It Swims Like A Duck, It Quacks Like A Duck…..

But it sure as hell doesn’t look like any duck we’ve seen in the wilds of New Zealand before. This male Mandarin Duck has recently appeared on Lake Rotoiti here at the Nelson Lakes. It’s thought that he’s either an escapee from some bird fancier in Nelson or Blenheim or more likely, given we are in the middle of nowhere, someone no longer wanted him & they’ve dropped him off to fend for himself.

And he is fending for himself quite admirably, he is about two thirds the size of the mallard ducks he hangs around with near the jetty, yet I’m sure he is ‘top dog(duck)’. He chases the other ducks out of the way if they get too close and is first to any food thrown to them. He quite happily flies off with the group when they’re finished checking out the people arriving at the lake front.

How stunning is he? What an amazing collection of colours and feather textures on one bird. Nature sure is a wonderful thing. On the other hand, imagine if a clothing designer designed a jacket looking like this, they'd get laughed off the catwalk.

I love his feet, they looked like separate yellow toes but in fact there are black webs in between. I also love his bronze coloured spiky neck ruff which he puffed out whenever another duck got near.

I wonder what will happen to him, maybe DOC will catch him and find him a good home with a pond and other Mandarin Ducks. He must be lonely without other Mandarins around. At least my other favourite odd ducks, the Plumed Whistling Ducks at Anderson Park in Napier, have each other.

While we’re on the subject of ducks, you’ll be pleased to know that there were still nine little ducklings following mum around the camp today. No more losses to report although I shudder to think how many will make it do adultduckhood. They have no fear and spend all day wandering about crossing the road in front of cars and swimming in the pot hole puddles. Along with getting attacked my marauding drakes, mum’s work is cut out keeping an eye on them.

I put a water filled tray outside the van for them to swim in and they loved it.There’s a tiny stream just down a bank to the right of them where they paddle and hunt for food but they kept coming back to the tray to freshen up. I put this tray out for the birds over summer; the blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows and finches all used it.

Next time I looked out I did a double take, either there was something in the water or another family had arrived to check out the free pool. This family have eight ducklings and a mother who means business. She gives me a good whack with her beak and will chase me if I turn to move out of the way. And that’s after I’ve put her duckling back down on the ground!

After a swim to wash themselves, the ducklings settled in groups on the grass in the warm sun to sleep.

But not for long, after five minutes or so Mum was up and off again calling to them to follow.

 I can see it's going to be a busy week for me keeping an eye on these two active families.

Footnote- sadly overnight three tiny ducklings went missing. Three!! I wonder what got them, possibly eels or rats or maybe even the weka that's walking around camp.

Leaving Richmond

I'm not sure when my next post will be, we're leaving for Okiwi Bay in the Marlborough Sounds today and then we'll spend the next 5-6 weeks exploring the rest of the Sounds. Internet & cell phone reception will be intermittent. I'm hoping that I'll be able to post occasionally as we move between areas otherwise I'll have to do a few day trips out to civilization to keep you up to date. 

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Take care, catch you soon.....

Another brilliant day in Nelson, and what a view for the last chore before we leave- Richmond Dump Station.

WOW- Literally

Most New Zealanders will know that WOW stands for World of WearableArt & that the WOW Museum is in Nelson where the original wearable art fashion show started 26 years ago (Correction-it started in Wakefield. Thanks Jimu). It’s since shifted to Wellington where it has become one of Wellington’s (& New Zealand’s) major events of the year, attracting hundreds of local & international entries and thousands of visitors to the spectacular show. Coincidentally we visited the museum on the eve of this year's show.

Below is a selection of some of the garments on display, many of these are past winners in their various categories and some supreme winners.

You might notice that some of the photos are a little “noisy”, noise is the digital equivalent of film grain and is caused by a high ISO number (one of the 3 elements that make up the exposure triangle in photography, the others being shutter speed and aperture). ISO is the level of sensitivity of a camera to available light. Higher ISO = more light on the sensor = more noise. I dialled in far too much ISO for these photos; the display rooms were very dark and I didn’t want to use flash as it’s too harsh but I went a little over board I’m afraid. David says in other words, I cocked up!

I loved this one, “Ms Qwerty & her friend K9”, the whole dress and dog were made up totally from computer keyboard keys.

This trio were a little bit creepy.

A “conveyor belt” rotated through the room under the beam of a fabulous light display with about 20 different garments on show (along with an intrepid photographer). The displays are changed twice a year.

We also enjoyed watching the costumes come alive in the theatre where the actual footage of the WOW show was shown & featured each of the garments on display. Some people have an incredible imagination and are amazingly talented.

The light display in the ultra violet & fluro rooms reminded me of the nightclubs of my youth!

There are also two classic car displays that are part of WOW; the Classic Car Gallery and the Classic Collection.

Some of the WearableArt costumes are on display beside the vehicles.

We both thought the layout, lighting & props in the Classic Car Gallery were extremely well done. And talk about shiny cars & perfect paint jobs. Everything was immaculate, not a speck of dust anywhere.

David spent a few minutes reminiscing over this Messerschmitt, a cute little 3 wheel bubble car. He was once a back seat passenger in one of these (there are only two seats), on a trip from his home town of Orpington, Kent to Hastings in East Sussex, UK.

Next was a huge building housing the Classic Collection of cars and what a impressive collection it was. So many familiar models for both of us this time.

The car I most desired when I got my license at 15 was a Ford Anglia 105E with the slanted back window. It was the height of cool! But I had to make do with a bright blue Ford Anglia 100E (looks like a Ford Prefect, no slanted back window) and even then I had to share it with Mum & my sister. Well of course I did, Mum & Dad bought it. Mum named it Myrtle after a cantankerous aunt of Dad's.

It would seem that we always had the poor brother of the better spec-ed models available, here's me with our black Ford Consul at the cowshed on the farm.

When I finally could afford to buy my own car I really wanted a MKlll Zephyr but I ended up with a MkI Cortina instead- champagne tastes with a beer pocket even then! But it did have a racing stripe. I was sad that they didn’t have one on display though, I’m sure they’re a classic.

If he could have David would have driven the MKIX Jaguar out the door. This was very nostalgic for him, he had already pointed out at least half a dozen cars he’d owned in the UK and the Jag was the very last one he owned before he moved to NZ. He opened the door (ignoring the Do Not Touch signs) to show me the splendid walnut interior complete with matching fold down picnic tables for the back seat passengers. Along with all his UK vehicles there were plenty of others that he’d had dealings with in NZ while he was in the motor trade here.

Mum soon made up for the Anglia mistake, the next car we shared was a racy Mini Cooper S.

Love the head scarf. Not!

Some of these looked very familiar; Dad’s sister & family had plenty of chunky Vauxhalls & Holdens. My cousins used to collect my sister and I and we’d go swimming at the Tukituki River near Havelock North in Hawkes Bay. Those were the carefree days of endless summers.

I added the Morris 8 (centre) for Dad, I’m sure it was a Morris 8 that he spent some of his misguided youth in.

What an awesome collection of cars, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip down memory lane.

Then it was back through the Classic Gallery with one last display, a very classic & iconic NZ scene. An EJ Holden parked outside the bach/crib (NZ holiday home) with a crate of DB (beer) under the veranda, a tasselled sun umbrella and pukekos on the roof. And a good kiwi “no.8 wire” coathanger aerial.

Reminiscent of our summer holidays at a Mahia bach (Northern Hawkes Bay) with our Holden HQ wagon- there's even a fishing rod on the roof. That's me in the fetching green toweling hat and zinc nose!

Next Stop Nelson

While I was sorting photos for this blog post I can across this lovely one of a yacht berthed in one of the large estuaries between Takaka & Collingwood. I’d stopped there with Diane on our way back from seeing the shags at Tata Beach, the light from the early morning sun and the calm water were just right for a perfect capture.

We left Collingwood heading for Motueka where I had a hair appointment booked for early afternoon. I’d had my hair done at Bliss Hair Salon before we left Kaiteriteri & Jo had done such a great job I thought it would be opportune to have it done again on the way back through the town. Finding a good hairdresser when you’re on the road is like finding gold.

Crossing back over the “feared” Takaka Hill was problem free although we did meet a little more traffic than last time including a few big truck & trailer units. We took our time and pulled over into one of the many passing bays as soon as traffic appeared behind & at one stage we had to pull up at a narrow section to let an oncoming large truck through. It was slow haul up and just as slow a wind down the other side. It was great to arrive safe & sound in Riwaka where all the fruit trees were in blossom, gardens full of daffodils and kowhai in flower along the roadside. Spring had arrived while we were in Golden Bay.

Originally we thought we might head on to Nelson after my appointment but as we’d arrived early we decided to take a look at a freedom camping spot at Port Motueka where you can stay for a maximum of 3 nights. We liked what we saw and with just another 5th-wheeler already in place it looked a good spot to stay overnight. We unhitched and David ran me back into town. By the time we got back late in the afternoon the car park had another 4 or 5 vans of various shapes & sizes parked up and by night fall there were 11 vehicles and the carpark full. This spot is obviously well known and patronized probably because it's not too far from the Abel Tasman Park.

Some of the benefits of our slow travel is the fact that there’s no hurry for us to get on the road when it comes time to leave, we usually only move 50-100kms and in fact today it’s just 33kms to Richmond where we'll stay. By the time we open our doors in the morning the car park has virtually emptied. Just the two 5th-wheelers and two campervans, one had obviously been somewhere where they’d had torrential rain. It looked like every piece of clothing and camping gear along with the tent was hung out to dry.

Port Motueka is a lovely area surrounded by those ever present estuaries and huge tidal plains that have become a familiar  feature of our visit to the Tasman District. Over the bank on the far side of the carpark is the historic Motueka Saltwater Bath. When I saw a sign further down the road pointing the way to the pool I told David there were pools close by. He asked me if I knew if they were heated or not. I had a laugh when I went for a walk to check them out.

This type of pool is now unusual in NZ although they were quite popular at seaside (obviously) towns of yesteryear. The baths were built in 1938 after families camping nearby over summer were concerned about sharks. The pool was renovated in 1992 when the wooden railings, decks & a concrete floor were added; before then it wouldn't have been more than a concrete pit. There is a special gate that lets the incoming tide fill the pool, the pool is hosed down and cleaned every couple of weeks between October and April. I’m not so sure you could do your daily laps here but it certainly would be a good place to cool off over summer. Especially when the tide was out.

We have now been parked up at the Richmond Racecourse for just over a week, although not a NZMCA Park, the campground is for fully self contained NZMCA members only. There are toilets and a laundry and a few powered sites (if required) plus a resident camp manager. It’s very handy to the Richmond shopping mall and main street and just 15kms from Nelson city centre.

We’ve not done, & won’t be doing, too much exploring around Nelson. We had a few errands to do in town, have the ute serviced and of course cast our vote last weekend. Casting a special vote had us nearly choosing a candidate from a Maori electorate! We were given the wrong forms to fill in and it was only when I couldn’t see a familiar name on the voting paper that I realised what had happened. Back to the desk and another 15 minutes of filling in forms had us finally with the correct papers.

It amazes me that after all we’ve done in making sure our address is correct for all our personal affairs, as in a box number because we have no fixed abode, we still have to have our last known address on the electoral roll. This is just plain silly, ok we’ve only been gone from Tauranga for a year and we know the relevant candidates but what happens in 3, 6 or 12 years time (if we’re still on the road) when we wouldn’t have a clue who our candidates were. It was hard enough recalling our old address when asked this time, let alone in a few years!

On the weekend we went for a tiki tour along the water front, checking the Tahunanui peninsula out and driving right to the end where we had wonderful views out over more tidal flats to the snow covered mountains beyond. To the right are Mt Arthur and other mountains in Kahurangi National Park which was where we had walked and driven through the snow. We thought we might have been able to complete the walk to Mt Arthur Hut while parked up here in Nelson but a heavy dumping of snow last week has put paid to that.

The carparks at the end of the of the sandy track were full of cars and out on the sand in both directions were dozens of people walking. And dogs running. This was obviously a popular dog walking area and being a lovely sunny weekend day everyone was out enjoying it.

We’ve been to the city twice and both times we came across this fellow, he’s obviously a permanent fixture around town, I seem to recall an article or two on him on TV & in the paper, something about taking up carparks and nor paying a fee. I think the council need to collect over $50,000 in fines. I say good luck with that one. David had recollections of his childhood in the UK when he saw him coming down the road; he was waiting for him to call out “Rag 'n bones, rag 'n bones”

After a visit to the WOW museum (more on that in another post) we drove along the waterfront, stopping to book dinner at The Boatshed Cafè. We’ve been waiting to stay in Nelson since David’s birthday back in July when the family gave him a dinner voucher for the restaurant. We’re looking forward to sampling the seafood on offer.

Another perfect day of spring sunshine and people out enjoying it. Although we did have a blustery day earlier in the week that wasn't much fun.

And one last photo, an abandoned farmhouse on the main road into Richmond; perfect fodder for a photographer!