Until the Middle of October...

Had a nice chill few days here in Whakatiwai. Thursday around 1:00 a group of us went to Thames for a bit of shopping. We are going to the south island tomorrow and it's snowing there, so we all needed to bulk up on our warm clothing. I bought a melon colored merino wool sweater, and a quick dry tshirt from a Special K Marathon from Salvation Army. Sweet buys, I know. Also bought some New Zealand beer and chocolate. The essentials.

Came back, dinner, then had a party. Crazy party. A lot of fun though. Ended in Hug-Fest 2010 (basically we all were talking about how we missed hugs...so we had tons of group hugs. it was nice.).

Woke up the next morning, saw a rainbow, and packed for a day hike. Rainbows are a dime a dozen here. Almost everyday that I wake up I see one outside my window. Later in the day...I see another one. They are beautiful and never get old.


A group of us decided to go hike the ridge track in the Hunua Ranges. The mountains are in our backyard, and we wont be here around campus for much longer...so why not? It was beautiful.

The hike was a little over 9 miles, I think, at least it felt like that. We just continually walked up and up and up. Still nice though. Views were beautiful.
I even found this cute little bird's nest. And, the best part of the hike was when Paul started talking to a bell bird!!!! He was mimicking it's call, and the bell bird kept calling back. This lasted about 10 minutes. Then we saw him fly over head (the bird, not Paul). I had just done a presentation on bell birds and knew what they looked like, so I was able to identify the bird quickly. It was so cool!

That night we took it easy. We had a small fire down at the beach. The moon was full, or almost full, and beautiful. We all sat around and talked. A few of us stayed even longer. Beck and I kept finding smooth rocks on the beach. I found one that has a smooth curve in it. Perfect for carrying in your pocket. Kind of like a worry stone--not that I have anything to be worried about.

After the fire, we watched "The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert"--a movie about drag-queens who drive through the Australian desert. Didn't finish the movie, but what I saw of it was strange...funny but strange.

Today went for a bike ride into town to get some fish and chips. Delicious! Also packed and got ready for the south island. We leave tomorrow around 8:00 a.m. and don't come back until October 18th. We are going to Levin, Wellington, Nelson, Kaikoura, Hanmer Springs, Craigieburn, and probably some other places. We are staying at a few Marae. I'm super excited!!!!

So there wont be any posting from now until October 18th (most likely, unless I can find some internet cafes--but you also have to pay fro internet here). Hope y'all are doing well.

More on Hauraki Gulf

Started reading Eat Pray Love last night. I'm still really enjoying The Fountainhead it was just night to read something light at night. Plus I have been reading about Bellbirds for two days now.

Windy night. Felt like I was going to wake up with a yellow brick road outside of my little cabin. You'll all be happy to know that I still found my large banana tree and cement walkway littered with snails who didn't quite survive people walking to their cabins at night. May they rest in peace.

Drove to a lookout point today to view part of the Hauraki Plains. Once again it was crazy windy. We couldn't really see much because of the rain clouds--hence no picture.

Then we drove to a town nearby, Ngatea ("Nahteeah"). It is a dairy farm town. Surrounding the area are hundreds of hectares of farm land. We talked about how runoff of farming effluent is a major issue for the Firth of Thames (body of water outside my door, and what the effluent is dumped into essentially). There is a series of canals, leading to two major rivers, which carries the runoff into the Firth of Thames.

Walked around the town for a bit to stretch our legs and grab a cup of coffee. Unfortunately I only brought American money (silly me) and just sat and flipped through beautiful holiday magazines about New Zealand. Over all not a bad time. The cafe was really cute too. It was called the Copper Kettle.

After our stop in Ngatea, we drove to the Miranda Bird Center. It is not far from our camp in Whakatiwai.

Inside we looked at a lot of taxidermy birds. Did a bit of shopping--all proceeds go towards the conservation of shorbirds. I of course still had American money, but will mostly likely be going back at some point. I can bike there in about and hour and a half. Nice bike ride too...flat!

Here are some pictures of what we saw there.

Fantail. There is a book at the center called "Abigail the Fantail" which may or may not be coming home with me at the end of this trip.
Morepork Owl. This one's for you Mom.

Motutapu

Early morning, yesterday, loaded up the vans and left by 7:15 a.m. (mind you this was after watching Lord of the Rings: Return of the King until midnight-ish). Tried to sleep on the way to Auckland...didn't really work. The roads are so bumpy here and the vans we have just rattle and shake like crazy. In Auckland we got on a ferry headed for the island of Motutapu. On the way we stopped at Rangitoto, one of the newest islands in the Hauraki Gulf. It is a volcano that erupted around 500 years ago. No one lives on the island anymore, but there are some old vacation homes. Motutapu is directly next door, and was once covered in the volcanic ash from the eruption on Rangitoto.

When we arrived, we were met by volunteer coordinators. Hiding from the elements--extreme rain and wind--we entered an old barn. In the barn, we were given a brief history of Motutapu. Once inhabited by Maori, until the volcanic eruption. The island was then inhabited by Europeans. Specifically one couple who turned the land into a farm. In the 1990s the island was turned into a conservation site. The project that we helped with was reforesting part of the island to indigenous bush.It was a steep hike/walk up the muddy hill, not to mention it was blowing all over the place! Sam and I paired up and started planting. As a group we planted 400 trees. The soil was amazing! So porous and fertile. It was really dark in color, and smelled so good! (Weird I know).

In the middle of planting it started to pour. Typical. We huddled under a tree for shelter with some of the volunteer coordinators and our field leader, Chris and his wife. It was funny listening to Ken (one of the coordinators) talking about customer service calls. He was complaining about how he hates when they ask you security questions and how he just asks them security questions. Can't really capture how funny it was in text. Had to be there. Then we ate snake sweets--pretty much gummy worms but snakes...the only snakes in New Zealand.

At the end of the day we wondered down to the beach. I found so much beach glass! Big pieces too. My collection is slowly growing, and now have 47 pieces (+a piece of blue and white porcelain and 1/4 of a plate). We ate sausages between slices of bread, and waited for the ferry.

On the ferry ride home we saw a ridiculous amount of rainbows. That's one thing, it may rain like crazy here, but there are tons--and I mean tons of rainbows. We even saw a double rainbow on the ferry ride.

Grabbed some gelato at the pier and headed home. Long day...really long day, but so much fun. It really felt nice to do some community service on an ongoing project. Thinking of asking if they need an intern to work in their nursery for next summer.

Had a chill day today. Class didn't start until 1:00, and only lasted one hour. Tons of reading to do now though. Oral presentations are wednesday, I have a paper due Saturday, and a weekend to plan....crazy! Leaving for the South island on Sunday!!!!! Going to be gone for 4 weeks--I'll try to keep up with blogging the best that I can.

Going to the Miranda Bird Center tomorrow.

Opoutere

Went to Opoutere this week (Tuesday through Friday). After a two hour drive along the Coromandel Peninsula-through the grand hills-we arrived at the YHA. It was such a nice place to stay. A couple of white cabins dotted the property along with the main house. I was lucky enough to stay in the main house in a room with 3 other girls. The house had a sweet kitchen with 4 stoves allowing us to make a lot of delicious food. We eat so much here at EcoQuest, but we work it all off with the long days. In the house there was also a family room/game room with a fire place. Lovely! Best part? There was an avocado tree on the property so we all indulged in the best food ever!

Once we arrived and unpacked, we went out to start conducting the shellfish survey. We went down to the estuary during low tide and followed along transacts to little pink flags. Then we dug a square in the sand and sifted through the sand. We measured cockles and wedge shells which are easily effected by the sedimentation of the estuary. Chris, my partner, and I must have counted over 500 shells in the 3 days.
Later our group was split into two groups. My group hiked to the top of the Pa site first. It was a nice hike, though it was really steep and our field leader practically runs up the mountain. At the top the view was incredible. We looked down on the Wharekawa Harbor estuary. Here is a picture.Don't let the pictures fool you, as I said in my last post, it did rain. The second day. After the hike, my group went out kayaking. We had to practice wet exits and t-rescuing. The water was freezing!!!! But we had layers on and it was still really fun.

The next day my group broke up again into two, and we worked on our oral presentations for a few hours. My group talked about sedimentation rates in the Wharekawa Harbor estuary. Mostly coming from the plantation forestry within the catchment (watershed). In the afternoon we went down to the estuary to go vegetation transacts. The rush plants were so sharp! And of course I was only wearing fleece pants, and was stuck all over. I was also bitten like crazy by these black fly things. Still fun though, and wicked muddy.The next day started again with the shellfish survey. Unfortunately it was raining, blowing like crazy, and really cold. We couldn't feel our feet or our hands but persevered through all in the name of conservation.

We were supposed to switch groups from the day before, and my group was going to go kayaking, but the weather wasn't cooperating. The winds were too strong for us to kayak. Instead we continued work on our presentation. We sat in the fireplace room and eventually all laid on the floor like sardines and fell asleep as Holliday read us children's books. It was so nice to just chill for an afternoon.
The final day we got up early again for the shellfish survey. Beck, Denny, and I volunteered to go down earlier to help the field leaders set up the transacts. It was really neat to get the additional hands on experience. I really enjoy field work.
After counting hundreds more shellfish, we returned to the hostel to pack up. Then took the drive home before the gale force winds started.
Last night we had a huge storm, and lost power. This didn't stop a bunch of adventurers though. Equipped with head lamps we had a party in granny's (our hang out spot). The only thing missing was music. Eventually the power came on, but we were only able to hear/dance to half a song before we lost power again. One of the fruit trees was blown over when we woke up this morning. It's still raining, and is supposed to for the next few days. Of course.
Today a few of us went into Thames to do a bit of shopping. I bought flannel, a striped sweater, New Zealand wine, pencils, and the most important, CHOCOLATE! Sam, Sara, and I also stopped in at a coffee shop called Coco Espresso. I had iced coffee, that came with cream on top. Delicious!Now I'm just chilling in the Wharekai because it's our day off, but it's raining off and on. Just chased a bird out. Been happening a lot lately. Tomorrow we leave for Motutapu. Check out this site for information: www.motutapu.org.nz

Gone for a few days

Today was mostly lecture again. We learned the basics of estuaries in preparation for our trip tomorrow. We are traveling to Opoutere (pronounced Ohpoterie) on the east side of the Coromandel peninsula. We have to leave by 8:00 in the morning! That means early shower, early breakfast, and quickly finishing the dishes since I volunteered for kitchen crew.
In Opoutere we are conducting an ongoing shellfish survey. Not really sure what it is going to entail, all that I know is we are doing it rain or shine (and we have rain forcast...like every other day here). We are also hiking up a Pa site. These were built by Maori as places of refuge during times of war. They also conducted trench warfare from the Pa sites. After the hike, we are taking a basic kayak class because we will be kayaking around the estuary.

I'm so excited, I just wish that it wasn't going to be cold and rainy this week.

Here is a picture of what it would look like (what I hope it will look like).

but remember...it's going to rain...

City of Sails

Went to Auckland this weekend with a group of 13. Got up early Saturday morning to catch the train in Papakaura. Nice train. Arrived in Auckland and unfortunately we had just missed the Polynesian Market, so we decided to go the the Victoria Park Market instead. By this time it was pretty much pouring, and half of the market was outside...so we left. Did a bit of shopping (more like gasping at prices because things in Katmandu were so expensive). Went to another outdoor sports store (fully dressed in all of our gear mind you, because despite being in a city we all looked like backpackers) which had the biggest tents I have ever seen! They had 3 rooms!

After a bit of shopping, we went to Vulcan Lane for some food. Sam and I went to Tusca (a little Spanish cafe) and ate spring onion and feta scones and coffee. I had a delicious cappuccino.




Then we checked into our hostel. We stayed at the Nomad Fat Camel hostel of Fort Street. It was actually really nice. We had an apartment with 3 rooms, 8 of the girls stayed in one, Sam, Cara, and I stayed in one with 3 other woman. We only talked to one, she was from France and was staying in Auckland for a week. Chris and John stayed in the apartment next door with their roommate Albert.



We then ventured back out to this hipster bar/vintage store called Supermarket. It was incredible. Definitely need one in Portsmouth! Everyone was sitting, sipping beer and wine reading classic novels. There was a giant disco ball in the middle of the room (and I mean giant!). I'd like to go back after the program. The boys weren't too impressed.


Walked around the University of Auckland (not so fun since it was pouring!). Then we walked down to the wharf. Saw one of the America's cup boats.



We had fish and chips for dinner, with a great salad, at the oldest bar in Auckland. It was really cute inside. Rustic wood floors with a deer on the wall (wearing a hat), and beautiful silver mirrors. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.

After dinner we went to the ITM Cup Rugby game between Auckland and Wellington. It was pouring! Our seats were soaked, so we moved further up and hoped the people would never show up. Luckily they didn't! The game was fun, freezing but fun. Auckland won!

Everyone went clubbing afterward. Sam and I found this great wine bar (picture it: velvet couches, dim lighting, hard wood floors, a fire place, candles scattered around) but because we didn't have our passports with us-even though we had like 3 forms of I.D.-we got kicked out. So instead we went to Esquires Coffee Shop and hung out for two hours. Again I had a cappuccino and a piece of chocolate cake. Yum!

The next morning we all went to Esquires Coffee Shop again for breakfast. Then we split ways. Most people went to the Auckland Museum. While this would have been fun, it had just stopped raining so 5 of us decided to hike to the top of Mt. Eden, one of Auckland's volcanoes. We hopped on the bus and headed out of the city. The hike was easy and only about 20 minutes, but the views were phenomenal!




Ate lunch at the General Food Store. Had corn fritters (New Zealand pancakes with corn).
Grabbed some gelato, then took the train home. It felt so good to shower once I get back!

Leaving for Opoutre on Tuesday. We will be there for like 3 or 4 days...not totally sure.

Today was another predominately lecture day. Unfortunately the sun was out for a good portion of the lecture. Basically today we covered the basics of biodiversity. How habitat loss and destruction are the major contributing factors, and brainstormed some idea of how to end habitat loss.
At 11:00 we luckily got to take a small trip to the local regional park, Waharau. (Picture to the left). On our walk we talked about a multitude of species. One species in particular is called Lancewood. To the right is a picture of when it is just a juvenile. As it grows older the leaves change to more of a broad shape. They can grow to be quite tall and have slender trunks. We all thought they looked a bit like Dr. Seuss trees, though our field leader said that there are trees which look just like truffula trees (can't wait!) We also saw a tree called Rewarewa. The area that we were hiking around had previously been farmland (cleared with fires), and that the Rewarewa bark is fairly resistent to fires and that's most likely why the tree we saw was so large. We also got to see what are called kidney ferns. They look like these kidney shaped leaves just sticking out of the ground. What's cool is that in dry climates the leaves completely
curl up, dry up,
and then re-open when rain falls.
Again we saw tons of tree ferns. Which, like I said before get to be huge. They look kind of like palm trees (and you think for a moment that you could be in Costa Rica-although NZ does have what are considered temperate rain forests).
Well I should get to my reading, since I have a presentation tomorrow.

Powhiri

Today we visited the local Marae of Ngati Poao and Ngati Whanangua (the two iwi or tribes). We went for a Powhiri or welcome onto the Marae. There is a lot of protocol associated with the Marae. For example we arrived outside the gate and had to wait until it was time to come in. Women walk in first and a woman from our group (Ria in this case) and an elder woman of the Maori tribe perform a call and response as we enter.

Because it was raining we entered directly into the Wharenui or meeting house, the woman sat in the back and the men in the front. Then we heard a story from a man called Wi. He welcomed us onto the Marae. After his speech the woman behind him stood and sang a waiata or song to show support. Then Jono (from our side) stood and gave a speech, thanking the Maori people for having us. He gave thanks to past generations as well as future generations. Then we all stood and sang to support him. The song we sang is called "E tu Kahikatea" and the lyrics go:

E tu Kahikatea
He whakapae uruoa
Awhi mai awhi atu
Tatou, tatau e

It is about a type of tree called Kahikatea that has really shallow roots, but can grow really tall so long as it stands together with other Kahikatea.

After the welcome, we gathered in the Wharakai or house of food for refreshments.

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, but here are a few photos of other Marae.

After the visit at the Marae, we returned to campus for a chill afternoon.

I have a lot of reading to catch up on, especially since I have to make a five minute presentation on Thursday. Wish me luck!

A Little Background

Today was predominately lecture. Luckily the weather was a bit cold and rainy so it wasn't too tough being stuck inside all day.
Our lectures today centered around the biogeography and biodiversity of New Zealand. One of the species we discussed was the Kiwi (to the right). Kiwis are flightless birds, nocturnal, and have a heightened sense of smell. At the end of their beaks they have sensory organs and nostrils which help them locate invertebrates deep in the soil. Plus they are just so damn adorable!

We also learned about the Maori people, before Pakeha (non-maori people) came to New Zealand. The Maori have only been in New Zealand for about 1000 years. When they arrived in Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud) they found a densely forested land. Unfortunately they began deforestation for resources and clearing of the land.
So New Zealand, while still densely covered in bush, is nothing like it was before. One of the trees that New Zealand is losing is the Kauri. I saw a few of them on our hike through the Hunua Falls Mountain Range, but again they are few and far between and not nearly as tall as they once were. The trees stand really tall and straight and were used for ship masts. When we hiked through the Hunua Falls Mountain Range we had to clean off our boots, just to ensure we were carrying a parasite which is attacking the trees.

Later today we also learned our Maori song which we will sing after Jono makes his speech at the Marae. People sing after each speech to show support for the speaker and give to their mana (or honor/status). I'm so excited to go to the Marae tomorrow. We are going for a Powhiri (or welcome). I'll try and take pictures, but I'm not sure if it will be allowed. I'll definitely remember the experience and share it with y'all.

Tēnā Koe (Hello)

Tēnā Koe (Hello)
Went on our first field exercise yesterday, and hiked through the Hunua Falls Mountain Range. It was about a 40 minute drive from Kaiaua (the closest town to Whakatiwai). Once we arrived we took a quick glance at the falls. They were beautiful, despite the locals wading in the water, drink in hand, with either the tiniest underwear or no underwear on. Let’s just say we got a bit of a show.
Anyway, we then started hiking up the Hunua Range. Everything was a bit muddy, since in New Zealand it rains like every 10 minutes for about 3 minutes. It only rained for a little bit during the day, and the bush (a.k.a. the woods) is dense so you barely even knew it was raining. There are so many tree ferns covering the forest. Everything looks like Jurassic park! I’m beyond surprised that I didn’t see any dinosaurs-as silly as that sounds.
After our lovely hike, we were all a bit sore and a bit tired. As a treat, our field leaders booked us a reservation at the Miranda Hot Springs. It was the largest geothermal pool in the southern hemisphere. It was basically a glorified pool/hot tub, but it felt wonderful. We stayed for a while, and eventually it was even too hot.
Today we got to sleep in a bit, and headed to the Tapapakanga beach around 10:00 a.m. Unfortunately because it is just early spring, it was a bit chilly and windy. Once we got there we wondered around a bit in the tide pools. I even saw a sea star!
After walking around for a bit, we did this exercise to explore ourselves. We were asked what has influenced us in the past that made us who were are, what our core beliefs and values are, how we express our beliefs, and where we hope to be in the future. It was nice to sit and think about being here. Everything is so quickly paced that you never really get to sit and think, wow I’m actually living in New Zealand, and how incredible that is. I still can’t really believe it.
Later in the day we were split into groups of 5 and had to make a sculpture representing sustainability. My group made a sculpture of a hermit crab, “Bernard”, because hermit crabs use their shells for a period of time, leave there shells, and then a new hermit crab inhabits the shell. The entire process is circular-i.e. sustainable.
When we arrived back at camp a few of us decided to don highlighter yellow helmets and orange high visibility vest and go for a little bike ride. We biked into the town to get some delicious ice cream. I had a Memphis Meltdown Big Nuts. Basically vanilla ice cream with peanuts, caramel, and chocolate. Delicious. The best part? The warning on the back:
Warning: this is just an ice cream product, not to be used to direct air traffic, or to increase fertility
Amazing! Now we are all sitting in the Wharakai (house of food) waiting for some delicious pizza to be done.
Tuesday we are visiting a Maori!!!!!!

Arrival

Finally made it to New Zealand! After a 2 hour flight to Cleveland, in a plane that was too small to stand up straight in, and sounded/felt like it was going to fall apart at any moment (a real stressful two hours let me tell you). Then a 4 hour flight to LAX, the cutest 9 week old baby next to me (surprisingly quiet-but not the 2 year old behind me who screamed the entire time). Then I waited in the LA airport for hours, and I'm talking like 12 hours. I sat in a food court for a few hours then happened to run into a friend of mine who is also here in NZ. About 9 hours late we finally boarded our Qantas flight to NZ. The flight was 13 1/2 hours but luckily when we boarded it was 3:00 am East Coast time so I had already been awake for 24 hours and got to sleep 9 hours on the flight. Awesome! Everyone is super nice. There are 19 girls and 6 guys. Once we got off the airplane, we headed through customs-easy! Then got in vans and drove a very curvy road to the EcoQuest camp. New Zealand is incredibly beautiful. Incredibly beautiful (it's worth repeating). There are rolling hills everywhere! Sheep and cows everywhere, and right now the lambs and calves have just been born. Today is September 1st (what kiwis consider the first day of spring). The camp overlooks the Coromandel peninsula which is steep with mountain ranges. The beach is really nice and wide, and everywhere you can smell the salty ocean. All around camp there are fruit trees, which we can pick fruit from. The area that I am in is called Whakatiwai (pronounced with an "F" sound for the "Wh") it's in the Firth of Thames. Every time I turn around I just gasp at how beautiful it is. We are in such a lovely spot. My roommate is named Anna and our little cabin overlooks a banana tree, which also has this sweet nectar that you can use as a sugar substitute. Amazing! Everything is sustainable. We grow our own food, have a compost pile, source local meets, you name it, we have it. I'm so excited to be living with like minded people.