South in the North Island heading inland

New Zealand fur seal
So to catch up the last couple of days were spent just outside of Wellington. As the weather was a bit rainy we just got into the car and had no particular destination in mind. After passing through several little towns we stopped at an info center and were persuaded to head to Cape Palliser, the most southern point on the north island. The ride was pleasant and the weather was clearing. As usual the road deteriorated quickly once we got near the ocean. But the most amazing thing was the size of the HUGE waves crashing onto the rocks in and around shore. I think these are the biggest waves I have ever seen and at one point we drove through a small community where fishing boats were on trailers, on shore and a bulldozer was hooked up to the trailer. All we can guess is that the bulldozer backs the trailer into the water and these crazy fishing boats go out into that tremendously rough water. As we continued on this road in several places there were warnings of washouts during heavy rain. Why anyone would live in this area I don’t know–God knows where the closest McDonalds would be!!!!! As we came to the “end of the road” high up on the hillside was a beautiful red and white lighthouse that was just waiting to have it’s picture taken. We got out of the car to take a look around and there within a few feet was a seal just lounging in the grass. Not wanting to disturb him we took a few shots and headed back. Wasn’t long down the road and there was a whole colony of seals right next to us. They were very animated so we got some great pictures. Forgot to mention that this beach area had black sand–our first of the trip. I was dying to get out and check it out but the force of the wind and waves would have blown me who knows where. Next day we, the gypsys, left heading north (and inland) toward Ohakune. It’s so tempting to stop in all the cute little towns that we pass through but if we did we would still be back in Australia. But we just had to stop in Foxton. First they had a replica of a Dutch windmill built in 2003. There was an older man volunteering there and he gave us the background of the building and explained that the gristmill works and they produce there own flour, etc. you know how I love that kind of stuff but I didn’t think I could stuff 5 pound bags of flour in my luggage so I had to pass on that. Right behind the windmill was a Flax Stripper Museum. Now you might say–wow that sounds exciting but actually it was because I have been fascinated with the flax that grows wild everywhere in the country. And I learned from the nice older gentleman that gave his presentation that it is not really flax but a lily plant. This “flax” plant was used to make rope, rugs and wool packs. Not the kind of flax used to make clothing. So much education in one day–I thought my head might explode!!! Being on vacation is not easy. Always willing to learn–Deb

The seas were angry that day my friends

A bulldozer for each boat

Beautiful black sand beach

South to North

Franz Josef glacier

After we left Cardrona we headed north on the south island so we could cross the Cook Strait to be on the south of the north island. It was a very interesting three days. Anne, the wife of the deer hunting outfitter was heading to their home in Nelson and was happy to give us a lift. We stopped inland to see the blue pools on one of the mountain streams. It was overcast so we renamed them the green pools. Apparently it is the clear skies that reflect to make them look blue. It was still a nice hike. Then we stopped at Franz Josef for a visit to see kiwis. You must understand that there are two types of kiwis in New Zealand, first a New Zealand resident, and second the flightless bird, that is now endangered. The green, fuzzy fruit is kiwifruit. We saw two of the birds at the wildlife center that has worked hard at breeding and reintroducing kiwi into the wild. The next morning dawned chilly but clear, a perfect morning for a hike to the Franz Josef glacier. This glacier is bucking the global warming trend and is still growing in the mountains of the South Island. We got as close as allowed and marveled at the amazing blue color in the glacial ice. The river flowing out of the end of the glacier was grey with the ground rock that the ice had pulverized. The river bed downstream of the glacier was full of hugh rounded rock and gravel. The mountain tops above the glacier were covered with a fresh layer of snow from the night before. We continued north and stopped at one more New Zealand marvel called the pancake rocks and blowholes. Neither need much explanation, so I’ll just say they did look like stacks of flapjacks, and we were there at high tide and the blowholes produced nice spouts and some nice rainbows in the mist. We finished our journey at Anne’s Nelson house, which was a story in itself, high on a hill overlooking the Cook strait. We had planned on taking the ferry across the strait but an Air NZ Internet special and Deb not wanting to spend three hours in possible seasick agony, led us to fly across. It was a short flight to Wellington, the capital of NZ, but we did not arrive until late afternoon. A grocery shopping trip and supper, and we were down for the night.
Crossing over Joe

Pancake Rocks

Blowhole at Pancake Rocks

Windmills at south end of North Island

Try Try Again

Stag watching us
Once again I lost the blog I had done and this is my SECOND ATTEMPT!!!!!! We’re on our way to the northern part of the south island here in New Zealand but before we left I decided to go check out the area where Joe killed his deer. Also I wanted to hear the crazy noises that the deer and elk are making because they are in rut (for us normal people that means they are really horny). So off we went into the woods then started up the mountain. about a half an hour into the trip I heard all this huffing and snorting and screeching and roaring–it was very loud. If this trip had been at night I would have been scared to death!! Whenever I heard this craziness I could spot a deer or elk on one of the mountainsides trying to impress the girls. Personally I thought it sounded like someone was in pain. at one point I asked Joe what would happen if we ran into one of these big boys and he told me not to worry because they are more afraid of us than we are of them–I’ve heard that before about snakes and I know that is a big fat lie!!!! So we continued on, my only protection binoculars and a water bottle. We climbed and climbed and climbed–the whole time feeling like Julie Andrews and wanting to twirl and sing but I was afraid I might fall off the side of the mountain. Then I spotted him–oh he was a studly stud and he had his eyes on us. He looked like a statue–didn’t move and he watched us a good long time. But I wasn’t afraid because he was a long way away and remember he was more afraid of me!!!!! Finally I decided we had enough exercise for the day and we headed back down the mountain–the whole time taking in the spectacular scenery. Just call me Julie–Deb

Mountain mushrooms

Interesting clay cliff formations

Contest Clue #2

I still do not have an opal winner. If you are concerned about your answer being on the blog I will take email guesses.
Clue number2: The picture was taken while driving south from the LEFT side of the road!
Joe trebeck

Australian truck train

The Hills Were Alive

Where the stalk began
As I held on for dear life as the 4×4 climbed the mountain, I was glad that this part of the scouting trip was by truck and not on foot. Hans, the guide in training , was taking me to the hunting area to get a feel for what was ahead of me. Cardrona Safaris has about 8000 acres of hunting land in some of the most spectacular mountains in New Zealand. The lower elevations are inhabited with Red Deer, elk, and fallow deer, and the higher elevations hold chamois and tahr. Now these 8000 acres would probably be 20,000 acres if it were flat, BUT there was nothing but steep mountainsides and deep valleys. Most of the land was treeless but there was lots of wild rose and other thorny mountain bushes that provided cover for the animals, and obstacles to us. Hans is from Denmark and is learning how to be a guide and his first question was “how is your fitness”?
My response was “just don’t go to fast and I will do fine”. First we stopped on a ridge where we could see of both sides and we glassed for animals. I was amazed that it was not long before we heard a stag roar. This was music to my ears and something I had been thinking of for two years. I had seen TV hunting shows(actually one was taped right here) about the red deer rut (mating season) and how the stags(males) make a sound similar to a lion called a roar to attract the hinds(females) and to establish dominance over other stags. We spotted the stag but even with a 60 power spotting scope he was small, but I could easily see he had some impressive antlers. He was far away but the mountains echoed his roar. We then heard another farther away and found him in the spotting scope. He was also impressive, but far away. Them I saw some movement below us in the valley and we spotted a smaller but much closer stag, whose roar was much weaker. We drove a little further up the mountain and then set out on foot to see if we could spot any more. It was all uphill from there and after about 30 minutes of trying to keep up with Hans, I took the lead and set the pace. We saw some hinds, and heard an elk bugle, but no more stags. The plan was that Barry the real guide would meet us on the mountain in a different truck that could get even higher than Hans truck. After the climb Hans and I walked back downhill to meet Barry, then Barry and I went way up the mountain so that we were looking down on the a lot of real estate. The roars were coming from everywhere and Barry said that just last week they were silent and hidden all day and that I had hit it just right. We glassed several new stags and saw one that was especially impressive and but off course he and his stags were over a mile away, but seemed to be beacons toward a valley a little lower. We backed off and headed to the loge for lunch and to make a plan. I told Deb about the roaring and the stags but felt that I did not want to end the hunt on the first day. The plan was that we would be dropped off high on the mountain and with the wind in our face we would stalk toward where we had last seen the stag. After about two hours of downhill Billy goat walking! We reached the bottom of a valley and a hind barked a warning to every deer in the valley that something was up. Disappointed that we blew the stalk we had some hope as the deer had gone in the direction we were heading. Up another mountain and down into another valley and up the next we spotted the stage in the valley ahead of us. He was too far away for a shot but it was definitely the big one! We backed of the ridge and worked our way around the side of the mountain until we heard him roar and he sounded closer. A belly crawl though some high grass got us to about 150 yards, but his hinds were closer and we had to sit and wait until he moved closer. After five minutes that seemed like an hour( but it gave my heart time to calm down) he moved to my side of the hinds, and the rest is history. One dead on shot from the .25-06 Sako and my hunt was over. We had loin for diner tonight and although it was a little chewy the flavor was delicious.
Mountain goat Joe

Red deer stag and mountain goat Joe

Cardrona hunting lodge

Penguins Ho

Dunedin was much bigger than we thought and our park was in an area we thought would be noisy. We almost cancelled and proceeded on to another park further north BUT our reception lady mentioned that a drive to the Otago Peninsula was well worth it especially to see the penguins. What! We had not even heard of this colony, and they were the rare yellow eyed ones. So we decided Tuesday morning we would again go looking for penguins. The lady said we should drive the high road out and take the coast road back. There were two options( each had a fee) to see these birds, but we chose the one that had hides (blinds) set up so you did not disturb the birds. We learned that the yellow eyes are currently in there molting stage(changing there feathers) and they do not go out to sea to feed and just lounge around near some cover. It was a beautiful morning and on the high road( interpreted as steep, curvy , and very high) we had to stop at a wool shop about half way there. Deb finally got to get up close and personal with one of her cute little sheepies. His name was Mackie and he loved the sheep balls the farmer let Deb give him. At the Penguin Place we were the first tour of the day and Kevin said we might see 4 yellow eyes and that would be good. We actually saw 8 so it was a great day. As we returned to the carpark ( parking lot) the clouds moved in and the beautiful day left and it started raining. Ok time to head north to Omaru, home of a blue penguin colony. When we arrived we learned our park membership gave us a discount to see these smallest of penguins. We also learned of another yellowed eyed colony not far from there. So after a pizza diner we headed to the yellowed eyed beach. After about 30 minutes one came out on the beach to preen and stretch, but he was very far away so I was glad I had brought my binoculars. Then we headed to the very commercialized, blue penguin colony, where they actually had bleachers set up to watch as the penguins returned to shore after dark, waddled across the beach and up the rocks to there burrows. The count was 23 which was the best they had seen in a few nights. In the summer sometimes 300 can come ashore! We were happy we had done it and as Deb says “they are so darn cute”!
Today we headed inland and said goodbye to the penguins and hello to the Southern Alps. At a little town on beautiful Lake Tekapo we stopped for some hiking info and it was recommended we hike Mount John to the observatory. It turns out that a university ( and formerly the USAF) use this mountain for celestial observations because it has the clearest and darkest skies in all of NZ. Well this was a climb and not a hike, we went up 1000 ft in elevation and it took us 1:30 hrs to summit. The skies were crystal clear without a cloud to be seen and the view fantastic. The lake took on a turquoise color as a result of being glacier fed and the rock flour(ground up rocks). The downhill was quicker but harder on the knees. We knew that the highest mountain in NZ , Mount Cook was near here and as we headed to tonights park there it was. Framed perfectly over another glacial lake, Lake Pukaki. Cook and most of the mountains around it were snow capped but just to the left of the peak we noticed a cloud formation that reminded us of the cloud waterfall we had seen on Table Mountain in Cape Town. As beautiful as the lakes are in this area we soon found out that most of them are part of a massive hydro project and have been dammed and channeled for the use of man. Although I spent a career involved in building dams, somehow these seemed out of place in this pristine alpine environment.
Hydro Joe

Yellow eyed penguins

Fur seal

Mount John Observatory

Mt. Cook -highest in NZ

Going green

This blog is out of order because I lost my first attempt so I’ m DOING IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!! So my first story was about going to see glow worms. Our venture started with a boat trip down Te Anau Lake where we met a guide who took a group of twelve of us into a cave. We walked along a path and at times the ceiling was very low–of course I didn’t have to worry. This cave was very cool in that it had natural waterfalls and pools and when you looked up there were tiny little fluorescent dots all over the ceiling. We got to a point where our guide loaded us into a tiny boat and in complete darkness we “floated” our way through the cave. Now when looking up there were hundreds of green glow worms (actually what we saw was the butt end of the worm–we never saw the whole worm). It was like being outside and seeing stars in the sky. We took a trip to Milford Sound, another fiord about two hours from where we were staying. The drive was worth the trip with many stops along the way. One was Mirror Lake, a small crystal clear lake that reflected the beautiful mountains in the background. Of course pictures were in order but a duck tried to do his best to make as many ripples as possible. But we waited him out and got some great shots. Milford Sound proved to be lovely but much more commercialized than where we had taken our overnight trip (Doubtful Sound). After having our lunch we headed back and stopped at a nature trail that took us through woods along a lake. What was so remarkable about this forest was the green moss–it covered everything!!! I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like being in a green fairytale!! After all the looking, stopping, and touching we finally finished our walk and headed back “home”. Speaking of green my favorite plants on this whole trip have been ferns, specifically the tree fern. It looks like a huge umbrella with a stalk like a small tree—just beautiful!!!! Going Green Deb

Moss covered forest

Tree fern