travel – A Yank Among the Kiwis

A Trip to the Southern Ocean – December 2024

New Zealand pretty much closes down for two weeks between Christmas and New Years. It is summertime, the kids are out of school, people are taking vacations, and it is the Christmas holiday season. I think the government and businesses just gave up trying to get anyone to work. So, except for essentials, for two weeks the country slows down to a near halt. We decided to join the party and take a vacation during the Christmas break. Destination = Subantarctic Islands in the Southern Ocean.

Matt has a dream. It is to see every species of penguin in the wild. My response is, sure, why not? Well, one problem is that they live in some pretty difficult (and expensive) places to reach. It just so happens that New Zealand and Australia have several species we can knock off the list but we have to travel to certain “subantarctic” islands in the Southern Ocean to see them. Well, poor, poor us had to get on a ship and sail south. Let’s get out the map and you can see these islands are on their way to Antarctica. We were heading for the Snares island chain (NZ), Auckland Islands (NZ), Campbell Island (NZ), and Macquarie Island (AU).

(You might ask why are they called Sub-Antarctic? I believe that means any island within the 40th and 60th latitudes. How can New Zealand and Australia lay claim to these islands that are far from their coasts? The answer is, I have no idea but the Falklands are in the same latitudes and Britain and Argentina have been fighting over ownership for years. So surely it has to do with planting flags and conquest. The Europeans were quite fond of claiming land on the basis of “discovery.”)

We were on an expedition ship with 120 other souls, spending Christmas looking for adventure and lots of pictures of penguins and albatross. Island landings would be handled by zodiac boats. We were under strict rules for engaging with the animals. No picking up and cuddling a penguin. Keep your distance and enjoy their adorable walk and their kooky and merry ways. Watch out for elephant seals who tend to have a bad attitude and when you see an albatross, just experience the joy of watching them glide along the air currents. And yes, there were days when it was cold and rainy and some very rough seas.

Every island was different. First stop, The Snares, a chain of islands and home to the elusive Snares Crested Penguin. Their favorite hangout is the penguin slide, a hill of bare faced rock rising from the sea which they had to climb to get home. The weather was so poor we could not land and had to watch the penguins coming and goings from the ship. We were pretty far off lest we crash, but we did see them. Check that penguin off the list.

Penguin slide is a sheer rock face.
They jump onto it from the wave and then climb into the hill to nest.

They ride the wave up onto the rock and then latch on with their claws. Up they go.
Amazing little creatures.

After the slide we cruised around the islands to see what we might see.

If you look closely you can see Cape Petrels enjoying the foggy day around the rocks.

One more albatross picture because I love them.
Looks like a Salvin’s albatross being followed by Fairy Prions.

As you can see this was probably one of our worst weather days. The ship was rocking and people were not tolerating it too well. Lots of very green faces and lots of people not showing up for meals. (Matt took medicine and he was fine. I have sea legs and enjoy the rocking.)

Next up was the Auckland Island. The Brits/Scots tried to settle this island. That effort failed because Auckland Island, like all the others, has a harsh environment, not prone to farming or ranching.

The beauty of these islands is that, because they were never fully settled, they are largely untouched except for one gigantic problem: cats and rats, the predators left by whaling ships or other visitors. The inevitable result is a lot of dead birds. Add to that feral pigs who enjoy munching on vegetation and bird eggs and viola, a ruined island. But the New Zealand and Australian governments are methodically working to get rid of the invasive mammals—making the islands predator free–so the birds and flora can once again flourish. They have accomplished predator free status on Campbell Island.

In the afternoon, we went out in the zodiacs to cruise along the coastline looking for birds mostly and to see what they refer to as mega herbs–basically, plants that are growing larger than normal.

We started out in a drizzle that soon turned into a driving rain. See how happy we are!

Finally, our zodiac guide decided we should head back to the ship. The air was so filled with rain and mist that we could not see very far. In fact, we could not see the ship. It is pretty unnerving to not be able to see the ship, especially troubling to hear the guide calmly radio the ship asking where it might be. It was far enough away that she could not make contact. She decided to head in the general direction up the coast. After a few miles we saw its outline and breathed a sigh of relief.

For dinner that evening we were treated to a barbecue on the ship deck. The weather turned out to be a bit cold but dry. The chef turned out an amazing feast of meats, veggies, and deserts. It was impressive.

The next morning, we woke up at Macquarie Island where we would spend Christmas Eve. This is as far south as we would travel, much closer to Antarctica and the air temperature proved it. It was cold. But the penguins? Now we are talking! This island, part of Australia, is home to large colonies of Royal and King penguins, hundreds of thousands strong. The first landing was on the research station side and there were not that many penguins.

Huge and smelly elephant seals laid about the beaches and in the dunes, many were molting making them feel very itchy and cranky. Best to keep six feet away.

The King penguins were also molting, and it did not look fun. In fact, they looked miserable as they waited for their feathers to fall off, so that new ones could grow in.

We next sailed to the other landing sight and boy, what a different view!

We did not land at this particular rookery. We went to a more sheltered cove for a zodiac landing. As we landed, a welcoming party of Royals waddled as fast as they could to see what was coming ashore. They were somewhat leery at first. But there is always one penguin, braver than the rest, ready to walk towards those very tall creatures coming out of the water (that would be us) to find out what the fuss was about. They posed for this close up.

These are Royal penguins. My personal favorite. The Royal penguins sport yellow and orange crests, plumage that makes them look like they should be dressed in Hawaiian shirts because they are just out for fun. They are on the smaller side and very curious.

Gosh, I could have sat on that beach and watched those Royals all day. So much activity. They swim, nip at each other, scurry this way and that, talk and preen and generally fuss. Adorable.

On the other side of the beach were the King penguins. Smaller than the Emperor penguin (the penguin you usually see in the documentaries), but very similar in coloring, the King penguins are much more reserved and stately. Interesting but not near as fun as the party boys on the other end of the beach.

That is a lot of penguins! As far as the eye could see.

Not sure what that elephant seal is up to

Christmas Day was spent at sea, eating and drinking way too much. A word about the chef. The food on the ship was equivalent to a four-star restaurant and I am not exaggerating. Every dinner was a three-course extravaganza. The chef, Jorg Lehmann, is Swedish and by the end of the trip I had to give him a hug. He gave us a Swedish twist for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, he served us Swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce. He brought lingonberries to the end of the earth! Holy smokes that was unexpected. Christmas Brunch included herring and Swedish breads. Oh yes, please. Chef, you were terrific, and your staff was lovely. Cheers!

On to Campbell Island, where albatross were on the agenda.

Albatross are fascinating to me. They are one of the largest birds on the planet. The wandering albatross can have a wingspan of up to eleven feet. They don’t flap. Their wings lock so they save energy when they fly. And they need it since they can fly for thousands of miles gliding on the air currents swirling around the earth. They sleep while flying and they sleep on the water. The only time they are on land is when they are nesting. They can live past 50 years.

We climbed a rather large hill, it felt more like a mountain, to see the Southern Royal albatross nesting.

Trudging up the hill. This is a very long way from the top. We hiked about 3k total (2 miles)

You may wonder how Matt is able to hike. Here is how:

He is carrying with him a folding cane chair. Along the way, he stops to take a break and get off his feet. He has traveled all over the world with that chair. He does have his distance limits and we don’t usually do more than about two miles. Note too that he is wearing sandals because that is the only shoe he can wear. He has fully water proof socks and in combination they are as good as hiking boots.

We finally made it to (kind of) the top and found this:

Calm but wondering what all those animals were standing in front of her with long black objects

The hike up was worth it. Such beautiful birds. Albatross are only on land to nest so this was pretty special to see. Then of course we had to make our way down. It was a lot easier than going up.

But the real drama was yet to come. During this trip, we often had albatross following the ship. But at Campbell Island, the sheer number of albatross was astounding. Rock cliffs on the Bull Rock held hundreds of thousands of nesting Campbell Island albatross, as well as Grey headed and Black Browed albatross. The sight was jaw dropping. The skies were filled with albatross and other smaller sea birds. The Captain slowed the ship to a crawl so we could get our fill of the sight and get some awesome pictures of the spectacle. It really was living a nature show.

So many birds!

I am not quite sure how I managed this one but the trip photographer was impressed.

After that extravaganza, we started back toward the South Island. We stopped for another zodiac tour at Enderby island, part of the Auckland Island chain. Here we saw yellow eyed penguins up close and personal, and a nesting grey headed albatross. The Southern rata trees were in bloom as well.

Yellow eyed penguins. These are quite rare.

Southern Rata trees, native to New Zealand.

Overall, if you love penguins and birds and nature of any kind, it was a fun trip. We actually met a couple on the boat who had no interest in penguins at all. But by the end, they were kind of warming up to them. How could you not? Look at these guys!

back from a swim

Trip to Kaikoura

Kaikoura, located on the east coast of the South Island, is home to whale watching and bird encounters, both favorite past times. So off we went for a long weekend. To get to the South Island we have two options: take a plane or take the ferry. The ferry across Cook Strait is the best and most interesting option if you are headed to the northern part of the South Island. Drive your car on, have a seat, and watch the ocean go by for a few hours. Nearing the port of Picton, the ferry makes its way through tree covered islands, where a few houses sit and birds fly.

From Picton, the drive south to Kaikoura is another two hours along a picturesque, rugged coastline with crashing waves and bird colonies along the shore.

Kaikoura has an abundance of marine life supported by the cold nutrient rich water that rises up from the nearby deepwater Kaikoura Canyon. This water supports a large variety of fish, marine mammals, and seabirds. It makes Kaikoura a whale watchers paradise with a year-round pod of sperm whales and visits from humpback and blue whales in the right season. We have never seen sperm whales so that seemed like something to check off our unwritten list of things to do. They also had dolphin and albatross encounter tours. I am all about albatross, large, beautiful, and fascinating birds. We signed up for all of the tours and could not wait to get started.

But first we had to stop along the highway to eat crayfish. This is not your tiny Louisiana freshwater crawfish, but a type of lobster without the large claws. I could not find the reasoning behind it, but here in New Zealand, the lobsters are called crayfish. To avoid confusion, they are called rock lobster in the international seafood market. These crayfish are not only misnamed, they are wildly expensive. So we split a large one. No surprise that it tasted like a lobster. Having our fill of the large crustacean, we drove on.

In 2016, Kaikoura was the site of a major earthquake, 7.8 on the Richter scale. It involved movement along multiple fault lines and was felt all the way to the North Island. It was so dramatic that the town rose three feet and the adjacent seabed rose six feet, the uplift heaving fish and marine life above the water line. The town, sliding along the fault line, was moved three feet north. A major tsunami later flooded the coast, killing more marine and freshwater life along the coast. If you want to read more about the Kaikoura earthquake, go here.

Only eight years later, the town seemed perfectly normal. The only apparent and visible aftermath was along the coast where seabed was clearly above the water surface and large boulders were thrust out of the earth.

While the earthquake would not disturb our trip, the weather had something else in mind. Once again, just like Fiji, we were thwarted by strong winds and rain. The winds were strong enough to force the cancellation of the tours we had signed up for—a dolphin encounter and albatross frolicking. The day was shot. We did not have any days to spare, and we had whale watching scheduled for the next day. But we worked the phones and figured out how to do at least one of the tours. We were in for the albatross if we were willing to go out at 6 a.m. Yikes! But hey, it involved a rare opportunity to see an endangered albatross and I love those beauties. We would have to swim with the dolphins another time.

It was mighty cold at 6 a.m. so we dressed for winter. It was us and the boat captain. He was very knowledgeable and took us straight to the birds, which was easy since they follow fishing boats.

He tied a bag of fish to the back of our boat to lure them over. Yes, yes, that does not seem right. We should be watching birds in their natural state and not luring them with food. But the reality is that they were already following the fishing boat for the chance to grab some fish trash. Our boat was not teaching them anything different. It is called survival and adaptation.

And here they come. Wandering albatross are large, gorgeous birds that dominate the sky when they fly. Their wingspan average about 12 feet. When they come in for a landing, they make an entrance. The other birds scatter.

Among our visitors were royal albatross and the rare Salvin’s albatross or mollymawk. These birds are endemic to New Zealand and critically endangered. Smaller than the great albatross, they have a distinct grey head. Really quite beautiful.

We also saw the endangered Hutton’s Shearwater, the only seabird to breed and nest in mountains happened to keep house in the mountains surrounding Kaikoura.

Then to our delight, the dusky dolphins showed up and gave us a short show:

This was a well spent morning. Now we had to move on because we had whales to watch. We have been whale watching many times. Usually that involves humpback whales. We were hoping for sperm whales. No such luck. The weather was keeping us from going out to further toward the canyon. We had to settle for one lone humpback who did one roll and that was it. It was very disappointing.

Well, our time was up and we had to depart for the ferry back to the North Island. We will have to return to see the sperm whales and swim with the dolphins.

Just some beautiful clouds seen from the ferry.

Excursions Around New Zealand – Taranaki – A Dormant Volcano and Lots and Lots of Cows

We vacationed in New Zealand for three weeks in 2005. We traveled both islands by car, train and boat. But we still missed a lot. We are using the weekends to visit new places.

New Zealand is located along the Ring of Fire, a circular area surrounding the Pacific Ocean where the Earth’s tectonic plates are subducting or sliding under another plate causing havoc. The Ring encompasses the West Coasts of North and South America, the east coast of Asian countries such as Japan and several islands in the Southern Ocean including Indonesia and New Zealand. (Hawaii is not along the ring, nor is Iceland. They have their own problems.). The lands located on the Ring are home to the vast majority of volcanoes on Earth, both dormant and active. Most earthquakes that occur in the world are located in this area too.

New Zealand is emblematic. As for earthquakes, it is a rare day that an earthquake is not recorded on at least one of the two islands. New Zealand has many volcanoes, extinct, dormant and active. There are three types of volcanoes in New Zealand: cone, caldera, and volcanic fields. A volcanic field is what it sounds like—small volcanoes spread out in an area with any one erupting haphazardly. There are currently eight active volcanoes all located on the North Island. https://www.gns.cri.nz/our-science/natural-hazards-and-risks/volcanoes/new-zealands-volcanoes/.

We decided to visit one of the volcanoes. Taranaki is currently dormant, having last erupted in 1755. It is centered in the Taranaki region, part of the western coast of the North Island a region that juts into the Tasman Sea and which is also known as the Surf Coast. (We will get to that.). Not quite Mount Doom, (that would be Ngauruhoe) but more resemblant of Japan’s Mount Fuji, Taranaki is a beautiful cone, often snow covered, circled by vast plains formed from previous eruptions.

We stayed in New Plymouth, the city nearest Taranaki, for some sightseeing. New Zealand is rural and multi-lane turnpikes or highways do not criss-cross the country. Getting from here to there outside of the city usually means traveling two lane highways. This two-hour drive took us through small towns and past more cows that I have ever seen in my life. Dairy cows mostly, milk production is a huge industry here. There were some sheep farms. But the Taranaki region seems to be cow central.

Our first stop was Egmont National Park, home to Taranaki. The plan was to simply drive as close to the top as we could get. It turns out, it was not close enough. So Matt gamely agreed to hike further up the mountain to get a good vantage point of the summit. He would go as far as he could.

New Zealand is a place where the weather can turn very quickly and the day went from a pleasant, warm, sunny day to a cold, partly cloudy day with a strong, brisk wind that easily penetrated our clothes. It was cold! We were clearly not prepared for a walk up a mountain. The gift shop was prepared for unprepared people like us. We bought heavier jackets and thank goodness because the higher we climbed, the more forceful the wind became.

Matt made it to the overlook. He did a great job. It was a 4k hike or, in NZ jargon, a “walk” (as opposed to a “tramp” which is akin to a trek for us). I continued further up the path to a clearing where there was a good view of the summit. During most of the climb, being under cover of the bush, we were protected from the wind. As I rounded a large boulder and stepped into the clearing, I was hit with a gust that nearly knocked me off my feet. In front of me was the summit. While I hung on trying not to be bowled over by the wind, three younger adults were merrily taking photos of each other, seemingly oblivious to the cold and gale force winds. I snapped a few photos and went back to the shelter of the trail.

Tired of being cold, we drove back down the mountain and headed back to New Plymouth and our very warm hotel room.

New Plymouth is a coastal town, with aspirations to be an art center. The most popular spot is the Coastal Walkway. At one end is the gorgeous Te Rewa Rewa Bridge. I took a lot of photos of this bridge. It was just fun to look at.

We watched the sunset over Taranaki and from the bridge.

The next day we visited the Rotokara Scenic Reserve to check out the birds. New Zealand has no endemic predators. There are no coyotes or foxes, bobcats or anything that can eat a deer. When you walk in the woods here, you’ll find only birds and a couple of reptiles. Invasive mammals such as stoats (ferret), possums, rats, and cats have made homes in the wild. These predators prey mostly on birds. The problem is that New Zealand birds have not evolved in an environment with predators so many of them do not fly. Why fly if no one is out to get you? As a consequence, they are vulnerable to these invasive species who feast on the birds and their eggs. This kind of pressure has driven many of their birds to near extinction.

To combat the invasive species, there are a few parks in New Zealand that are predator free. What does that mean? They build very tall fences that are impassable to small animals. The area inside the fence is then methodically cleared of predators and pests. Once cleared, the birds thrive.

Here is the picture of the fence at Rotokara.

The fence is like the Great Wall, a monstrous structure traveling over hill and dale. What you can really see in the photo is a before and after view of the land, pre- and post- agricultural clearing by the settlers. A large part of this country was cleared of Native bush to make way for agriculture. Inside the fence you see the native bush, and outside the fence, farm and grazing land. It is hard to believe the work that clearing this land must have entailed.

On the walk around the lake, we managed to see a hihi, or stitch bird. They can be elusive, so we were happy to check them off the list. We also saw whiteheads and lots of other species. The most fun is with the North Island robins.

They are small black and white birds birds that look nothing like our red breasted friends. They will come out of the bush to look at you curiously and say hello, and sometimes follow you down the path. As an aside, the birds in New Zealand are generally not colorful. They are mostly black and brown or dull colors like yellow or green. All meant to blend into the bush.

The next day we drove home along the surf coast. with its location, you would imagine there is a lot of surfing here. But the coasts are pretty rough–lots of rocks and hazards, and the seabed is not accommodating to big waves. But here in Taranaki, beautiful waves abound. We met a group of surfers, young boys heading to the beach. We followed them and chatted about America. They soon split off and headed for an area with an open beach. We watched from a distance.

And did I mention cows??? Here they are along the surf coast.