Tuesday, March 25, 2008

South Island Experience Part 3: Craigieburn – Kaiaua

From Craigieburn we headed west over the Great Divide through Arthur’s Pass. It was remarkable to see the change in vegetation and culture from one side of the divide to another. On the east side is the High Country, which is made from vast dry areas called stations for the grazing of sheep and horses. The closest description of a rugged and raucous sheep driver is the American cowboy. However, the west coast is extremely wet, with three meters of rain a year possible. These people are accustomed to the boom and bust of their extractive industries: coal, gold, and timber.

In our trip, we passed through Greymouth, with a dangerously turbulent river harbor, and Blackball, which now has more streets than it does people, but was once the fireplace of the labor union that began in the coalmines of the town. We stopped for a few days in Reefton, “The Town of Light.” The coal extracted here supplied the first electric streetlights in New Zealand. The motor camp we stayed in was home to a number of new workers who could not afford housing in the city, yet.



From Reefton we traveled north back across the divide to Nelson Lakes. This national park is the site of a mainland island, where the Department of Conservation (DoC) is attempting to exclude all pests and restore the native ecosystems. For class we walked a small nature trail, but a number of us would be left here for our four day “spring break.”



That night, St. Patrick’s Day if you were wondering, we stayed at the DoC campsite on the north side Kerr Bay in Lake Rotoiti. The next morning five of us pushed out west around the lake with the intention of reaching the summit of Mt. Roberts and then continuing on towards Lake Angelus. The road to Mt. Roberts was significantly more steep and taxing than planned, keep in mind we are carrying our packs with four days of four season gear. By 2p we made it to the top of Mt. Roberts, my highest summit thus far at 1421 m. Getting to the trailhead was an accomplishment in and of itself, so getting, here was exhausting. One of our crew suffered from a migraine and heat exhaustion. Luckily a friend from Israel passed by the shelter she took for a nap and was able to suggest a nearby hut to use for the night. So it would be the Bushline Hut overlooking Lake Rotoiti for the night…damn?!?! There we met Brian who was the former Crown Advisor of Criminology. The conversation that night was nothing short of stimulating. It is also worth noting that I did not stay in the hut, but slept on the mossy floor of the beech forest just outside the hut.



The next day we set out just with daypacks along Roberts Ridge to Lake Angelus. Halfway there we climbed to the top of the adjacent peak to Julius’s Summit, 1813 m. That is a bit shorter than Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life, and the echo was ridiculous. Lake Angelus was no less magical. We got there about 11:30a and had a few hours to lounge around the alpine lake before we headed back to view the sunset from the ridge. Mind you there was no swimming as the water was virtually freezing. I was not able to feel my feet after a brief dunking. There we met a few people from the states, including Larry from Detroit, who was surprised to find out that there still was a Michigan Marching Band, some Michigander he is. I also met Winston who claimed he was from a small southern European nation, but was unavoidably Swiss by his accent.



The climb down from the Bushline Hut was fairly uneventful and only took a few hours. From Nelson Lakes, we hitched with a Czech man on working holiday to the city of Nelson. This is by far the New Zealand city with the best atmosphere that I have seen so far. However, it being Good Friday and all, most shops were closed. We stayed at the hippest hostel there, the Palace. Some nightlife was had, and a day “excursion” to a bone carver took up our time in Nelson.



We were picked up by the Ecoquest vans and headed off to Picton to board, once again, the Interislander. That night was spent in Hutt Valley. We were given a chance to go to Wellington for a few hours, and there I participated in something I never had planned even through that morning. At Westpac stadium, I was a part of Rock 2 Wellington. The line-up: Lordi, Alice Cooper, and Kiss…no joke. It was a weak crowd, but that didn’t stop me and a friend, James, from being rocked out by the time Kiss left the stage. To bad I wasn’t there to see Poison, White Snake, and Ozzy Osborne the next night.

Well I hope that is enough for you, because that is about all I have for my South Island Experience. The rest of the ride back was uneventful and I am now safe and sound back in Kaiaua. This week is spent locally viewing shorebirds. Until the next time I have something exciting to write about…keep and eye out for some movies that might get posted from this series. Cheers!

Monday, March 24, 2008

South Island Experience Part 2: Kaikoura to Craigieburn

Although leaving Kaikoura was disheartening for a few moments, we knew we were about to be engulfed by the Southern Alps of New Zealand. However, we would take a stop over that night in the city of Christchurch. It did not seem to matter to us that it was a Monday, it instead was a day off. We separated after checking into the backpacker’s lodge and went about shopping for a bit. Understand now that in the last few months most of us have grown an affinity for op shops (for opportunity or second hand stores). At the first one, even though we had separated previously, we had an impromptu game of dress-up. I walked away from the event with a $10 silk shirt. I also happened to leave my winter hat there in the commotion. Running back to get the hat seemed to be he sign for me to make another purchase, a $16 wool bush shirt. Now, of course, anytime someone complements you on a new article of clothing, you have to say “Thank you” and how little it set you back.

From Christchurch we headed west to the Great Divide, the north-south line of highest altitude separating the east and west of the south island. Before getting to our destination we stopped for a photo op at Castle Hill. This is a set of hills with limestone boulders protruding vertically from them. You may know this sight as the passage from Rivendale that the Fellowship takes in “Lord of the Rings” or the great battle scene from the “Chronicles of Narnia.” I would later return there for a sunrise bouldering trip and viewing session.



In Craigieburn we stayed at the Environmental Education Lodge. Ria, our educational director, had previously worked there researching a native bird called the Kea. These birds are known as the bears of New Zealand, anything left outside overnight will not stay put for long. When the Department of Conservation decided to regionalize the management of the area, an educational trust formed to allow for student and other interested groups to stay on the nature reserve. (An aside: So far the majority of places we have visited this term have been a previous site of interest to our field leaders; Opoutere – Wendy, Leigh & Poor Knights – Sally, and eventually Nelson Lakes – Sally) It is remarkable how clean a place can stay when left only to the personal responsibility of the groups who make use of the lodging.



The first night there we were escorted to a patch of beech forest and left there to ponder the structure, function, pattern and process driving the ecology of our target ecosystem. That 40 minutes of isolation was very rewarding, even more so that I was no more than two meters from a wasp nest and was only surveyed be a handful of workers. However, even if you couldn’t see the wasps, their collective hum emanated through the entirety of the forest. They feed on honeydew, which is the poop of a scale bug. It is extremely sweet and is a delicacy in some parts of Europe.



The picture is of me in a beech forest, but not on the occasion mentioned. This is underneath the Devil's Punchbowl at Arthur's Pass.

For class one day, we were taken closer to the Great Divide, through Arthur’s Pass, to the Otira Valley. Here we would make observations on plant adaptations for our group leader’s oral presentation. The highlight of the trip was lunch next to a mountain stream. I never truly realized my connection to water before I was struck with excitement at the roar of water while in the alpine range. I don’t ever feel truly comfortable unless I know a body of water is within a quick jaunt.



We also participated in some service learning with a man, Jeff, who established the Wilderness Lodge for eco-tourists. A fee of $300 a night gives you lodging, two meals on the day and a number of nature related activities. The one we participated in was the clearing of invasive species from a nearby frost flat. In the 1960s American pine trees were planted to avoid erosion of the Southern Alps. Not only should erosion not be avoided, as the range is rising as just the same rate as it is being taken away, but the pines are now rapidly colonizing in the valleys and excluding a number of native species. So just as green as planting trees is, it is sometimes as equally green to pull out trees. In two days I pulled and sawed over 250 pine saplings. You begin to look at a pine tree as an enemy, when your mindset has been to kill and destroy for a few hours.

With the little time off we had in Craigieburn, I was able to climb to my first summit of the trip. Helicopter Hill is about 1300 m tall. The view was amazing, as you will see from the few pictures I have and perhaps a video. I still don’t consider myself a mountain man, but I am beginning to feel more acquainted with the altitude and the often-steep climb to get there.



From Craigieburn we move over the Great Divide to the West Coast. The final account of this trip will include Reefton, Nelson Lakes, and Wellington. Cheers!

South Island Experience Part 1: Kaiaua to Kaikoura

It is no surprise that the trip down to the south island, taking two days and a ferry ride, would be just as of memorable an endeavor as the time on the south island itself. Assigned to us was to observe the changes in land-use while in the vans. It meant we would have to stay awake in order to watch the road. That happened for a bit, but surely we fell asleep in time. Lake Taupo and Mount Ruapehu were two of the greatest sights along the way, between the cows, sheep, and pine forest we were supposed to watch.


We stopped for the first night just outside of Wellington, the capital city, in Hutt Valley at a motor park. After a day in the car we all became little children when we saw the playground just outside our cabins. We even managed to deflate their moon bounce, almost the size of a basketball court. Oops.

The next day we boarded the Interislander to ferry from Wellington to Picton in the south island. Not much happened here, except a nap and a bit of photos on the 10th deck on top of the boat, which was large enough to be a cruise ship. This day we also encountered fur seals for a time on the way to our first destination, Kaikoura. This was the most stunning place I have ever been. The mountains rose to alpine heights just after the grass appeared at the back of the beach. I have a video of the sunrise, which you might get to see in my video series if the internet speed allows. There we stayed at the local marae and were once again welcomed into the tangata whenua. It was extremely comforting to be accepted as family long before we would even exchange our names.



We slept in the whare nui, the house of the ancestors. The walls were decorated with wood carvings in panels that represented either a part of the iwi’s ancestral history or the neighboring iwi’s that shared some part of their history. They say that each panel may call to those who sleep under them. As I was the last to get my bags into the room, I was not able to chose my panel, but that did not seem to matter. A pair of war-like mermen took up most of the space within the panel. They represented the people of Gnati Momoe who fled to the Chatham Islands to avoid the inter-iwi wars. A trophy found under the panel was what really struck me as providence. The trophy was won by the iwi in a competition of cultural and athletic skill. It was named after the Premier Chief of the iwi Bill Solomon, who shares the sir name of my mother's people. For no explainable reason I was to sleep under the Solomon Trophy for four nights. That night I felt safe and comfortable, with no disruption to my sleep.

The whole experience at the marae was moving. I have spoke before in this blog about living life in moderation, but it was here I was finally able to bring resolution to that discussion. More precise than practicing moderation is the quest to find a balance in your life; a physical balance of the body, a spiritual and intellectual balance of the mind, and a calculated balance of your actions. I also found that although I do not ask why certain unexplainable things happen in the world, I can feel an energy that connects all things on earth, a life-force perhaps. Not necessarily the midi-chlorians from STAR WARS, but something. Something that regulates karma and stimulates the bind by which people are attracted and find love. No one being is in charge of this energy, which is how conflict and hatred is created, through jealously and emptiness within those who have not found their spark of energy. Ask me about it sometime. I maybe on to something here…at least for myself.

At the marae, two men named Tai and Brett greeted us. Each shared how they related to the community, the importance of the whare nui and its stories, and a bit of moari culture. I can now count and sing a few songs in Te Reo. It is also customary for visiting people to participate in a concert with the host whenua. I sang “A Sailor Ain’t A Sailor” or "The Last Shanty" a sea song, which I grew up with hearing. This was not entirely random, as you will find out a bit later. I also managed to drum a bit between verses. The closing ceremonies predictably ended in tears as everyone regretted ever having to leave such a welcoming place. Our waiata for the occasion was a song I have been writing since a think on the beach in Leigh. It is far from finished, but I guess the first few verses were good enough to use to strengthen the mana of our spoken words for the ceremony.

Equally exciting…The second morning we were there we woke up before light and headed down the road to Dolphin Encounter. Yes, I swam with the dolphins at sunrise. It was nothing short of magic. We interacted with a pod of about 200 dusky dolphins, the most acrobatic of porpoises. There were thirteen of us, clad in wetsuits, diving, spinning, and chirping like a dolphin. We were truly their entertainment for the morning. For our entertainment we sang some songs of the sea on the boat ride back to shore.



From Kaikoura, we headed to Craigieburn to study alpine ecology. However, you will have to wait at least a day to hear of those times. Kia ora!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Safe and Sound, Back in Kaiaua

Hello Hello...

I have so much to show and tell about my last venture into the South Island. Unfortunately there will be a bit of delay in the creation of the posts to go along with those stories. The next few days will see installments of my time in Kaikoura, Christchurch, Creigiburn, Reefton, Nelson, Wellington and a whole mess of travel time in the vans. I will be getting back to emails and cards soon, too. Love you lots!

P.S. I just got word I received the UROP Summer Fellowship for my research when I return to Ann Arbor!!!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Blackout Warning / Fun Facts

So this is the big one. Tomorrow I have my first exam (3.5 hours to answer three questions). Then after that I am off to the south island for three weeks. two and a half weeks of program and four days off in Nelson Lakes. The south island is where Lord of the Rings was filmed my friends. I am sure I will have many stories to tell and wonderful pictures to share upon my return. Until then I will leave you with a few fun facts I have stumbled across in my journeys...

- There are only 4 million people in the entire country.
- They drive right handed on the left side of the road, but the gears are oriented the same.
- State highways slow down to pass through a town. It's like an extended exit through main street.
- Some high schools (they call colleges) have four rugby teams.
- The radio plays everything from home. Bummer.
- Most of the water comes from rain tanks.
- One-third of inhabitants fish from the ocean.
- No hunting or fishing liscences are needed. Most of the animals that are hunted are pests (sounds familiar). You can kill all the Australian possum you'd like.
- They call then bum bags because fanny is a bad word.
- They round to the nearest tenth of a dollar because there is no coin lower than 10 cents.
- You get two votes for Parliament; one for your district representative and one for the party.
- You can go barefoot into stores.
- Toilets have two flushing buttons a half and full flush. It just makes so much sense.
- The water does run down the sink the other way, clockwise!

Hope those were fun. See you in a few weeks.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

A week in a wetsuit

Unfortunately for you, the activities of last week were largely undocumented by my camera. To make up for this, there will be a number of links within this text to websites where pictures can be found of the amazing places I was this week.

Friday night after I declared my blackout was a story in and of itself. One of the local maori, Willie, had hinted that we, the men at Ecoquest would be honored by paddling the waka, the war canoe and ancestral totem of an iwi. So instead of heading out after lunch to our weekend destination, we pushed the waka from the maurae to the Bayview Hotel, an hour's haul down the road, to where the Kaiaua Wine & Food Festival would occur on Sunday. Once in place, we were trained in the custom of paddling like a warrior and shown the haka, a chant for strength. Having all of this happen with such short notice was severely hindering the other planned activities for the weekend. But we’d get to paddle the waka, so it was worth it. I should mention here, that this had been discussed earlier that week, but was rejected by the elders of the iwi.

Anyways, the remainder of that night was spent hitching to Waitomo, an extremely small tourist town in the southwest corner of the north island. Saturday was spent with the Blackwater Rafting Co. in Ruakuri Caves. Armed with a wetsuit, helmet, torch (headlamp), and inner tube seven Ecoquesters and a few strangers saw some sweet cave tunnels and a crapload of glowworms, think stars at the roof of the cave.

Here, a phone call was made to Ecoquest to catch up on the waka situation. It turns out Willie was acting against the elders orders and nothing would happen at all. What a bummer! So instead we headed back north a bit to Hamilton where we would see a rugby game and try out the nightlife of a Kiwi city. On the way to Hamilton, my thumb partner and I were picked up by the great, great, granddaughter of the maori man who discovered the Waitomo caves we were exploring that morning. She took a detour to her whenua (family) land on the way into town, a part of New Zealand I would never get to see just being here for classes. All and all it was an extremely eventful day.

Besides the Kaiaua Wine & Food Festival on Sun, it was a relaxing day. The gentleman who took us the last leg home had hitched 10,000 miles across the U.S. in four months. It was really interesting the systems he created staying safe in the States.

I have very few stories about this week specifically. In general, I was at the Leigh Marine Reserve Laboratory, a satellite campus of the University of Auckland, an hour north of the city. Goat Island and the waters around it are a no take reserve. The only activity that can be conducted within the reserve’s boundaries is recreational swimming and diving and the experiments from the lab. Ecoquest was there to run a field exercise in marine surveying. We were out for at least two hours every day snorkeling. Some of us even got up at 6a on Thursday to snorkel with the rising sun. We were also graced by the presence of Bill Balintine, who was responsible for the act of Parliament that created the reserve. He is featured in the April 2007 addition of National Geographic.

Friday was spent on a boat!!! We departed from Tutukaka, about 2 hours north from Leigh, to the Poor-Knights Islands. Jacques Cousteau labeled these waters in the top ten best dive places in the world. Some of the things I saw were magical. Blue Mau Mau arch was filled with thousands of the brightest blue fish I have ever seen. You could swim through them, and they would move just long enough for you not to hit them. Wade Doak was of the first to dive here. His lecture Thursday night was hilarious and inspiring.


I apologize that you couldn’t see what I was able to experience this week, but perhaps you can join me on my next dive trip when I return to New Zealand.