P.S. The Sound of Music

Dr. Hos wants you to know that if you miss the sweet sounds of the Gatorwaka, you can catch them online here.

August 2nd, 2014 Plenty of Warm Sunshine, A Future Farm...Now, Markets, The Willowbank Experience, and a Rugby Game

Graeme shows us the battery storage system for his solar panels.

A neat little set up for using the sun to run a fan and heat up a cold metal shed!

Despite our time here winding down, we were up with the sun and rattling our dags to get as much in as we can and today was no exception.  The weather gods smiled on us with brilliant warm sun (and strong gales from the northwest) that boosted our spirits.  We started our day at Graeme and Karen's lifestyle block farm.  Graeme works at Landcare Research and in his "spare" daylight-savings time (even in winter) hours manages to keep a farm of apples, apricots and almonds.  When he is not tending to his trees, he is busy keeping up with all of the latest technology from the world so that he can be as off the grid as possible.  His house and farm sport solar panels and all sorts of gadgets he has rigged up like a tinted plexiglass panel for collecting and distributing heat from the sun to his cold metal shed and a system in his house to heat the water from the wood stove.  He collects the rainwater to filter and use in the house and even has a wind turbine that he is working on getting up and running.  All very inspiring to show how much can be with little things and little steps to lower our impact on our planet.

SHEEP!  And LAMBS!

Graeme and Karen also keep some sheep to help with strategic mowing in the orchards and it is lambing season, so, of course, we had the extra treat of getting to visit with the sheep and their babies in a field and feed them.  Tooooooo cute!

Lincoln Market

Next we were off to two Saturday Markets - Lincoln's boasted their monthly special market with the stall holders entertaining patrons with their musical talents (and a Happy Birthday to our friend Amy who turned 15 today), and Riccarton Bush was bustling with folks on such a beautiful day.

Back in Lincoln, Hillyer's pies were in order as this delicacy is not easily duplicated in the states.  By the way, here are the winners of this year's New Zealand pie contest.

Lemurs watching us watching them.

In mid afternoon we loaded up the Gatorwaka and set out for Willowbank Reserve.  Willowbank cares for New Zealand wildlife that occurs both naturally in the country as well as species that are part of the country's history (i.e., species that were introduced by colonists over time).  Some of these species are domestic such as chickens and horses, others have become pest species such as wallabies and possums.  The park seeks to educate residents and visitors as to the heritage and challenges New Zealand's animal species bring to the table.  

Ancient, wise and prized by the Maori, the Tuatara can live to 300+ years.

Our tour also included native New Zealand species where we saw our first Tuatara, Kiwi, Takahe, and Morepork.

And, we got to experience Ko Tane - a Maori cultural performance.  Connor got to be our chief and made sure to let the Maori Village know that we came in peace by accepting their offering and performing a proper Hongi. We all had a wonderful time, and our gals got to give Poi a go, and our guys got to give a Haka a go as part of the performance.

Traditional stick game song.

Following our tours we had a traditional Hangi dinner and had a chance to thank Colin, Tupelo, and Jámm for their assistance with the course, and of course, the students for their enthusiasm and sense of adventure for making the course a success! 

Enjoying the Hangi together.

Finally, we ended our evening with the locals at the Famous Grouse Hotel/Pub to cheer on the Crusaders in the Rugby Finals.  Unfortunately it was not in the cards for the Crusaders who lost in the last second by one point to the New South Wales Waratahs.

Cheers, Meryl and Mark

August 1, 2014 DOC Nursury, Port Hills Panorama, Exploring Governor's Bay, Afternoon Tea in Lytteton and a Birthday

Checking out the Department of Conservation signage.

It was hardly the "warm blustery northwesterly" Metservice forecast, but slightly warmer temps held for a third day in a row making our day out at least dry and clear.  We began at the local Department of Conservation nursery where we practiced identifying native plants.  This nursery serves as a source for locally sourced plants, which is important for preserving genetic integrity for plants planted within this region of the country.

Lunch with a view of Lyttelton Harbor (we can almost see the tussock we moved on Quail Island)

Next up, my favorite hike in the Port Hills - the Crater Rim Walkway section near Omahu Bush Reserve which offers 360 views that include the Pacific Ocean, Birdlings Flat, Lake Ellesmere, the Canterbury Plains/Christchurch area and views to the Southern Alps and of Lyttelton Harbor.  We hiked up to a large rocky outcrop where we ate our lunch and enjoyed the views.  Then the "blustery" weather got more blustery and we decided it was time to move on.

Tory shows a little crab she found under the rocks at low tide at Governor's Bay.

After driving along the Summit Drive of the Port Hills we headed down to Governor's Bay to explore the rocks and look for sea life whilst (as they say here) the tide was out.  We found little crabs under rocks, played in the mud (intentionally and unintentionally) a little, and enjoyed the views and sheltered-from-the-shoreline walk along the rocky shore.

Happy Birthday Christina!

Then we were off for tea time in Lyttelton and a chance to celebrate Christina's Birthday!  The Squad is off for a night out in Christchurch.  Have fun and Cheers, Meryl

July 31, 2014 Third Time's The Charm - Birdlings Flat

Kaitorete Spit along Lake Ellesmere

Another beautiful day with strong winds and warm temps. We started the day entering over 100 species of plants and animals that we have seen on Nature Watch NZ (see http://naturewatch.org.nz/ and look for UF Biodiversity course under projects). The students (or the squad) wanted to go back to Birdlings Flat and we also decided to take the 18 km trip along Kaitorete Spit is New Zealands second longest sand spit hosting several unique species of flora and fauna, including the only native spider with a poisonous bite, the Katipo (don't worry, they are very rare and we did not see any). 

Little did we know the adventure (especially for me) driving the Gatorwaka through quite a few paddocks with a gravel road and judder bars. I wanted to explore the spit (having never been there) and see were the salt water meets the fresh water of the lake. On y va! (french for here we go)

Gate keeping across paddocks.

Sooooooooooo cute!

First up was some marvelous up close views of ewes (sheep that is of the female kind) with their newly born lamb. Lots of ohhs and ahhhhs and their so cute from the squad. The road to the end of the spit was a mixture of pasture, natives (small shrubs, Muehlenbeckia astonii), and of course lots of beach with ROCKS to collect.

Ewww of a different kind.

Rocks, glorious rocks!

View out across the Pacific Ocean.

When we go to the opening where the ocean met the lake, we saw freshwater pouring out of Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora). It looked green and full of silt. Lake Ellesmere is one of the most polluted lakes in New Zealand (see https://www.selwyn.govt.nz/facilities-and-parks/facilities/lake-ellesmere) and it used to be a big fishing area, particularly for flounder and eels caught by local Maori. However, wastewater runoff from farms (loaded with nitrates) has polluted the lake and there is an effort to improve the lakes water quality by changing farming practices upstream. See also http://www.wet.org.nz/  We had a close look at where all the nutrients go from the urban and rural  landscape. It even relates to back home where plenty of Floridians dump fertilizers on their lawns, and most of the fertilizers end of up our ground water and waterways. One can see our clean/clear springs changing right before our eyes!

We ended the day relaxing on Birdlings Flat (of course collecting more rocks). Watching gannets and other birds fishing and eating fish. 

Dr. H

July 30th, 2014 Weeds, Cricket, and Wunder

Rima shows us how to properly weed a native planting.

60.8 F today and forecast to be as warm as 66 F in the next few days.  After being so bundled up for the last few weeks, we felt hot as we got our morning workout helping Rima and Te Ara Kakariki Greenway Canterbury Trust weed the 1,000 native plants planted this past summer.  The trust was established in 2006 to promote native plants and native plant communities in the Canterbury plans.  It is a long term goal of the trust to one day see the return of the Kakariki to the Canterbury plains as well.  So today, we were doing our part by weeding. As Dr. Hos says, "Planting is the sexy part of restoration.  It is the care and maintenance where things get harder."  That being said, it was our pleasure to help Rima and her partner, Paul, out as well as Selwyn Council Member, Peter Hill.  We spent the morning being feeling more "super hero" than sad as we went about investigating which plants survived a very wet June.  Despite the wet conditions in June, it was dryer on the property today and thus, we did not see any mudfish that Rima and Dr. Hos told us about.  About 30% of the native plantings; however, were lost to flooding and conditions being too wet, but 70% were doing well.  It was very exciting finding a planting still alive despite being almost overtaken with grass, uncovering it carefully and then re-staking it out.  The Council will spray the remaining weed grass now that we have weeded the grass from around the native plantings. Rima and Paul even generously brought us tea and cookies out in the field.  What a treat!

Weeding.

The site looking past to a farm next door and the Southern Alps in the distance.

The gang all together.

This afternoon we couldn't resist fish and chips and pies and then a rematch of our Cricket game.  This time the score was a devastating 92 to 27 as The Fantails won handily against the Black Kiwis.

Playing Mafia Card Game at Wunderbar.

Tonight we are out meeting Dean and Colin at Wunderbar in Lyttelton.  Cheers, Meryl

Queenstown: The Adventure Captial of New Zealand

Kia Ora!
Queenstown was originally valued for its pounamu -- greenstone -- and moa and then its prosperity under the gold rush in the 1800s, but today it's one of the world's greatest destinations for ADVENTURE!

With so much to do and so little time the squad didn't waste a second. As soon as we arrived we went to Fergburger. Fergburger is basically the iconic burger joint of Queenstown and according to Erin and Alicia the burgers are "big, juicy, beautiful and a bit messy".

 

Alicia chowing down on her Fergburger.

Josh and Braden enjoying Milford Sound.

Erin's best day ever face.

The following day Josh, Braden, Alicia and Erin were all fortunate enough to visit the incredible Milford Sound. Erin explains their day perfectly. We took a bus ride through Fiordland National Park to Milford Sound, where we toured the area by boat. Fiordland National Park is New Zealand's largest national park, and is a magnificent 13,000 square kilometers of pure beauty. On the bus tour, we stopped alongside massive glaciers, drank from the crystal clear glacial rivers, and saw avalanche trails, snow-covered mountaintops, and reflective lakes. The bus trip to Milford Sound was absolutely spectacular, but nothing compared to the Sound itself. Dubbed the eighth wonder of the world by Rudyard Kipling, Milford Sound lives up to its reputation. We learned a lot while on the ship: that Milford Sound is falsely named because it is actually a glacially-created fjord, that it is the wettest inhabited area in New Zealand, that it is bordered by the Tasman Sea, and that it was often missed by early explorers because the opening is hard to spot from the ocean. But mostly, we learned that it is easily the most beautiful place we will ever see. It was a wonderful adventure!


Our next adventure was skiing and snowboarding. Katherine, Tory and Le'a took the evening to night ski at Cornet peak. While Josh and Braden skied The Remarkables the following day. Tory compared the runs to what you would expect out west in the USA, but much shorter. We enjoyed several runs down the mountain with a few sit-downs due to the ice patches. We couldn't help but notice that the lights on the mountain were all extremely bright and uncovered, shielding any view of the stars above us.

Katherine, Le'a and Tory taking on the slopes.

Now for the adrenaline junkies. The squad started our Saturday morning at AJ Hackett Bungy, where some of the squad took on the challenge of throwing ourselves off the Kawarau Bridge, 43 meters above the Kawarau River. The Kawarau Bridge is home to the world's first and most famous jumps. Overcome with nerves and excitement we each successfully completed the jump! You could say we are a little insane, but the feeling of falling, although frightening at first, was absolutely incredible. It literally takes your breath away! 

Braden, Tory, Christina, Katherine and Le'a happy to have completed the jump.

Our next adrenaline rush was skydiving that same afternoon. We embraced the fear of jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft at 12,000ft at 200kph and did tandem skydiving through NZONE Skydive. In 1990, NZONE Skydive was NZ's first tandem skydive operation and they are now celebrating 23 years of skydiving. So we were in good hands! Once we took the leap out of the aircraft door we experience 45 seconds of free fall. In those seconds we went through the clouds and essentially felt like we were flying. It was an unreal experience to say the least. Then once the canopy opened and we slowed down, we were able to see the dramatic scenery of NZ. Like a bird soaring high in the sky we got to experience the true beauty of the NZ landscape. The only way to describe that feeling is pure bliss. That moment we landed, overcome with happiness, was unimaginable. It was the best experience of my life!

Christina, Le'a, Tory and Katherine all ready to Skydive.

Then the squad packed up our stuff and boarded a bus back to Christchurch to end the best weekend EVER. The bus ride back was even beautiful as the day was clear and we were able to get a glimpse of Mt. Cook, an amazing site to see in NZ.

Beautiful view of Mt. Cook

We made it back to Lincoln and the Squad was finally reunited again. Over dinner we exchanged stories and got to hear about the relaxing weekend Connor and Sam had in Christchurch. Sam said the damage from the earthquakes is still readily apparent and, although the city has a great spirit of resilience, it's obvious that Christchurch isn't what it used to be. Despite that, Christchurch does have a certain charm and innovative ideas they've had to make the most of the post-earthquake devastation and rebuilding.They explored the Restart Mall, which is a shopping center built entirely from freight shipping containers for most of the morning. They had lunch at Dimitri's Greek Food for some delicious falafel pitas. Then spent the rest of the day with more exploring before heading back to Lincoln. 

Restart Mall in Christchurch

We can all say it was a weekend full of adventures and magical memories for a lifetime!
Cheers! Christina

July 24, 2014 Nature Watch, Maori Language Week, and Off on Adventures

Kia Ora!  We spent the morning learning how to enter our New Zealand observed birds, cave weta, geko, seals, etc into Nature Watch New Zealand, a web site that hopes to "build a living record of life in New Zealand that scientists and environmental managers can use to monitor changesbiodiversity, and that anyo use to learn more about New Zealand's amazing natural history."
This afternoon, many of our students are headed down to Queenstown and Milford Sound for their free weekend while some will stay in Christchurch and explore their surrounds.  We will all report back in a few days about our time off.

Cherish the language; it's Maori Language Week!

We will also know the best pies in New Zealand by Tuesday as they are being judged.
Safe adventuring everyone! -Meryl : )

Wednesday July 23, 2014 Kaikoura Adventures

Kia Ora!

The Squad hiking the Kaikoura Coast

The squad hopped out of bed this morning, ate breakfast at the Dusky Lodge, and headed out for a day of adventures. We started off by checking Whale Watch Kaikoura to see if the weather was clear enough for some of us to experience the sperm whales right off the coast. Unfortunately the waves were too rough and the tours were canceled.

However, we did still learn about whales in the reception area! One of our favorite things we discovered was about the giant sperm whale's buoyancy. Due to the large quantities of oil in their bodies, they can regulate it. By regulating the temperature of spermaceti in their heads, the sperm whale can alter it's buoyancy. When exposed to cold air on the surface, the oil cools and hardens forming a solid wax denser than the water that helps them descend. To melt the waxy film, the whale's capillaries pump blood which allows them to be less dense and ascend more easily.

We jumped back in the Gator Waka and drove to tea time at the Why Not Cafe. With some warm drinks in our bellies, we were ready for our hike around the Peninsula Seal Colony on the Kaikoura Coast. We started at Point Kean where we ran into many resting Kekeno (the Maori name for New Zealand Fur Seals meaning "looks around").

Fur seal "looking around"

Fun Fact: During the winter months there is a large increase of males at Point Kean. In the Spring/Summer (breeding season) the males travel to larger breeding colonies so there are less likely to be as many here. They are also less aggressive in the winter since they are not competing for mates.

Colony of fur seal at Kaikoura

Reading the information signs was really interesting. We learned that the only fur seal killers on land are humans and stray dogs. At sea they may be killed by sharks and orcas. Major threats to the sea puppies include synthetic packaging, looped lines, and pieces of discarded nets. They will occasionally swallow plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfish. This can cause a slow painful death.

The squad then hiked up the trail around the coast to learn about the Titi (Hutton's Shearwater). These pelagic birds are endemic to the Kaikoura area. The Te Rae O Atiu area that sits in the bird's flight path to the mountains. There are strong sea breezes here which help the birds take flight. Most of the time these birds are at sea, however they come ashore to nest. The first thing we saw when walking up was a predator proof fence. It is part of a conservation effort by Hutton's Shearwater Charitable Trust. The fence was put up in 2008 due to the rats and stoats significantly reducing the number of nesting colonies found in the area. In order to establish colonies within the fence 2-month old chicks were taken from their mountain burrows before they would normally leave and placed in artificial burrows at this site. They were hand fed and biologists hoped the babies would imprint on the area and return to lay their own eggs. The project has been successful! The number of shearwaters has increased since then and they are continuing to breed at that site! Not only is this area important to the birds, but the birds are important to the land as well because they bring in a lot of nutrition from the sea to the mountains.

Erin enjoying the magnificent views

The site is actually on Maori land and the people are excited about being involved. This is because they traditionally eat them but cannot until the population is stronger in it's numbers.

We continued along the coast, seeing MANY more fur seals and even spotting a few dusky dolphins! After the hike, we stopped for lunch before hitting the road to Lincoln University. A long 3 hour drive put us back at campus just in time for dinner and a night of catching up on our class journals!

Squad Love

Cheers!
Sam and Katherine

July 22, 2014 Licking Trees, and Seals (not licking these!)

Waking up to a cold morning, we got back into the gatorwaka and rambled on up to Kaikoura (on the coast).  Kaikoura means in Maori “meal of crayfish.” Along the way, we stopped at some black beech to “lick some trees.”  Well, not literally lick the trees, but we did lick the honeydew off the sides of the tree. The honeydew is produced by  a scale insect that feeds on the sap of the tree and extrudes a drop of “honeydew” out the back end. Yes, we were licking the back end of an insect and it was good! Bees collect the honeydew and make yummy honeydew honey that is a lot like our Tupelo honey in Florida. It does not crystalize and has a unique flavor.  An introduced wasp is a “pest” issue because it competes for the honeydew and not as many bellbirds and bees can consume this honeydew with the wasp around.  

Getting back into the gatorwaka, we traveled over the dusted snow top Kaikoura range into the town of Kaikoura.  As we got over the mountain range and entered the Kaikora District, we were in awe at the beautiful turquoise colour of the ocean. Once in Kaikora proper, we checked into the Dusky hotel. had lunch, and then headed up the coast to see NZ fur seals (called Kekeno in Maori). We stopped at Ohau point where we observed a colony of seals at high tide (crashing waves). Plenty of pictures later, we ventured up a trail to see a waterfall. At the base of the waterfall where seal pups frolicking in the pool beneath the waterfall. Sort of a “fairy-like” wonderland – and we communed with the seal pups.

A seal peeks out and says hello to us from along the side of the trail.

Chillin' with the seals at the falls

Snarfing down some yummy fish and chips back at the backpackers

Back to Kaikours we went for some shopping and sightseeing. We checked out a local fish n chips shop and  took our hot food back to the Dusky backpackers hotel. After a frenzied eating of chips, ketchup, and such, we topped off the evening with some tip top ice cream and cookies as well as some hot tubbing and movies. Time for good night’s rest! – m&m : )