Family & Invercargill

Well it’s been a few days since my last post & while we don’t seem to have done much it’s felt like we’ve been very busy!

We are ensconced in an inner city camp ground here in Invercargill just a short walkable distance from the family(not that we’ve walked yet). The small camp ground is perfectly adequate, set back off the road with tall shady trees, very good amenities & with a few semi permanents down along the back fence which is where we are parked at the moment.

 

 

The hosts are fairly new to the campground and are in the process of beautifying the grounds with plenty of plantings. It’s a very busy park with lots of people passing through it nightly. We yet again got caught out with our satellite dish & TV reception when we first arrived. We backed in to our site straight but unfortunately the neighbours trees blocked us so we had to pull out and reposition, hence the odd angle we are on.  A caravan next door (on our right) left this morning and we’ll be shifting in there for the rest of our time once the lawn has been mowed. 

 

And wouldn't you know it, it's like coals to Newcastle. Right over the back fence is an old abandoned church!

 

 

The family, David’s daughter Rachel, her husband Cameron & the children, Ollie (6) & Ruby(4), were pleased to see us and we were thrilled to finally see them again after 8 months & also see their “new” home & city nearly three years after they shifted down here. It was reassuring for David & great for us to see how well they have settled into life in the deep south, they used to live half a kilometre from us in Tauranga so it was a big wrench for us all when they left.  I love that the kids are rolling their rrrrs just like true Southerners.  

 

We spent the first few days catching up with them, relaxing & getting the van back into ship-shape order. We also did the necessary appointments; hair & dentist (David broke his tooth, & I chipped one) and finished our Christmas shopping. Not long after arriving Rachel & Cameron took us out for a welcoming coffee at the award winning café The Batch (shouldn't that be The Crib?), very pleasant too and then on a mini tour of Invercargill pointing out all the landmarks & places we could visit when we were ready.

 

 

We checked out E Hayes & Sons, a Southland institution & an early version of the department store or as they claim “the ultimate bloke’s tool shop” with something for the ladies too. Located within the store are plenty of old motorbikes, cars, tools etc on display with pride of place being taken by The World’s Fastest Indian, Burt Munro’s bike which  broke the land speed record in 1967  at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA.

 

 

We also visited Ollie’s school and Ruby’s kindergarten. Twice. The next day we went to see Ruby’s Kindergarten Christmas show, what fun that was, sitting on the small chairs with the rest of the parents watching the littlies perform “A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree”. All dressed up as one of the items in the song or holding props that they’d made themselves which represented some of the others.  It was super cute!!

 

That's Ruby in the red twirling her pois

For my overseas readers here’s the lyrics, a pukeko is our native swamp hen, a ponga is a tree fern, kumara a sweet potato….you get the idea (I’ll let you google the rest)

On the first day of Christmas
 My true love gave to me
 A pukeko in a ponga tree 
On the second day of Christmas
 My true love gave to me
 two kumara
 And a pukeko in a ponga tree 

On the third day of Christmas
....
and so on, until... 

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve piupius swinging
Eleven haka lessons
Ten juicy fish heads
Nine sacks of pipis
Eight plants of puha
Seven eels a swimming
Six pois a twirling
Five - big - fat - pigs !
Four huhu grubs
Three flax kits
Two kumara
And a pukeko in a ponga tree!

I’d have to say Invercargill is a lovely city. There are lots of heritage buildings from the Victorian, Edwardian & Art Deco eras, with plenty of beautiful old villas & houses too. There are also loads of green spaces including, what must be the jewel in the crown, the very large Queens Park right in the centre of the city. Fortunately for Invercargill, when the John Turnbull Thomson the Chief Surveyor laid out the town in 1857 he had the foresight to set aside 81 hectares (200 acres) of land  for the park. There’s now an 18 hole golf course, animal park, aviary, sculpture park, formal gardens, band rotunda, fitness trail, children’s playgrounds and the Museum which is located near the grand entrance to the park. The city itself is easy to navigate around as the area is very flat and the roads criss-cross each other at regular intervals. So once you get your bearings (David is still working on that one) it’s only a matter of turn right, right, right & you’re back home.

The historic 40 metre high Invercargill Water Tower dominates the skyline, it was built in 1888/89 to support the city’s first high pressure water supply tank. It is still used as a backup for the city’s water supply and able to provide enough pressure should the electric supply to the modern pumps be interrupted. Sadly public admission to the top of the tower was stopped in early 2012 due to the earthquake risk.

We did have a good laugh during the week when David locked himself out of the van while dressed only in his dressing gown. It’ll take awhile for him to live this one down.  I had gone off to town to get my hair done & locked one of the doors while David was still in bed. When he got up he checked & of course it opened from the inside so he thought it was now unlocked. He went off to the shower locking the other door & it wasn’t until he returned that he realised the door I had locked was still locked, from the outside!

There he was with just his dressing gown on, no phone, no key, no undies, and on a very windy day. He sheepishly went to the office & called Rachel from there to see if she could pick the key up from me in town. Not possible, Cameron was out with the child seats in the car & she had the kids. Lucky for him Doug our campground host offered to drive into town and collect the key. You can imagine my surprise when Doug suddenly appeared beside me in the salon- a very flash salon- where I was sitting with colour in my hair and looking like I’d stuck my finger in a power socket. I thought to myself “hmmm….this is not quite the establishment I’d have thought Doug would get his hair done” Doug has wild hair & an even wilder beard! But the funniest thing was that David had to hold the fort in the office while Doug was out. He was wishing like hell that nobody turned up to check-in (or out) while he sat there in his dressing gown stark naked underneath!! 

We had the kids overnight on Saturday while Rachel & Cameron celebrated an anniversary. The kids were also very keen to stay overnight in the “kamprvan” (Ollie wrote this on the fridge diary) and it was hard to contain their excitement. It nearly didn’t happen, on that day at least, as the weather was shocking; cold, heavy rain & lashing winds overnight but it cleared a little in the morning so that was good. First they wanted to take us to the museum to show us Henry(a famous tuatara) & the other tuataras too. The museum has an active tuatara breeding programme & we managed to spot quite a number in amongst the undergrowth. The rest of the museum displays were very well done too & we all had a great time.

Back at the fifth-wheeler we settled in for the night with plenty of DVDs (thank God for DVDs) and the kids had a ball & were very good. We transferred the sleeping kids from our bed onto the beds in the lounge once we went to bed & I laughed when Ruby was telling her Mum the next day that she got a fright when she woke up in the night & “I was in bed in the kitchen!!”

Budding young birdwatchers

Yesterday we all went out to the farm, about 30 minutes away, to put up the tent for Rach, Cam & the kids ready for Christmas night. The farm, a large dairy farm, is where we are going for Christmas Day and belongs to David’s nephew James & his wife Darnelle with their four children. This is also where David’s sister Jackie & husband Bob (James' parents) are parked up in their motorhome (you’ll remember they surprised us at the Newhaven Holiday Park in the Catlins on their way south). We are taking the fifth-wheeler out there to join in the festivities too.  The only fly in the ointment at the moment is the weather, it was very hot the first couple days after we arrived but since then it’s been raining & windy off & on most of the time, and quite often very cold. The forecast says clearing & sunny so we shall see.

After we left the farm we did a side trip out to the coast to a familiar spot, Fortrose, it’s where we had lunch on the Friday we left the Catlins & just before we arrived in Invercargill. As it’s turned out we drove right past the road to the farm and didn’t know it. We wanted to check the freedom camping spot out to see if it was suitable to visit with the family next month for a few days. It was blowing a gale & bitterly cold totally different to the day we had lunch. We drove up onto the headland where the estuary & river mouth entered the sea & it was wild.

We also got a huge shock when we realised we were right on the cliff edge, an edge that looked like it regularly broke away. It was scary & exhilarating all in one standing there getting buffeted by the wind.

The trees tell the story......

As this’ll be my last post before Christmas I’d like to take the opportunity of thanking you all for reading, following & commenting on my blog & hope that you have enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) your virtual tiki-tour. David & I would also like to wish you and your families along with all our family & friends a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Happy & safe travels wherever in the world you may be.

Merry Christmas my friends

 

 

 

 

Invercargill Here We Come

We left Newhaven Holiday Park in the Catlins on Friday morning. Originally we were going to take the inland route via Gore to Invercargill as we didn't want to pre-empt a longer visit to the Catlins later in our travels. But we decided that as we weren't going to take the many side roads to the beaches and bays we might as well travel through the Catlins and it was about 30kms shorter too.

It was great to see that way out in the wops someone has a sense of  humour and I'm sure has brought many a smile to travellers faces. A fishing Santa sat on the bank of a stream running through some farmland. It didn't matter that up close Santa looked more like a stuffed sack wearing a Santa suit, without a face & holding an old stick!

Further on there were a couple of high points where we did stop and take in the views along the coast which were amazing. The roads were very quiet with just a few motorhomes & campervans passing by.

The Spouting Cave at Florence Hill Lookout-

You can see the blow hole to the left of the island

And the beautiful, isolated & totally unspoilt Tautuku Bay & Beach-

I love the way the bush sweeps back off the beach in  stunted growth & gradually rises as the trees come under more protection. The wind here must be ferocious.

The drive took us through the Catlins Coastal Rainforest Park where the Kamahi (one of the most widespread native trees in NZ) was in flower, casting a soft pink hue over most of the lower canopy. We also spotted what we are sure was a NZ falcon sitting atop a very tall dead tree trunk, an ideal spot to launch itself on it's hunting forays. NZ falcons are extremely rare, they are much smaller than the harrier hawk and are one of the fastest flying birds in the world. Unfortunately we couldn't stop for a few hundred metres & by the time I walked back up the road it was gone. Another day...

Once out of the forest park we gradually descended back to sealevel with first the sheep farms making an appearance followed quickly by the ever increasing dairy farms and supporting haymaking paddocks .

I love the huge flax bushes that are line most of the roads and fence lines. Ideal shelterbelts for stock and great food for the birds from the flowering spikes at this time of the year. Of course Southland was one of the main flax growing & milling areas of NZ in the early 1900s so the climate must be just perfect.

Finally after seeing the last of the ocean at Florence Hill Lookout, it came back into view in the form of the large Fortrose Estuary & lower Mataura River which empties into Toetoe Bay.

We pulled in for lunch beside the estuary on what had turned into a gorgeous sunny day. David did a bit of bird spotting & catching up on the web (we'd been out of internet contact for a few days) while I prepared lunch. I am loving having the "house" on the back with all the facilities ready & waiting. No picnic bag & thermos needed!

And after lunch I had time for a bit of photography before we hit the road again, Invercargill not too far away now.

The road followed along the banks of the Matarua River for quite a distance and while I know that the Matarua River is known as the world's best river for dry fly wild brown trout fishing I had forgotten it's also famous for it's whitebait huts. At first I thought maimais and then it dawned on me, whitebait huts (and stands), by the dozens. Of every ramshackled shape & construction they lined the lower river on both sides for quite a distance even on the other side of the road where the river had cut in close to the road edge. The competition during the season for this little sliver of delicacy must be fierce here, it's a wonder any whitebait survive.

By now David was keen to keep moving so I couldn't persuade him to stop & let me take some photos. I managed to grab this one (especially for my aunty who spends many days whitebaiting back in Hawkes Bay) as we neared a bridge over the river. But I will be back, you can be sure of that!

And finally after leaving Tauranga & our old life on October 23rd (just over 7 weeks ago) and travelling 2900kms we arrived in Invercargill, the southern most city in New Zealand & where family were eagerly waiting to see us.

We've loved every moment so far & can't wait to get back "Out There" Roll on the New Year.

Spoonbills & other birds

After exploring closer to home we drove right around to the other side of the harbour, directly across from our campsite but about 15kms by road. David had seen a vehicle parked up on the beach a few times and wanted to check out what was there (we think they must have been gathering paua (NZ abalone) as there was a large area of flat rocky outcrops & pools jutting out into the sea). It was with great surprise that in amongst the usual shore waders feeding in the low tide rock pools we found a flock of eleven Royal Spoonbills very resplendent in their breeding plumage of yellow breast patch, bright yellow spots above the eyes & head plumes.

Spoonbills are quite rare in New Zealand although there are quite a few pockets of birds around the country including a large flock of about 30 birds that spend a lot of time in & near the Ahuriri Estuary in Napier. Having only seen these ones before and out of the breeding season it was great to see the changes in their plumage.

That's the sealion beach off in the distance.

The eye spots are a little bit creepy, they are iridescent yellow & give the impression that they're looking at you all the time. Which I guess they are if you could see their black eyes underneath.

The bird below on the left had a lot of bling on her legs; banded, & female because she was noticeably smaller.

We later saw another half a dozen or so spoonbill feeding on the mudflats further up the harbour & over the other side on our way home so is probably a good sized flock in the area. When we come back we'll have to explore more.

And back we'll definitely be coming. This time we concentrated mainly on seeking out the sealions but the area also had many birds that I would loved to have got some great shots of. As it was these were "just in passing". 

A Bellbird (Korimako)- feeding on flax flowers

That big fat Wood Pigeon (Kereru) again

We passed this family of variable oystercatchers ( Torea-pango) on the way to the sealions

This Welcome Swallow had a nest under the foot bridge below our camp site, it & it's mate flew out distressed every time somebody walked over or near the bridge. On one occasion we watched as a stoat ran across the bridge then down onto the rocks and along the edge of the stream. The swallows flew along dive bombing it all the way. We knew there were stoats in the area as the day we arrived a stoat was caught in a cage trap at the end of the garden just above the bridge. The campground has an active pest control programme & it seems to be working. I know they are terrible predators on our birdlife but I couldn't help thinking about the kits the caught stoat would have had back in the nest wondering when Mum was going to get home. I figured it was Dad out looking for her the next day!



And this is a dunnock (with a moth in its bill) also known as a hedge sparrow. They are not so frequent up north although we have seen a few around the Central Plateau area, they have a wonderful song & like to sit right on the tip of a tree & sing their heart out. They are an introduced species and seemed to be quite plentiful the further south we move. They are quite shy & like to keep to the undergrowth although this one was searching around the rocks for dinner. A number of them were feeding on the grass seed.

And finally, not a bird but a bug. A huhu beetle that took up residence for a short while in our outside shoe box.



Surat Bay, Catlins

As mentioned in a previous post, David's sister & her husband unexpectedly arrived at the same campground as us to find that we'd taken their favourite site overlooking the water. We shifted the ute and they backed up the motorhome so they also got a great view!

 

We'd heard that the sealions were often up the harbour and after the first day of not seeing any it seemed that every time we looked out the window over the next two days there would be one or two on the sand or in the water. The one in the photo below is blocking the way around the point for the two tourists, he's also blocking the way to the high tide track. They stood there for ages trying to decide what to do. The sealion moved inland after awhile & they clambered over the rocks looking back over their shoulder often.

 



The view from our window

The two in the photo below spent quite awhile stalking each other up and down the water's edge after the smaller one initially popped his head over the edge of the sand wall & the sleeping one spotted him. They played it up for the half a dozen people that happened to be passing including David looking like a tourist with his i-pad recording the action! we all jumped back quite a way when one of the sealions decided we were getting a little too close to the edge and made a lunge for us and barked a "humph" of warning.

 

The Newhaven Holiday Park had by far the most modern buildings in the sleepy little settlement at the end of the road.

There were a number of abandoned houses, cars & boats along with a salmon farm in the area but also plenty of backpackers hostels, lodges & cribs dotted along the road into Surat Bay.

We drove around to Pounawea which is a spit of land that juts out into the bay and has a real feel of summer holiday settlement about it although there were plenty of permanents living there too. Pounawea means the meeting of two rivers, the Owaka comes in on one side, the Catlins on the other. The bay or estuary is huge and reaches far back inland & in fact is referred to as the Catlins Lakes.

Our side is on the left, the campground just out of picture on the far left. We drove around to the right side birdwatching, more on that later.

The nearest township is Owaka just 10kms away, we drove in there and had lunch at a café on the main street....well really there's only one street with a couple of cafes, a pub, a Four Square, an i-site & a farming supply shop or two. But all the same it's a very busy place, obviously the hub for the district, a meeting place for tours in the Catlins; there were a lot of motorhomes & campervans passing through or stopping for supplies.

And also on the main road, right out of left field, Teapotland & Dollyworld. Definitely not what you're expecting in an area renowned for it's remoteness & wildlife. I guess it makes somebody happy (not the neighbours though, I'm sure)