Sunset

This falcon enjoys the last of the sun, while we wrap up another day of radio tracking.


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Falcon in Flight

Here is a fantastic photo of a female falcon trying to scare us away from her territory. The small lump on her back, between her shoulders is the radio transmitter we attached so we could track her. This photo is somewhat unusual because she is against the sky. They usually attack from such a low angle, that the picture catches them against the ground and they blend in. This high speed shot caught her quite clearly.


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Three Babies

Here is a shot of three very young chicks from early in our season this year.


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Perching

An unbanded juvenile checks out the visitors to his home.


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Best Reasons to Visit New Zealand

New Zealand is a great place to visit and I loved it, but it might not be for everyone. It is not Europe. If you want walking, outdoors, unique fauna, and easygoing people, it is the place for you. Here is a summary list, with links to relevant parts of my trip.

* Tramping - This is the #1 reason to come here. They an extensive system of trails and there are also low cost cabins placed so that you can walk for days in reasonably remote areas and still have a minimal level of comfort and safety.

* Scenery - Closely related to the tramping, you can find steep-sided mountains, rainforests, and pristine beaches, all in a relatively small area.

* Thermal Activity - New and old volcanoes, especially on the North Island, make for some more amazing scenery.

* Whale Watching - I went dolphin swimming instead, which was probably the single best thing I did in New Zealand. But I'm told that on rough days it is more like torture than fun.

* Bird Watching - There are many unique kinds of rare birds here and they are so bold that it takes no skill to watch them.

* Fishing - Some of the biggest trout in the world (bigger than this one). Deep sea fishing is good here too (bigger than this one). I met two professional fishing guides from the US who came here on a fishing vacation.

* Extreme Sports - For a lot of people this is a major activity. I admit I skipped all the bungy jumping, parachuting, and jet boating, but I did go hang gliding.

* Ocean Sports - NZ has a ton of coastline so sailing, surfing, and scuba are pretty huge.

* Skiing - I don't ski, and it was the wrong time of year, but here is a picture with snow.

* Flora - NZ also has lots of unique plants and some huge trees.

Worst Reasons to Visit New Zealand

* Castles - there is one (1). Built in 1871, my guidebook calls it "an overgrown folly."
* Churches - the oldest is a small wooden building built in 1836.
* Museums - try Europe instead. There are a few, especially Te Papa in Wellington, that are worth visiting, but only if you are already in NZ.
* Shopping - combine a small consumer base, an isolated land mass, and an unfavorable exchange rate, and you get really overpriced shopping. Wool is the exception.
* Dining - this was an English colony. 'Nough said.
* Partying - you can have fun, but it is not like Ibiza or the Gold Coast.

Six Months in One Picture

This is one of my favorite pictures of New Zealand because it has everything in one picture. You have the falcon (obviously), and the Kaingaroa sign, plus the truck, and then the mud. That is basically every day for months on end. Fun stuff, in a very testosterone heavy kind of way. I originally tried to post this picture months ago, but there was some technical glitch and I never got around to correcting it before because I always had so many new things to post. But here it is, finally.

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Falcon Attack II

My earlier Falcon Attack post was a relatively popular one, so I have added another good sequence of pictures. This shows Shane trying (unsuccessfully) to catch a falcon with the hat. I explained this procedure earlier, if you want more detail. The idea is the falcon hits Shane in the head (we hope), and gets stuck to his hat. You can see the hat more clearly in the picture below. One thing I will point out, as someone who has experienced many falcon attacks, is how low she is in the first pic. They can be hard to spot, and then they swoop up at your head at high speed. If she is hard to see, in the first pic she is just below the trees and left of center. In the 2nd pic, she is in front of the trees, in the 3rd she is at the top of the trees, and she is obvious in the 4th.



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Like That Family Circus Where Jeffrey Leaves Footprints Everywhere

This is basically everywhere I went in New Zealand. I thought it would be interesting to take an inventory. I did an okay job of getting around, but I look at this map and I see huge gaps, even after six months in New Zealand. I didn't get to Eastland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, the West Coast, and all the really remote parts of Fiordland. Still, I got 31 dots on the map even though I combined a lot of sights that were close to each other. And I did not include places I just stopped for gas. I think this makes for a good summary.


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More to Come!

Even though I am leaving New Zealand, I still have more posts and improvements for the website, so don't delete that link!

Rangitoto

One last day in Auckland, so I went out to Rangitoto in the Hauraki Gulf. It's fiery birth was actually witnessed since it is only 600 years old. The landscape is mostly blasted scoria and the vegetation is just starting to take hold. From the top, you have good views of the Gulf and there are a couple sandy beaches among all the rock.

One interesting feature of the island is the baches (pronounced batches, short for bachelor pads) which are little vacation homes on the island. The site is a nature reserve and so no private property or homes are allowed. Nonetheless, camping was allowed for many years. Each year the campers would get a little more comfortable and civilized, until there was a town on the island with street lights and everything. The government finally stepped in and stopped all construction. In a compromise, bach owners can stay, but cannot bequeath their houses. Only a few remain and the rest of the land has gone back to the nature reserve.

Wingspan in Rotorua

Before one last trip to Auckland I stopped back at Wingspan to say bye to the falcons and Debbie and Noel. They were extra supportive and nice from the first day I got there, and they run a good raptor recovery program too. But Air New Zealand calls.

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The End is Near!

I can't believe I am winding up my trip! I was worried that I might get tired of traveling, but I'm not ready to leave. I have completely skipped over huge sections of New Zealand even though I have been traveling for months now. If you visit New Zealand, or any country really, I recommend you take your time. Not everyone has months to spare, but I think you gain less from a whirlwind tour. The times that I took a tourist bus that raced around to different sites don't stick with me as well. I found that when I posted about those days it was harder to remember what I had seen, or what the names were, or how places were connected. If you only have two weeks, I think it is better to just visit Fiordland thoroughly, or really explore Northland, and not go crazy trying to see anything. Anyway, that's my take. Or if you can afford it.

Hahei

From Whitianga, I headed down to Hahei, which is smaller and closer to Cathedral Cove. Of course, I headed back to the beach again. This time I reached Cathedral Cove by foot. It is a major tourist spot, but it was late in the season and late in the day, so I ended up getting the whole place to myself. One idyllic feature is that the adjacent Mare's Leg Cove has a natural shower. A tiny stream pours over a cliff just up from the water. After you swim, you can wash the salt off here. On the same walk I stopped at Gemstone Bay at twilight and watched cliff swallows hawking for insects above the water. There were a lot of them and it was a good end to the day.

Here is me at Cathedral Cove, and a high-angle view of another beach, a little farther north. Imagine all those trees covered with red flowers in December. I think Hahei might be a cozier place than Whitianga, but I wasn't really there long enough to say for sure. Fewer grocery options though.




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Whitianga

From Thames, I went to Whitianga on the east coast of Coromandel, which is known for its beaches, and for good reason. The weather is still summer-y here, even though it is mid autumn. The coast is soft limestone, with outcroppings of hard igneous rock from past volcanoes. The soft stone weathers quickly, leaving behind soft, sandy beaches that are divided up by curtains of volcanic rock. You can see the craggy, yet welcoming beaches this forms. The tree are pohutukawa, which bloom bright red in December. It must be an amazing sight.


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