Sunsets, Churches & Memorials- Glacier Country

Catch-up

One last post from the West Coast to tie up some loose ends, before the rain chased us to Canterbury and then back to the North Island for the remainder of winter.

I managed to catch a couple of reasonable sunsets at Franz Josef, jumping in the ute and racing down to the river for this one when I saw the mountains behind turning a beautiful pink.

Often people are looking at the sunset itself rather than over their shoulder at the more subtle colours that appear on the landscape behind, especially when it's mountains and snow. Here's the sunset looking down the Waiho River towards the coast. I was actually a bit late to catch the brilliant gold that filled the cloudless sky before the sun disappeared over the edge, it's lost some of the colour here. 

You'll remember we were parked at the NZMCA Park in Franz Josef for about 10 days, most of them in the rain and with the park to ourselves. There was no point in moving on until the worst of it had passed and we still managed to do a bit of exploring between the heavy downpours. There's nothing worse than breaking camp in torrential rain.

We did have two little buddies who kept us amused; a Tomtit/Riroriro couple, who obviously called the bush that surrounded the park, home. Everyday we'd hear a little scratching at the window and one of them would be peering inside. They see their reflections in the windows and are trying to chase the 'intruder' off. That's the female on the left and the male on the right. They also attacked the mirrors and windows on the ute.

Everytime I stepped outside the van the male would fly in to check me out, especially if I wandered around the park's perimetre.  He's got his hackles up, perched on the gate; perhaps there was another male nearby.

The park was certainly a lovely place to be when it wasn't raining. Although when it wasn't raining the glacier tour helicopters were flying past very close, there were a few days when they started at first light and ran until dusk. A slight negative to the peaceful scene but it is a tourist village afterall.

Next destination, Hokitika. We stopped for a quick photo at Lake Wahapo, a brooding lake with very murky water and a drowned Kahikatea and flax swamp at the north end where the very wide gravel braided Waitangitanoa River flows in. I bet the fishing and birdwatching would be great in amongst there. 

We stopped at Whataroa, a sleepy town having a rest over winter from the many tourists that come to see the White Heron sanctuary. And it was here that I found the fourth and last in the church series; Our Lady of the Woods.

We headed north out of Whataroa catching a glimpse of the Southern Alps before crossing the Whataroa River- another wide gravel fan cascading down from the rocky mountains behind, and turned back towards the coast.

Another stop in Harihari to add more churches to my ever growing collection.

That's St Annes Catholic church at the top and sadly the church at the bottom is going the same way as it's sign...

Further on and we pull into rest area that has a number of memorials on top of a small hill overlooking the coast. 

This is the Surveyor's Monument Reserve and also the gateway to South Westland (if we were coming from the other direction).

Our next stop is the gold mining town of Ross, where once again there's hardly a soul about in the sleepy little town. Ross was settled during the 1880's gold rush and at the north end of town is the Ross Goldfields Heritage Centre which includes an information centre and a number of historic buildings and gold mining relics. You can also pan for gold. Once again it's closed up for winter.

Ross promotes itself as the start(or end) of the 136km West Coast Wilderness Cycling Trail which starts(ends) in Greymouth and passes through many areas we've already visited on the Coast including Hokitika, Lake Kaniere and along the canal where we found the Blue Ducks! 

We stopped into say hi to Matt Dove at the Totara Bridge Station (we know his parents & sister from Tauranga). Matt is in the process of developing a fabulous camping ground and accommodation modules for his "Coastal Container Retreat". It's right on the beach and is also strategically placed at the end of the cycle trial. It will be opening for the summer season and we'll certainly be back to check it out.

The sun set on our West Coast travels a few days later; we stayed a couple of nights at the Hokitika NZMCA Park but with more incoming rough weather forecast, we decided we'd really had enough rain to last a month of Sundays, so we made the decision to head back over Arthurs Pass to Christchurch to dry things out, do a few errands and decide on our next move.

Hokitika River Sunset

Birds In The Bush

I wonder how many might have guessed what new bird we spied as we followed the track through the bush on our way back down the river the other day? As I picked my way carefully along the overgrown track a bird zipped across in front of me and landed up on a branch not too far away. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I was sure I saw a white breast with stripes as it flew past. Surely not? Finally I do believe I found myself an elusive and secretive Shining Cuckoo- Pipiwharauroa. A quick zoom in with my camera confirmed that it was indeed a cuckoo with it’s beautiful metallic emerald green feathers.

This small cuckoo is one smart bird, it winters over in the tropical Pacific Islands before heading to New Zealand to breed and spend the summer. It’s arrival is heralded by a loud and distinctive call that will be familiar to many though most wouldn’t know what bird makes it and if they went looking for the source they’d very rarely find it. As is usual with cuckoos, this one lays it’s eggs in another bird’s nest, usually the Grey Warbler- Riroriro, leaving the tiny foster parents to raise a monster chick about four times their size when it’s ready to fledge.

This bird, with it’s back to us, seemed unaware of our presence; this and the fact that it was eating something, dropping little bits and pieces as it munched it’s way through it’s meal. I’m not sure what it was but in the bottom left photo (not a good focus unfortunately) you can see a yellow spotted body in the cuckoo’s bill.

We waited patiently and finally after what seemed an eternity it turned around and there in all it’s shining glory was a gorgeous and beautiful shining cuckoo! It paused for just a second and I managed to click off a couple of quick shots and then it was gone! I was still buzzing a day later.

This next little fellow is a favourite in our temporary backyard, he’s a Whitehead- Popokotea, and is found only in the North Island and then only south of Waikato, in native & exotic forests and scrubland. The Whitehead is from the same species as the Brown Creeper- Pipipi and the Yellowhead- Mohua which are both only found in the South Island.

We are parked in this Whitehead’s territory and two-three times a day right on cue, early morning, occasionally early afternoon and finally early evening he comes calling. Singing his little heart out, preening and hopping and jumping about the scrub looking for insects. He rarely stands still, he is very hyperactive and no matter how often I follow him he gets the jump on me most times. For every good or reasonably good shot I get, there are at least 20 that have been binned.

There is another native cuckoo that we’ve yet to see, the Long-tailed Cuckoo, it’s even more secretive than it’s cousin but it’s calls are again familiar to the ear. It also flies in from the Pacific for the summer months and being slightly larger than the Shining Cuckoo it lays it’s eggs in the Whitehead’s nests. In the South Island they parasitise the Brown Creeper & Yellowheads’ nests. Luckily these host birds have two or three clutches a season and usually only the later clutches will be destroyed by the foster chick.

And finally here is the tiny Grey Warbler- Riroriro, with it’s bright red eye, it’s found throughout New Zealand and it’s song is a distinctive long musical trill that fills suburban gardens as well as the forests. It too is hard to capture as it flits about just out of view hiding behind the dense growth as it moves through the tree branches collecting moths & insects.

There are numerous other birds around camp including tui, bellbirds, fantails and silvereyes along with the usual suspects- introduced passerines & song birds. The nights are full of the monotonous calls of many Morepork- Ruru. One especially likes to sit in the tree directly above the van calling for at least half an hour before moving on. Only to return and take up the call again just as I’m drifting off to sleep.

And when he does finally depart his position is sometimes taken by a very noisy possum who makes a horrendous sound challenging other possums in nearby trees. Early one morning I went outside to listen and counted three possums calling in just the trees around our campsite, I’ve also seen two stoats running through recently vacated camp sites and there have been plenty of mice. I wonder if any pest control is done through the area.

But much to my delight one night early in our stay, I heard a kiwi call.