10 January 2014: Rowi Kiwi project in Franz Josef and Queenstown

Jim Livingstone, Department of Conservation Senior Ranger of Conservation Services, spoke to us this morning about the Rowi kiwi (Apteryx rowi), a relatively-recently recognized species of kiwi, whose population is only about 400-strong.  The entire population lives in the region just north of Franz Josef and is monitored closely to ensure its persistence. 

We learned how conservation scientists operate the restoration effort through descriptions of the field and lab techniques used in the project.  Adult kiwis are first captured after drawing them toward ‘squak boxes’ (radios playing kiwi vocalizations), then with the help of leg radiotransmitters, the activity patterns of the kiwi and their locations can be ascertained.  Once it’s known that an adult is stationary, but alive, the scientists check whether the bird is incubating an egg.  If an egg is present, it is ‘rescued’ and brought back to the lab for incubation and hatching.  Eggs and juvenile birds are raised in Franz Josef’s Westcoast Wildlife Centre, and then the young birds are shipped to Motuara Island (Marlborough Sound) to live until they reach the predator-resistant size of +1kg, after which point they are released into the South Westland region.  Our students were very attentive to Jim’s presentation and had some very insightful questions to ask following the presentation.  After getting to touch a Rowi kiwi specimen, our group visited the Westcoast Wildlife Centre to learn a little more about the Rowi kiwi and to see three live juvenile Rowi playing in an observation pen. I know I’m biased, but it was pretty cool seeing the kiwi ‘kids’ teasing each other in the pen!

After our trip to the wildlife centre, we hopped into our trusty stallion of a van and headed south to Queenstown.  We traveled along the Haast River, a wide river valley with mountains reaching several thousand feet high along its borders, then passed through the precarious Haast Pass, which closes at 6pm each night due to a rock ‘slip’ (Kiwi for ‘landslide’) that is monitored by ‘rock spotters’ all day, and then into the Otago region.  We stopped to view and swim in the beautifully tranquil and aqua blue water of Lake Hawea.  If you didn’t know it already, we have some pretty proficient rock-skippers in our group!  By dinner, we arrived in Queenstown, the ‘adventure capital of the world’.

A break during the trip from Franz Josef to Queenstown: Lake Hawea.

Steve Maccleod (Business, 2016), David Hobbs (Business, 2016), and Jack Capetola (Chemistry, 2016) take a dip in beautiful Lake Hawea!

On the precipice of adventure: we stopped to take photos atop a beautiful vista high-above Lake Wakatipu, site of Queenstown, the 'adventure capital of the world'!

9 January 2014: Fox Glacier

Today’s activities included hiking Fox Glacier in the morning and then soothing our glacier-climbing bodies in the Glacier Hot Pools located in Franz Josef.  We really earned our keep this morning, as we needed to get on the road to Fox Glacier, 30min south of Franz Josef, by 8am to keep our appointment with the Fox Glacier Guide company.

Our guide today, Tom, was the most informative guide I’ve had on the glaciers since I began coming to New Zealand: he was articulate, knowledgeable, and very willing to address our questions along the trip.  Tom was our personal guide on our adventure on Fox Glacier, a luxury we have not had on past trips onto Franz Josef glacier.  Given our experience, I’m almost glad that Franz Josef glacier is retreating so quickly that walking hikes onto the terminal face of the glacier are no longer available! 

Prior to leaving the Guide shop, we learned that we wouldn’t be taking any rain gear with us, something that was completely unheard of during my last two times on Franz Josef glacier: on our trip in 2012, it poured rain and the wind howled during our entire hike on the glacier!  We had the most glorious day on the glacier: bright sun, 70F in the valley (about 40F on the glacier), and nearly no wind!  During our hike, we learned about the expansion and retreat of the Fox Glacier along the Fox River valley, how quickly it has retreated during the last 80 years, and how quickly the glacier melts daily (20cm!).  Tom shared with us the Maori story used to explain the presence of the ice mass, which included a love story, a fallen loved one, and the tears of the surviving lover being frozen at the top of the mountain.   Tom was even generous enough to let anyone who wanted to use his ice ax; very cool!  Tom shared with us his experiences as a guide and perhaps gave some of our students something to think about for future plans!    

Our 4-hour experience on the tour was good enough for our group, as everyone was still recovering from our travel out of Abel Tasman National Park and to Franz Josef.  The rest of the day was spent doing laundry in Franz Josef, visiting the Glacier Hot Pools, and chatting with family.  Dr. Moran and I got dinner at a local restaurant and then called it an evening.  We have a slightly slower morning tomorrow, a 9:30am start, but we need to be checked-out of the hostel prior to our meeting with the Department of Conservation on the Rowi kiwi project in the South westland region, so still lots to do in the morning!

David Hobbs (Business, 2016), Stephen Maccleod (Business, 2016), and Jack Capetola (Chemistry, 2016) on the trail to Fox Glacier (middle, background).

Our group scaling Fox Glacier on a beautiful summer's day!

Our group atop Fox Glacier's terminal face.  We explored crevasses and looked into moulins as we crossed the ice.

Me and Dr. Moran inside 'Superman's cave', a compression cave created at the terminal face of Fox Glacier as the leading edge of the glacier gets driven into the ground by the force from the glacier pushing it from behind.

Chris Lorch (Nursing, 2019) wielding our glacier guide's ice ax!

Tom, our Fox Glacier guide, and Sean Harrison (Business, 2016).

8 January 2014: Abel Tasman National Park and the marathon drive to Franz Josef

We quickly rose and packed camp to leave for Marahau this morning.  Once again, our group was expedient in their packing and were right on time for departure by kayak or by foot.  Our trip along the Coastal Track (Kiwi for ‘trail’) had some picturesque scenes and the weather cooperated with us until just before reaching Marahau.  Once in Marahau, we all re-packed our belongings to include everything we’d left behind at the hostel and then headed to Franz Josef.  A visit to Marahau wouldn’t be complete without a stop at the local fish-and-chips eatery, the Fat Tui, so a quick stop was made after leaving The Barn hostel and nearly everyone had something yummy to eat (I nicked some fries from Dr. Moran, who ordered the Cowpatty: a generously-sized burger with lettuce, tomato, and some sauce that looked like it had seeds in it!). 

What Google Maps said was supposed to be 4-hour long trip from Marahau to Franz Josef turned out to be 8 hours in length.  Our group was tough and survived the long haul.  At 12:30am, we got settled into our rooms and called it a night…we’ll be ready to go by 7:30am tomorrow morning for our trip to Fox Glacier.  Whew!

7 January 2014: Abel Tasman National Park: a lazy day

On our first day of no movement from one site to another, and free from any planned activities, students slowly emerged from the tents as the morning expired and the rains began to fall.  An overcast morning transitioned into periodic showers of different intensities.  Students explored the beach, the caves, and studiously (yes!) worked on their daily and topic journals.  Just as a side-note: Dr. Moran and I have been so impressed by the dedication the students have shown in completing their journal entries in a timely basis.  Not only do the journals represent a significant part of the graded component of this course, but they are a future reference point for the students on the trip.  My reading of the journals several days ago indicates that the students are taking journaling very seriously and it’s great to see them working diligently!

Late in the afternoon, in between rain showers, our group decided to visit Cleopatra’s Pool, a freshwater pool created along the Torrent River high above Torrent Bay.  The frigid water, having been collected from rain run-off from throughout the watershed, slices and winds its way around giant boulders, passes along a natural slide, and then collects in a pool.   The algae covering the rocks on the slide make it a great treat to slide upon and our students took-up the challenge.  Among our group, only Jack Capetola (Chemistry, 2016), Kristen Maddock (Biology/ pre-med, 2019), Lara Guindi (Biology/ pre-med, 2016) and Dorian Shann (Physical Therapy, 2016) took a dip; the rest of us video-recorded their efforts, and, well, stayed warm!  The slide looked very inviting, but on my third time to the slide, I opted for warmth instead of fun.  Ah, well, maybe next time.  The students that did take the plunge looked they had an incredible time! 

During the trip to Cleopatra’s Pool, Sean Harrison (Business, 2016) and Jason Lorch (Biology/ pre-med, 2016) followed the Torrent River upstream.  They quickly disappeared from view and scrambled along enormous boulders in the river bed and searched out some great finds: several incredible waterfalls!  Apparently, approaching the waterfalls involved some careful movement along rock ledges that ultimately resulted in wading through the cold river water.  Sean and Jason were pretty pumped from their expedition and relayed their journey with great excitement. 

Tonight’s dinner of rice and chili was extraordinary and the team of students responsible for cooking it, Kate O’Driscoll (Biology/ pre-med, 2016), Lara Guindi (Biology/ pre-med, 2016), and Dorian Shann (Physical Therapy, 2016) did an excellent job mastering the cook stoves so the food never got burned (a task I can’t say I’m adept at while using the stoves!).  After dinner, a crew of students cleaned all the pots and pans to make sure we were ready for cooking in the morning.  The students have taken great initiative when it comes to camp-tasks and Dr. Moran and I have been very impressed with their efforts and coordination.

After dinner, Sean Harrison (Business, 2016) led the charge on ghost stories and all seemed to be creeped-out by some of the tales.  Following the stories, another foray down to the caves on the beach produced another surprise: cave weta!  Weta are distant relatives of grasshoppers and crickets (Order Orthoptera) and are only found in New Zealand.  The Giant Weta, a forest-dwelling nocturnal species of Orthopteran can be found at sites such as the Karori Sanctuary, but we didn’t get to see them while we were there.  Some of the students were freaked-out by the weta and left the cave pretty quickly, or so I’ve been told.  In any case, we have another New Zealand endemic to add to our list.

Lara Guidi (Biology/ pre-med, 2016), Kristen Maddock (Biology, 2019), Dorian Shann (Physical Therapy, 2016) and Jack Capetola (Chemistry, 2016), from left to right, stand in front of Cleopatra's Pool and the rock slide along the Torrent River.

6 January 2014: camping and sea kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park

Our adventure into Abel Tasman National Park began with training from Mary at the Sea Kayak Company on how to use our sea kayaks and ended with an evening of our version of S’mores, New  Zealand-style.  Mary taught us the ins and outs of our sea kayaks and gave us some recommendations on where to look for Little Blue (or ‘fairy’) Penguins and southern fur seals during our paddle to the Anchorage campground in Abel Tasman National Park.  The students and faculty split into two groups and Dr. Moran and I led our respective groups to the campgrounds: Dr. Moran by land and myself by sea. 

My students and I faced a steady headwind enroute to Adele Island, but our efforts were rewarded with sightings of a few adult seals and a seal pup, who was spiraling around in the water near the island’s rocky coast.  After a short break along the island’s coast, we finished our paddle past the submerged ‘Mad Mile’, a rocky area along the coast along the route to Anchorage.  As we entered Torrent Bay, the site of the Anchorage Campground, a few of our students spotted a Little Blue Penguin swimming in the water!  In the run-up to the beach, we spotted Dr. Moran and his crew waiting on the beach for us to arrive (and get the lunch food!). 

After unloading the kayaks, our crew made its way to the area Dr. Moran’s group had selected for our four tents to be pitched.  It was a great site: all of our tents fit comfortably in a large clearing in the native bush and we had a fire pit/ grill in the center of the clearing, to boot!  The fire pit was surrounded by picnic benches and a table/ wood storage bin for fire wood.  We were set for grilling on a wood fire and using the gas-powered cook stoves.  Excellent!

Following the expedient erection of all four tents (these students are GOOD!), the students learned how to start the gas stoves and lunch was on!  We had hotdogs for our first lunch and everyone ate heartily, particularly because the hike and kayak trips were pretty tiring.  Lunch gave way to exploring our nearby beach and the fairly large beach (due to the low tide).  Sean Harrison (Business, 2016) quickly figured out the location of the caves lining the north end of our beach and he and several other students spent time exploring.  These caves would be the source of some fun later that evening…

After the backpacking-students had a break, they suited-up for a trip into Torrent Bay with the kayaks.  It sounded like all went well, although they quickly learned that paddling a kayak is a bit of work!  The weather was fantastic for a paddle: high 70sF, clear sky, and little wind.

All around us in the campground native and introduced birds filled the air with song.  Bellbirds gave their loud screeches from obscure perches in the low-growing trees, while introduced House Sparrows hopped on the ground in search of crumbs.  Several Mallard (introduced) females, one with a single ducking, begged for food (and Kristen Maddock was happy to oblige!), while native Fantails in the bushes flashed their tails while foraging to draw-out insects from their hiding places.  As an ornithologist, I wasn’t very excited to see the birds we have in North America, but the Bellbirds and Fantails were certainly a treat.  In North America, we don’t have an equivalent bird in the Bellbird, but for the Fantail, we have the American Redstart, which uses a similar foraging strategy as the Fantail.  Nevertheless, it was neat seeing these native birds of New Zealand.  Maybe I’ll study one of these species in the future…we’ll see!

Dinner tonight was prepared by Kate O’Driscoll (Biology/ pre-med, 2016) and Lara Guindi (Biology/ pre-med, 2016): pasta and leftover sausages.  After dinner, we followed-up on a tip on the caves on the beach: glowworms, fly larvae with bioluminescent abdomens, apparently were in the caves.  Sure enough, after dark, we made our way to the caves and we found that the deeper parts of the caves (only 10 feet from the entrance) were lined with glowworms!  It was an amazing site; it looked as if there were stars in cave, as the light produced by the larvae was aqua blue in color.  From some of the larvae, the silken thread used to capture prey could be clearly seen.  Our students witnessed a terrific natural phenomena…and I’m glad we didn’t have to stop in Hokitika again to see these little buggers (see the entry on Hokitika (10 January 2012) below).

Torrent Bay, Abel Tasman National Park, the site of our campground.  Not so bad, eh?

Students and Dr. Moran tending to or watching the campfire in the fire pit located at the center of our camground.

Glowworms lighting-up inside a cave in Torrent Bay, Abel Tasman National Park.

5 January 2014: Picton & Marahau

A drizzly morning was on the docket today as Dr. Moran and I awoke around 5:30am due to the large skylight above us in the sitting room of our ‘apartment’.  I made my way to the Rental Cars New Zealand this morning around 8:15 only to learn that our missing trailer was not missing, it was non-existent!  Unfortunately, the agent I worked with in Auckland a week ago never found our group a trailer to rent, so we were without a trailer!  I spent the next two hours talking to every and any car rental agencies that would listen trying to get a trailer for the remainder of our trip.  Louisa and Magda, at Ace Car Rental, worked to find a trailer in Picton for me, but again, to no avail.  Keeping my calm, I made my way back to our hostel to talk to Dr. Moran about our predicament.  It was then that the owners of the YHA came through for us.  Ok, so the room arrangements, as we learned, got mixed-up the previous night, but today, the owners, Kahu and Peter Bugler, would come through for us!  Peter asked his brother, Lloyd, whether we, a group of complete strangers, could borrow his trailer for the next 12 days…and then leave it 4 hours away in Christchurch.  To my amazement, and without having to sign my life away, Lloyd took a nominal fee for the ‘hire’ (Kiwi for ‘rent’) of his trailer.  So, we were back in action and on our way!  Many, many thanks are extended to the Bugler family for their generosity!

The trip to Marahau from Picton took us through Nelson, a coastal town with its own community-supported wildlife sanctuary, and miles and miles of vineyards.  This region of New Zealand is known for its vineyards and hops and it was evident throughout our journey.  The students slept most of the way to Marahau since we were up so late the previous night.  When we arrived in Marahau, we quickly got our gear out of the trailer and made our way to beach!

Marahau is the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park, one of the most-visited parks in the country.  Beaches line the main road through Marahau and our students were quick to do some exploring on the vast tidal flats that become evident during low tide.  The students searched-out hermit crabs, seastars, limbs of seastars (!), and clams that would be boiled or cooked on the grill at our accommodations for the evening: The Barn.  We have had great learning opportunities that have been fairly structured, now the students have taken the reins and are exploring and learning more about their environment without prompting.  Awesome!

We returned to the The Barn to cook dinner, including the clams from the beach, and prepared for our sea kayaking and backpacking trip into Abel Tasman National Park tomorrow.

The Bugler's trailer: a very functional solution to our problem!

Chris Lorch (Nursing, 2019) and Dorian Shann (Physical Therapy, 2016) looking at a seastar on the Sandy Bay (Marahau) tidal flat.

Our students soaking-up the Austral summer sun on the tidal flats of Sandy Bay (Marahau).

4 January 2014: Te Papa and Picton

Today was a big day, as we visited the marvelous national museum, Te Papa, and rode the enormous ferry, the Interislander, from Wellington to Picton in the evening.  We had some angst once we arrived in Picton, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

Te Papa is a museum with stunning displays and beautiful artistry.  The foci of today’s trip was on the geology of New Zealand, including the origin and potential danger of earthquakes in New Zealand, and the Treaty of Waitangi, the document written by British colonists and signed by Maori chiefs that amounted to the chiefs signing-away their privileges to Queen Victoria in the 1800s.  In addition to these two items, the students learned about the means by which the early Maori (Polynesians that arrived around 1000 A.D. in New Zealand) traveled the South Pacific and the types of adaptations plants in New Zealand have.  Several hours in the museum was enough for the students and then it was out to do some exploring of Wellington.  The last few hours on the North Island were spent shopping and grabbing a bite to eat…and for me, the reading of the first week’s-worth of journal entries written by the students.

In the evening, we caught the Interislander ferry to Picton, which proved to be a relatively benign trip given the relatively high winds that blew across the area this evening.  Unfortunately, our luck didn’t extend to our brief time in Picton.  Allow me to elaborate…

After landing in Picton, I walked to the Rental Car New Zealand site and learned that our rental van (only 339,000 km on it!) did not have a trailer!  So, our students spent the brief car ride from the ferry terminal to the hostel with their 30-40lb backpacks sitting on their laps!  Then, once we arrived at the hostel, we were without keys to get in!  Another visitor to the hostel was kind enough to tell me where our keys were hidden, but the surprises weren’t through yet!  Upon entering the hostel, our students determined that one of the rooms, which was to house 4 men, was already filled with 4 people!  Yikes!  So, at 1am, our women settled into their room, a room housing 3 of our men took two more who slept on the floor, and myself and Dr. Moran slept on the floor so two of our male students could have beds.  It was a crazy evening…

Our group in front of Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand.