Spectacular, Spectacular!

So as everyone knows, Milford Sound is one of New Zealand’s most spectacular scenery.  Well especially when the sun shines...and especially when it does so for 4 four days!  We have had an absolutely awesome few days in Dusky, Doubtful and Milford Sounds, with some pretty spectacular weather.  Not to mention some great wildlife.

Heading up the coast towards Milford the other day we had some excellent encounters with mottled petrels, six species of albatross, Westland and white-chinned petrels, and just south of Milford Sound three different grey-backed storm-petrels.  Within the Fiords we had encounters with bottle-nosed dolphins, NZ fur seals and managed a few Fiordland crested penguins around the place as well.

Our turnover day was in Milford Sound, with disembarkation in the morning of the 15^th Feb, and then embarkation by a new group of passengers mid-afternoon on the same day.  A few hours to tidy up paperwork, get some work done, and then it was all go again.  On the way out of Milford and heading down the coast a little way on 15 Feb, we had a single soft-plumaged petrel right beside the ship, which gave fantastic views.  We have then spent the last two days within Doubtful and Dusky Sound, sampling the beautiful scenery and again catching up with the local wildlife, before today heading southwards from Fiordland.  Our main target was to get to Stewart Island for a full day there tomorrow, but with fantastic conditions we decided to swing by the Solanders to take a look.  These small volcanic islands have nesting Buller’s albatross, as well as a small Australasian gannet colony, and of course a bunch of other species such as mottled petrels, prions, etc.  On the way massive flocks of sooty shearwaters were a real spectacle with Southern Royal, NZ wandering, Salvin’s, white-capped, and Buller’s albatross as well.  A good number of mottled and Cook’s petrels, with a smattering of white-chinned petrels were also seen.  We circumnavigated the Solanders a couple of times, and had great views of the albatross breeding up amongst the tussocks and forested slopes of the islands.  As we then headed north-east towards Stewart Island the sunshine continued, with the sea state being unbelievably calm for this part of the world.  Albatrosses continued and we even had a couple of Northern and a single Southern giant petrel.  BUT, the biggest surprise was the number of grey-backed storm-petrels!  We had at least 7 birds to the north-east of the island, with a couple earlier in the day before getting to the islands.  The main concentration was around S 46 deg 35.804’; E 167 deg 02.683’.  This was roughly 7-8 nautical miles north-east of the island, and makes me seriously wonder if they are breeding on the Solanders?  No reason why they couldn’t be up in the tussocks there.

So we are now pretty close to Stewart Island, and sounds like we will be tucked up in Patterson Inlet pretty shortly, with a great day on Ulva and in Oban tomorrow.  Can’t wait!

More photos to come, but this is one from today...

White-capped albatross off the Solander Islands in stunning light

Additional photos...

'Double rainbow!' - if you've seen the utube vid you'll laugh - at Stirling Falls in Milford Sound

Milford Sound on a glorious day

Mitre Peak backlit in the afternoon

Reflecting on life...

A smooth Thompson Sound

Beech and falls

Bull kelp

Acheron Passage in Dusky Sound

From Cascade Cove looking towards Long Island

Looking back towards Cascade Cove

Looking into Bowen Channel from Anchor Island in Dusky Sound

Sooty shearwaters littering the horizon

The Solanders (Little Solander on the right)

Buller's albatross over the ship

Fiordland bound...

Well we have just had a great day on Stewart Island.  Had the morning ashore on Ulva Island and saw everything we hoped to see including great views of yellowhead.  Even adults feeding recently fledged juveniles!  Of course there were loads of parakeets (both red-crowned and yellow-crowned), kaka, weka, saddleback, robin, and even glimpsed and heard a few rifleman.  So a great morning.  Then had the afternoon on the main island, doing a bus tour of the nearly 13km of road on the island!

We are just about to head off and up towards Dusky, Doubtful, and Milford Sounds, so will be up that way for the next five days.  During that time I won't have any internet access, so will post again when back in civilisation.

Until then, adiós!

Phone box Stewart Island style!

Zealandia (Karori Sanctuary)...rediscovery of the huia?

Well a good day in Wellington...overcast and cool this morning which was a big change for us.  We had a city tour in the morning, checking out a few of the local sights, as well as Te Papa.  Went and had a look at the colossal squid, which to be honest was a little underwhelming in size, but pretty cool to see nonetheless.

Then caught up with my good mate Nick Allan for lunch at the pretty trendy (but excellent lunch spot and food) Caffe L'affare.  Then back to the ship and off to Zealandia which used to formerly be known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.  The sun was gradually creeping through, and we had an excellent couple of hours walking the tracks in search of some of the bird species.  In a relatively short time we managed to notch up saddleback, stitchbird, kaka, red-crowned parakeet, North Island robin, brown teal, tui, bellbird, fantail, grey warbler, and silvereye, as well as four species of shag, NZ scaup, and even a couple of tuatara sunning themselves.  Not too shabby.  For a moment I thought I had rediscovered a population of huia, but alas they were stuffed and behind glass!  Oh well, guess one extinct species (New Zealand storm-petrel) will have to do for now...

Crikey!

Go East (Coast) young man!

So this morning I looked out my window, and there was Cape Kidnappers.  To be honest I was not expecting that, and what’s more there were common dolphins leaping from the water...not a bad way to start the day!  Even better there was a clear blue sky and then a glassy sea with almost 10cm of swell (if that).  We were heading south down the east coast of the North Island, along a piece of coast renowned for being isolated and off the beaten track.

With the lack of wind and calm conditions I was surprised to see a few birds starting to float past the ship – flesh-footed and Buller’s shearwaters, and then within a short time the first albatrosses of the trip started to appear.  White-capped and Salvin’s albatrosses, then a Northern Royal albatross, a Buller’s albatross, and finally the biggest of them all a Wandering albatross.  Where were these birds coming from?  With almost no wind they were a real surprise.  But at the end of the day who cares where they were coming from, they were here for us to enjoy!

A little later at least two, possibly three ocean sunfish were seen very close to the ship (just south of 40° South), then more albatross, even cutting right in front of the bow with beautiful reflections on the water, even a flying fish, and then another small pod of common dolphins.  This time coming in from the landward side of the ship, perfectly lit and visible beneath the surface as they came in towards the bow.  The photographers were ecstatic, and with perfect light and smooth conditions you could see them below the surface before they lept from the water, allowing stunning photos!  We continued to see some excellent birds over the course of the morning, with the odd Cook’s petrel, white-faced storm-petrel, and even a black-winged petrel.

After lunch the birds continued.  Mid-afternoon I gave an overview of the conservation initiatives that have occurred in New Zealand to save the weird and wonderful wildlife that New Zealand has become known for.  Many of these conservation initiatives have been used in other parts of the world to save endangered species from their introduced enemies.

The rest of the afternoon was then spent relaxing and watching more albatross and other seabird species drift past the ship, or enjoying a cup of tea and some quiet time, before the recap and then dinner.  Apparently there were even more common dolphins beside the ship at dinner, but I managed to miss them...this ship does seem to be a cetacean magnet!  However, the day belonged to the albatross – five species, and fantastic views of them all!

Buller's albatross skims the calm surface beside the ship

Ocean sunfish

Short-beaked common dolphin leaps from the water

Leaping forth - showing its scars

This one had really been in the wars - note the very ragged dorsal fin

New Zealand wandering albatross also skims the surface with its wing

The same bird against the sky

Gisborne to Napier

Well the fantastic weather continues!  Our day in Gisborne was hot, hot, hot, with temperatures in the high 20’s (deg C) and clear blue skies.  In the morning we visited Te Rongopai Marae and had a great intimate experience with the local iwi.  They welcomed us warmly onto their marae, gave us a kappa-haka performance, and as always provided a superb morning tea.

Back on the ship for lunch after a great view from Kaiti Hill above the port, and then on the buses again to visit Eastwood Hill Arboretum (somewhere I have never visited before) and then to Bushmere Estate Winery.  The Arboretum is a beautiful collection of trees planted over the last 100 years, and well worth a visit if you are in the area.  The cicadas were calling deafeningly and we managed to see a few NZ pigeon, and hear the odd bellbird...we will see more birds over the next few weeks.  There was certainly no time for birding when we arrived at Bushmere, with the marquee set up and the wines already chilled, it was straight into tasting their fantastic range of wines.  Not the usual sauvignon blancs, so some interesting stuff to sample, along with some nice platters.

We sailed in the evening with beautiful conditions before getting into Napier early the next morning...and it was another scorcher!  Apparently, record highs were recorded all around the country, so it really was a hot, hot, hot summers day!  And a perfect way to spend it was out at the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony.  We were met at the portside by Gannet Safaris and we headed out to the cape in their 4x4 buses.  We made the usual stops at the depot (bathroom stop) and then out through the farm, which after the very wet January we have just experienced was looking surprisingly green for this time of the year.  We encountered a few of the usual common farmland birds on the way out – skylark, goldfinch, greenfinch, ring-neck pheasant, feral turkey, Australian magpie, etc.  We stopped and looked out over the cliffs with their alternate layers of volcanic and river washed materials laid down over thousands of years, and then it was on to the main attraction at the Cape.

There was only a slight breeze, and beautiful clear conditions at the Plateau colony on the end of the Cape and with lots of chicks everyone was blown away by the spectacle.  Some chicks were probably only a matter of 10 days or so from fledging, but there were still a few very young chicks, and I even spotted an egg still being incubated.  I did a fair bit of interpretation and question answering as we watched everything unfold in front of us, and enjoyed a cup of coffee and some cake!

Then it was back on the busses and to the ship for lunch.  After lunch I took the afternoon off to head home for a few hours.  Nice to be at home and have a little time off...even though I was on dinner duty!  Back onboard the ship around 2215...luckily, as the gangway was already down and they thought everyone was already onboard...hmmmm!

The cliffs looking towards Clifton

The Plateau Colony with visitors

Gannets, gannets, everywhere!

Reflecting on the Port of Napier

Cranes at Port of Napier

A busy place