Rotary Glen. It's closer to Cromwell and beside one of the many boat ramps that access Lake Dunstan. You can see the gate into the park in the centre behind the car park.

We had to do the obligatory autumn photo in front of the poplars before parking up (just in case it was raining when we left later in the weekend.

Rotary Glen is a lovely park....when the weather's good. We've been here in the depths of winter when ground is frozen solid for weeks on end by the perma-frost and fog settles in low and doesn't lift above the trees for days on end. And if it rains, oh the mud! 

You also have to dodge the rabbit poo, there's a whole colony living in the slopes that surround the edge of the park, they come down to play over night and leave big piles of poo everywhere. If you watch quietly from inside your van during the day you can see the whole slope moving back and forward as they run about chasing each other. I'm sure it must drive any dogs sitting inside the vans crazy. There's a rabbit proof fence at the top of the park but they've burrowed under it and bounce off along the ridge heading for the suburbs....and no doubt some tasty greens.

It's still a great place to spend a few days away from the maddening crowds, and especially over Easter weekend.

There's a maximum of of 10 vans allowed (council regulations) so there's plenty of space and with park like grounds, there's no need to conform to the usual parking etiquette of regimentally lining up along the fences with a 3 metre gap between vans.

Rotary Glen was a good move. I passed Lowburn later in the weekend and it was packed solid. I think there was a rally of some sort happening there along with plenty of  single vans parked up too.

The weather was a bit unstable but the rain held off which was great for all those that had put off their holiday travel for a day or two due to the forecast.

I headed off to check out the autumn colours around Cromwell. This is our third autumn in Central Otago and I'd have to say the least colourful. I don't know whether it's to do with an overall climate change or it's just because the days haven't been so cold this month. Some trees had already lost their leaves when they had them other years and other hadn't even started to turn.

Though these poplars and willows on the edge of the lake near the Park, were certainly colourful enough.

I drove out to The Inlet at Bannockburn where I knew I'd got some fantastic shots a couple of years ago. I forgot though, being the Easter break there were a number of skiers and jet boats churning up the usually calm and reflective waters.

And without the reflective blue sky the Kawarau River wasn't the beautiful aqua colour I've seen before either.

Bannockburn Bridge

 And here you'll see how different the season is, this is looking across the river to the Bannockburn vineyards. Some lovely yellows on the poplars at the river's edge and on the foreground willows again...

...but this is a similar view in 2014. The poplars up the top have already lost all their leaves this year. The most surprising part is that the photos were taken just one day apart in different years. And the old one has a blue sky, which turns the river a much more inviting colour.

My next stop was at a 'secret' spot out the back of Bannockburn, I came across it while exploring a couple of years ago.

Luckily the colours were still quite intense there.

Hmmm....but still not quite the same as when the sun shines (this one was taken last year)...

On the way back to Cromwell I took the detour down to the Inlet foreshore and was happy to see these friendly guys making a beeline for me from way across the pond.

They were so cute and very forward, not afraid of me at all and very keen to check out what I had in my hands. "It's only a camera guys!" 

I managed to find a couple of rice crackers in the ute which I carefully crumbled above them while trying to take photos. I felt a bit mean teasing them like that, but then again bread is not good for them either, so it was best that I didn't have any. I felt a bit afraid for the ducks though, because I could easily pick them up for a cuddle with little protest, I hope they stay safe.

There were 8 ducks but one held back, you can see it in the background of the photo on the top right. She (I suspect it was a she and the rest were hes) stayed well away from us but followed along wherever we walked. Needless to say I got a little distracted chasing any more autumn colours and by the time I left, it was getting late and time to head for home.