This November 23 was really about 36 hours long today since we crossed so many timezones and were continually travelling eastward. We had good flights all along and quick connections.
Colleen\s two grandsons and baby granddaughter were there to greet her at the airport along with Errin. It was dark and cold with snow on the ground, Wedcome Home!!
Norm and Teddy and Ham were happy to see me.
Our trip was fantastic and we are grateful to everyone we met and who guided us on birding days.
Tomorrow I will have to get used to driving on the right again.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Friday November 22, 2013 - last sleep but only a half sleep
We never looked at our departure time as the tickets had been changed just before we left and our flight is at 7:00am!!! That means 5:00 at the airport and we just finished visiting downtown Auckland and some shopping and have emptied the car so we can pack up all of our stuff. What we can't figure out is how we can have about 70 pounds of stuff each and I had two sleeveless tops and only three t-shirts etc. This morning I left my tourist books (heavy) for Australia and New Zealand at the motel we checked out.That makes for some space for other stuff.
My suitcase originally had four wheels, after the fourth flight I lost a wheel so was down to three, after another flight I was down to two and the two remaining ones are on the wrong side of the pull bar (which did not pull out after the fourth flight either until one of the hotel workers helped us with our bags and he pulled it out, so now I can drag my suitcase and the remaining chunks of heavy duty plastic glide on smooth floors. If the airport is carpeted I will have a big problem. But so far we have been lucky in getting a cart to put all our stuff on it and we look like a pair of refugees with all of our worldly stuff! I tried to buy another suitcase, but there was no selection (Target had one kind available and it was too small) and who has time to go shopping when one is on a birding trip.
Right now it is hot here and I am looking for the airconditioning controls to cool off the place. So much for logistics.
Today we took a ferry to Tiri Tiri Matangi and had a great birding experience and would recommend this place highly to any birder. There were lots of birds and we had seven lifers today: Stitchbird, Whitehead, Northern Island Robin, Saddleback, North Island Kokako, Red-crowned Parakeet and Brown Quail. This place is a 30 year experiment by the NZ Department of Conservation to save some of these birds by eliminating predators which were introduced over the years and it is a success. The birds came back in numbers by reproducing and still enjoy this island where predators were eliminated. It was a wonderful experience and one can stay there also.
The day was perfet and our guide Peter was knowledgeable and wanted everyone to share in seeing the birds. It was a hot day and not a cloud in the sky. After we returned on the ferry we went on to downtown Auckland for some touring of the big city and some shopping. I think I will have to pay the $100 to AirCanada for a second bag on the return trip as I am way over the weight limit now.
So this brings my trip of a lifetime to Aussie and NZ to an end. The time has flown and I probably got over three hundred lifers in Australia and over a hundred in NZ. It was a great time with wonderful birds, met great people and it was great to travel with Colleen and practice our YEEEAHS! Maybe we an do it again.... somewhere else.
My suitcase originally had four wheels, after the fourth flight I lost a wheel so was down to three, after another flight I was down to two and the two remaining ones are on the wrong side of the pull bar (which did not pull out after the fourth flight either until one of the hotel workers helped us with our bags and he pulled it out, so now I can drag my suitcase and the remaining chunks of heavy duty plastic glide on smooth floors. If the airport is carpeted I will have a big problem. But so far we have been lucky in getting a cart to put all our stuff on it and we look like a pair of refugees with all of our worldly stuff! I tried to buy another suitcase, but there was no selection (Target had one kind available and it was too small) and who has time to go shopping when one is on a birding trip.
Right now it is hot here and I am looking for the airconditioning controls to cool off the place. So much for logistics.
Today we took a ferry to Tiri Tiri Matangi and had a great birding experience and would recommend this place highly to any birder. There were lots of birds and we had seven lifers today: Stitchbird, Whitehead, Northern Island Robin, Saddleback, North Island Kokako, Red-crowned Parakeet and Brown Quail. This place is a 30 year experiment by the NZ Department of Conservation to save some of these birds by eliminating predators which were introduced over the years and it is a success. The birds came back in numbers by reproducing and still enjoy this island where predators were eliminated. It was a wonderful experience and one can stay there also.
The day was perfet and our guide Peter was knowledgeable and wanted everyone to share in seeing the birds. It was a hot day and not a cloud in the sky. After we returned on the ferry we went on to downtown Auckland for some touring of the big city and some shopping. I think I will have to pay the $100 to AirCanada for a second bag on the return trip as I am way over the weight limit now.
So this brings my trip of a lifetime to Aussie and NZ to an end. The time has flown and I probably got over three hundred lifers in Australia and over a hundred in NZ. It was a great time with wonderful birds, met great people and it was great to travel with Colleen and practice our YEEEAHS! Maybe we an do it again.... somewhere else.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Thursday November 21, 2013 - two more sleeps before heading home
Colleen and I managed to take photos this morning of the thermal pools in Rotorua. We then left this tourist area and drove to the east coast but near Auckland to Miranda Shorebird Centre. The trip took longer than expected. We have now learned that a 120 km trip takes three hours and to double and a half any travel time estimated. There are hills and passes everywhere and small towns which the highway goes through where one can only go the designated 30 or 50 or 70 km.
At Miranda we saw the quirky Wrybill which has a bill that curves to the right. We saw what seems hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Black-winged Stilts. We were late due to the drive and had missed high tide a bit so the birds were moving to the shore further out. This place offers very nice accommodations.
We then drove about 30 miles north of Auckland (over the Auckland Bridge) to an peninsula north of Auckland as tomorrow morning we are taking a ferry to Tiri Tiri Mantangi. This is a place where all predators have been eliminated and the native birds have returned. It is supposed to be a great place for shorebirds and land birds on this island. We plan to visit Auckland tomorrow afternoon and evening and then we are staying in a motel near the airport for our morning departure on Saturday morning.
So we had a another busy day and some nice birds with the lifer mentioned above. Two more sleeps before we get home.
WE have had nice warm weather this week and we are wearing shorts and T-shirts or sleeveless tops so it is going to be tough to get homw. It is spring here and flowers are blooming and people are walking the beach and summer is less than a month away here. it will be a shock to the system to be in winter mode.
At Miranda we saw the quirky Wrybill which has a bill that curves to the right. We saw what seems hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Black-winged Stilts. We were late due to the drive and had missed high tide a bit so the birds were moving to the shore further out. This place offers very nice accommodations.
We then drove about 30 miles north of Auckland (over the Auckland Bridge) to an peninsula north of Auckland as tomorrow morning we are taking a ferry to Tiri Tiri Mantangi. This is a place where all predators have been eliminated and the native birds have returned. It is supposed to be a great place for shorebirds and land birds on this island. We plan to visit Auckland tomorrow afternoon and evening and then we are staying in a motel near the airport for our morning departure on Saturday morning.
So we had a another busy day and some nice birds with the lifer mentioned above. Two more sleeps before we get home.
WE have had nice warm weather this week and we are wearing shorts and T-shirts or sleeveless tops so it is going to be tough to get homw. It is spring here and flowers are blooming and people are walking the beach and summer is less than a month away here. it will be a shock to the system to be in winter mode.
Thursday November 21, 2013 - two more sleeps before heading home
Colleen and I managed to take photos this morning of the thermal pools in Rotorua. We then left this tourist area and drove to the east coast but near Auckland to Miranda Shorebird Centre. The trip took longer than expected. We have now learned that a 120 km trip takes three hours and to double and a half any travel time estimated. There are hills and passes everywhere and small towns which the highway goes through where one can only go the designated 30 or 50 or 70 km.
At Miranda we saw the quirky Wrybill which has a bill that curves to the right. We saw what seems hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Black-winged Stilts. We were late due to the drive and had missed high tide a bit so the birds were moving to the shore further out. This place offers very nice accommodations.
We then drove about 30 miles north of Auckland (over the Auckland Bridge) to an peninsula north of Auckland as tomorrow morning we are taking a ferry to Tiri Tiri Mantangi. This is a place where all predators have been eliminated and the native birds have returned. It is supposed to be a great place for shorebirds and land birds on this island. We plan to visit Auckland tomorrow afternoon and evening and then we are staying in a motel near the airport for our morning departure on Saturday morning.
So we had a another busy day and some nice birds with the lifer mentioned above. Two more sleeps before we get home.
WE have had nice warm weather this week and we are wearing shorts and T-shirts or sleeveless tops so it is going to be tough to get homw. It is spring here and flowers are blooming and people are walking the beach and summer is less than a month away here. it will be a shock to the system to be in winter mode.
At Miranda we saw the quirky Wrybill which has a bill that curves to the right. We saw what seems hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Black-winged Stilts. We were late due to the drive and had missed high tide a bit so the birds were moving to the shore further out. This place offers very nice accommodations.
We then drove about 30 miles north of Auckland (over the Auckland Bridge) to an peninsula north of Auckland as tomorrow morning we are taking a ferry to Tiri Tiri Mantangi. This is a place where all predators have been eliminated and the native birds have returned. It is supposed to be a great place for shorebirds and land birds on this island. We plan to visit Auckland tomorrow afternoon and evening and then we are staying in a motel near the airport for our morning departure on Saturday morning.
So we had a another busy day and some nice birds with the lifer mentioned above. Two more sleeps before we get home.
WE have had nice warm weather this week and we are wearing shorts and T-shirts or sleeveless tops so it is going to be tough to get homw. It is spring here and flowers are blooming and people are walking the beach and summer is less than a month away here. it will be a shock to the system to be in winter mode.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Wednesday November 20,2013 - waikanae to Rotorua
Today was basically a driving day with some birding included. We did about 7 hours of driving starting outin the south western coast of the North Island of NZ and travelling almost to the north east coast of the North Island (almost we had to stop in the land of thermal springs and geysers in Rotorua. We left the farmlands of the west coast and drove north in scenery that looked much like farmlands at home (only if you looked at the big picture) and then drove into the mountain passes and then into the mountains and ski country. The route we wanted to do was closed (snow, ice, landslide or consturction, we never found out) so the detour took up some time. We went through ski country and some impressive moutain ranges, then over the mountains we ended up in Turangi which was our last chance for the Blue Duck. We bumped into an elderly gent who told us exactly where to do as he had seen two of them yesterday and kept track of the ducks. We followed his directions and drove down this dirt road, took the right hand Y to the end. It was deserted and we saw a couple of California Quail there, parked looked around at the water. The whole shore by the river was composed of these grey boulders the same colour as this Blue Duck. We went to another "pool" after some rapids of the river (these are diving ducks) and looked for them. I was still looking at the water and saw one fly up river and then down again and had an excellent look at the mottled white on the face and the pale bill with the reddish on the chest. It was so bright. Colleen was looking at a Tui and once I shouted for her amid the roar of the rapids the bird was gone. It was the Blue Duck !!! We went to two other places looking for the Blue Duck for Colleen but no luck. We had to move on as we wanted to see the geysers and the steam and we had a one and half hour drive before the sun set.
We drove by Lake Taupo and it was awesome. No other word to describe it. It is a huge huge lake and if you didn't know it you could all it an ocean, with mountains and islands in the distance. There is nothing like it. Then we had no time left for forest we wanted to see but had to continue to Rotorua for early evening as the roads are hilly and cliffside and we had decided at the beginning of the trip that we would not be driving through the mountains in the dark. We arrived in Rotorua to see the steam and geysers of the thermal pools and the smell of sulphur.
We bought supper to eat at the motel and Colleen found us a great place. We were really roughing it tonight a two room suite with two TVs and free internet AND our own thermal spring hot tub!! We filled up the tub with the steamy water and they had given us some oil to put in. This place would be great for a couple's weekend. We had a great supper, seafood stirfry, new asparagus and carrots and salad and NZ wine (this is the kind of roughing it is great). The thermal nature of the water and the supper has each of us in bed now in our own room and on our respective compter devices. Tomorrow we are going to the Firth of Thames about a two hour drive to the east coast for shorebirds. So it was a long day but great. We also saw a mystery bird, and Colleen has sent her photo of the bird to Nick for a confirmation on the ID. We are thinking White-winged Triller. But everday has been great. Colleen has gotten used to the bed warming pads that each of the places in NZ has. It is so cozy and she loves it and talks about buying one for home or for one of her homes. Why am I typing in italics, it hit control I and nothing happens. We had several other birds today which we had seen before so we are getting good at the IDs.
We drove by Lake Taupo and it was awesome. No other word to describe it. It is a huge huge lake and if you didn't know it you could all it an ocean, with mountains and islands in the distance. There is nothing like it. Then we had no time left for forest we wanted to see but had to continue to Rotorua for early evening as the roads are hilly and cliffside and we had decided at the beginning of the trip that we would not be driving through the mountains in the dark. We arrived in Rotorua to see the steam and geysers of the thermal pools and the smell of sulphur.
We bought supper to eat at the motel and Colleen found us a great place. We were really roughing it tonight a two room suite with two TVs and free internet AND our own thermal spring hot tub!! We filled up the tub with the steamy water and they had given us some oil to put in. This place would be great for a couple's weekend. We had a great supper, seafood stirfry, new asparagus and carrots and salad and NZ wine (this is the kind of roughing it is great). The thermal nature of the water and the supper has each of us in bed now in our own room and on our respective compter devices. Tomorrow we are going to the Firth of Thames about a two hour drive to the east coast for shorebirds. So it was a long day but great. We also saw a mystery bird, and Colleen has sent her photo of the bird to Nick for a confirmation on the ID. We are thinking White-winged Triller. But everday has been great. Colleen has gotten used to the bed warming pads that each of the places in NZ has. It is so cozy and she loves it and talks about buying one for home or for one of her homes. Why am I typing in italics, it hit control I and nothing happens. We had several other birds today which we had seen before so we are getting good at the IDs.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Tuesday November 19, 2013 - Picton to Wellington
We had a delay in the arrival of the ferry this morning so our afternoon plans in Wellington were really rushed. The ferry was great, smooth sailing with just a small wave movement. It was called "light". We did not see many birds from the ferry.
From Wellington we picked up our rental car and drove to Zealandia, a preserve where the Wildlife department eradicated all the predators (cats etc) from an area and soon native birds returned. We saw the Tui, Kaka, Kakariki, Fantail, Kerero and our last bird of the day was a pheasant. We are staying in a beach town on the west coast tonight and we went to the lagoons by the sea and then watched the sun set over the ocean from the beach with mountains and islands on the side. It was the quintessential New Zealand experience. It was after this that we saw the NZ Pheasant.
We did not eat supper until 10:15pm due to the late day and we are both tired. Tomorrow is a drive day with some birding as we are crossing the North Island to go to north and east and we will go as far as the land of hot springs, Rotorua.
I am not sure if Colleen will be posting photos tonight, I know she took a lot of photos but it is getting late here.
From Wellington we picked up our rental car and drove to Zealandia, a preserve where the Wildlife department eradicated all the predators (cats etc) from an area and soon native birds returned. We saw the Tui, Kaka, Kakariki, Fantail, Kerero and our last bird of the day was a pheasant. We are staying in a beach town on the west coast tonight and we went to the lagoons by the sea and then watched the sun set over the ocean from the beach with mountains and islands on the side. It was the quintessential New Zealand experience. It was after this that we saw the NZ Pheasant.
We did not eat supper until 10:15pm due to the late day and we are both tired. Tomorrow is a drive day with some birding as we are crossing the North Island to go to north and east and we will go as far as the land of hot springs, Rotorua.
I am not sure if Colleen will be posting photos tonight, I know she took a lot of photos but it is getting late here.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Tuesday November 19, 2013 - Ferry to Wellington
We did have a several lifers yesterday including the very pretty Cirl Bunting which we found near the Saltworks - yes salt mining. Thanks to Nick's excellent directions we had no problem finding the place.
This morning we are getting on the ferry for a 3 hour crossing to the North Island. While I did fine yesterday, I am not sure my constitution is ready for a second day of being on a boat, so loading up on the Gravol again.
The day is "fresh" with lots of wind and Colleen has figured out that the internet will work inside if one sits by the window, so at least we won't freeze outside.
So another day in gorgeous New Zealand.
We believe that we should have internet access tonight, so I plan to send post tonightttt.
This morning we are getting on the ferry for a 3 hour crossing to the North Island. While I did fine yesterday, I am not sure my constitution is ready for a second day of being on a boat, so loading up on the Gravol again.
The day is "fresh" with lots of wind and Colleen has figured out that the internet will work inside if one sits by the window, so at least we won't freeze outside.
So another day in gorgeous New Zealand.
We believe that we should have internet access tonight, so I plan to send post tonightttt.
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