Leaving New Zealand

And so, a wonderful 2 months came to an end on march 10th and I flew back to Switzerland and Ursula. It is only a pity that we cannot spend longer there, say 6 months at least. And thanks to all of you for making our short stay so enjoyable, and especially to Dasha for the use of her car.

There is always so much work to on and around the house, but slowly we are making progress; we worked in the garden, we made attempts at beautification and then we found time to go kayaking, boogie boarding, walking and generally relaxing and enjoying ourselves.

Ocean beach

On Tokatoka

I delayed my return to Switzerland by a week so I could join the family gathering at Whiritoa where we celebrated Heather’s birthday. Pelting, but much needed, rain for most of the drive down gave way to blustery, overcast conditions at Whiritoa. This allowed Stu to get a bit of surfing in before he began his cooking duties for the weekend.

The younger members were particularly enthusiastic participants in the occasion.

On Saturday I returned to Auckland and spent the night with Mike and Marg and family before Mike took me to the airport on Sunday morning and the confusion of Air New Zealand masquerading as Singapore Airlines, but fortunately  Mike was there to guide me through the process.  

And so back to Switzerland to be greeted by a gentle wash of snow, but it did not last long and was gone the next morning, to be replaced with sleet, drizzle and high winds as the remnants of storm Gareth made its way across Europe. Night temperatures of 0C and daytime 4C. I hope you are all enjoying the last of your summer. We are not jealous. Honestly. We have snowdrops and the first of the daffs to console us.

Kiwi release

On Sunday Mike Marg and myself (and Dasha of course) went to a kiwi release in Parua Bay. Ursula had sadly returned to Switzerland already.

The release was arranged by and organisation called Kiwi Coast. We were expecting maybe 20 cars or so. In fact there were cars lining both sides of the street, the car park at the community centre was full and the organisers said they counted 350 people before they started!  It was really interesting, a very good presentation by Todd Hamilton followed by discussions etc. Members of the group then went through the crowds carrying the kiwis that were to be released so that everyone could get a good look. They were then put back into their boxes and we all went off to the release sites.

At each release site the kiwi was placed in a hole, the one we went to was at the base of a hollow tree, which was then blocked up to allow it to calm down. Todd would go back later to let them out. The northern brown kiwi doesn’t lay one of those enormous eggs, but 2, about 20 days apart, and 3 to 4 times a year, hence the rapid population increase once all the stoats, weasels and rats have been got rid of. All other kiwis only produce 1 egg at a time.

I was particularly impressed with the number of children at the release. At occasions like these I usually expect that most of the attendees are at least my age or older, ie. mostly pensioners. Here most of the crowd, as you can see from the photos, were young couples and their children

I also met with the coordinator of Kiwi Coast whom I asked about setting traps for weasels and stoats etc on our property. When she heard that we are on Franklin road she was very interested. Apparently we have a pair of kiwis quite close by and they need more trapping stations in the area. And they will come onto the property to set the traps and monitor them. I will keep you updated on developments.

Anawhata

On the 28th january we went to a place called Anawhata (pronounced Anafata) for our friend Britta’s birthday. Anawhata is a fairly remote house on the coast west of Auckland and managed by the Auckland council. It is a stunningly beautiful place and from the house you have magnificent views of the bay below, a 5 minute walk downhill to get to the beach.

It was a lovely couple of days, unfortunately Ursula and I were only able to stay for one night but we thoroughly enjoyed to the occasion and the location. And it was especially good to be able to share Britta’s birthday with her and her family. It was a pity to leave, but we had to get back to Franklin road.

Britta cutting her birthday cake

The sea was quite rough and had a strong cross-current, but we able to do a bit of “boogie-boarding” in the surf.

The stream on the right of the first picture flows into the sea and has a number of warm springs at the bottom which keep the water lovely and warm. It is great to come out of the coldish sea and warm up in the stream.

I was especially pleased by finding a group of 3 Caspian terns on the beach and spent some time trying photograph them. In the end I was pleased to get a few reasonable shots of them, including this one of an adult just taking off.

Great Barrier Island

From the 23rd to 26th January Ursula and I went to Barrier Island with Heather and Brian. Time constraints meant that we could not go by ferry and we flew to the island on a ‘plane even smaller than the ones we were used to in Laos.However, all went well and the flight gave us a good view of the changes that have taken place on Motuihe. From being a sheep paddock it is now substantially wooded with the paths through the tree plantings quite clear.

We stayed at Medlands, a few minutes walk from Medlands beach. We were there at a spring tide and at low tides we were able, along with some of the “natives” we collected mussels off the exposed rocks. They were delicious! Medlands beach is a fairly long curved beach, with when the conditions are right, seems to be a good surfing beach.

We had the use of a hired car (with a somewhat dubious suspension) and drove out to Tryphena and Fitzroy. Fitzroy does not appear to have altered since the ‘30s judging by the photos of the town we saw. Town is perhaps to grand a word for it, village is more appropriate as it is little more than the ferry terminal, a few houses and a general dealer.

Looking down on Fitzroy on the far side of the bay.

The photo above was taken from Glenfern where we went for good walk (after first disinfecting our shoes)

The walk wound through the woods above Glenfern House, well laid out as it wound uphill with good directions and signs providing information and naming the various tree species on the way.

Closer to Medlands (I can’t remember the name of the place) we walked to a hotspring. It was more than just warm, it was hot, in some places uncomfortably hot. Although we sat inthe water, a sign there warned potential swimmers that it was unwise to put one’s head under the water as it was infected with a form of meningitus. Nevertheless, sitting in the water relaxed tired legs.

We really enjoyed our brief visit to Great Barrier Island; the B&B was very comfortable and there is a good campsite close to the beach. In 3 days we barely touched the island and there is still much to see and explore, in particular, for me, the bird life.