Going completely NUTTY!

Well guys, it's been a while....I know.... been somewhat busy....travelling and working again!

Since Queenstown, we've:

Celebrated Hannah's birthday by staying in a hotel(!!!!!!) which was really lovely since we got a double bed EACH!!!!! And we splashed out going out for a meal! How cool is that? BIG money spenders! Yeah whatever! That was our decision: sleep many nights in the car to save money and then on our birthdays, splash out by staying a night in a hotel....

Went on a tour on the fiords in Milford Sound. That was a really special place when you consider the place basically consists out of a harbour for all the touristy boats, a hotel and a big car park....other than that: water, mountains, rainforest and copious amounts of wildlife! The tour lasted about two hours, including a stop at the underwater observatory, where you get to see deep water sea creatures at just 9m below sealevel and that without a diving suit! These creatures are at 9m rather than the normal 60 to 90m below sea level all because of the sheltered nature of the fiords here, and the huge amounts of rainfall that this area recieves: an average of 7 metres a year!!!!!!!!! This fresh water is lighter than sea water and is murky therefore filters out the sunlight much quicker than the sea water, making 9m seem a lot like 70m. We even got to see BLACK CORAL which is apparently very rare, and a divers dream to see....it's usually found at 70m below sea level! When we were there, it hadn't rained for over 12 days, which meant that this freshwater level was hardly there, so there was a lot more light then usual. It also meant that the usually large waterfalls were now mere drips....but hey, we got lovely weather! You can't have it all, can you?

We also got to see some rare NZ native birds in a bird sanctuary including the almost extinct Takahe, which is another flightless bird. Learnt that most native species are under threat due to introduced predetors like rats, cats, dogs, possums (protected species in Australia, whereas in NZ you're allowed to kill them...."pest control"), rabbits etc..... still haven't managed to see a Kiwi becuase they are nocturnal and so hard to see in the sanctuaries and they are VERY rare in the wild.....

We drove down to Invercargill and from there went to the southern most tip of the South Island in the Bluff, and from the view point saw Stuart Island (NZ's third island.....most of it is now a national park....I think something like 85% of it!), visited a Paua Shell House .....basically these really old people had been collecting Paua shells forever and had loads of them....their grandson is now in charge....all a bit strange....but interesting! The amount of shells! WOW!

After Bluff, we stayed in the most primitive campsite to date. Literally a site between a whole lot of flax plants and a tiny kitchen where you had to pay extra for any electricity you used or any hot water you would want to use. I suppose it was very well located for viewing the petrified forest.....180 million years old!!!!!!! (Can't really imagine that....trees that lay there fossilised, were around and living when the dinosaurs still roamed our earth!), and we spotted a very rare yellow eyed penguin come to shore at dusk.....

The following day we made a trip through what is known as the Catalins: the only natural forest area still left on the east coast of the South Island. The vegetation is different to the west coast, in that it is mainly shorter and has different trees (the average rainfall is a lot less on this side of the Alps) but it's just as beautiful! We stopped at the Cathedral Caves, which are caves in the cliffline shore and only reachable at low tide....luckily we timed it that we were there precisely at low tide! And in one of these caves we spotted a Blue Penguin - the smallest of the penguins. IT was so cute!

We also made sevearl stops at different waterfalls and lakes which were all beautiful in their own way. We even mangaed to visit the Purakaunui Falls which we had seen on a post card and were determined to see! Basically these had about 5 cascades making them look so unreal in a funny way! We stopped in Dunedin for a bit of a browse, but quickly moved onto the peninsula where we camped in a little town called Portebello....IItalian ties perhaps? don't know......

The Peninsula is famed for its abundant wildlife....especially for the ONLY mainland breeding ground for the the Royal Albatros....the second largest Albatros in the world....it has a wingspan of 3m and is able to fly 800km a day......though it mainly glides on the strong southerly winds you get over the oceans surrounding the antartic. We didn't see one of the adults but we did manage to see a chick: 12 kg fluff ball more like it! It was so cute! (until it squirted it's poo out of the nest.....sorry, but it really was like a squirt....this way the nest doesn't get dirty....if you ask me....quite clever don't you think?). The most amazing fact I found was: The royal albatros mates of life and after the breeding season, the female goes one way around the world and the male the other way and they manage to meet a year later at the same spot within a couple of days of one another. there are only about 25 breeding pairs in all at this site, so a very small breeding place, becuase all the other locations are on islands 1000 kms off the NZ coast and they are all uninhabited.

On the 3rd of April we headed off to where we would be WWOOFing for the next 2 weeks, stopping only at the Moeraki Boulders. These are strange things....perfectly round spheres on the beach, in one very particular spot with the sea eroding them away slowly but surely. It's just incredible how perfectly round they are! Can't wait to show the pictures!

For the last 10 days, Hannah and I have been WWOOFing once again. This time at a farm where they have 2000 hazelnut trees. It's autumn now so that means.....PICKING! And boy are there nuts everywhere or what! I swear Hannah and I are going to start dreaming of nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts........ The first few days were interesting beucase we were slowly introduced to the several different types of hazels. They have 7 different commercial types and then 2 others for personal consumption. Now who would have thought there were so many different types? And it's not like the difference is so clear to see either! So we've been picking, sorting, washing and then drying the nuts.... we've worked some extra hours to get two free days becuase we want to go to see Mount Cook (NZ's highest mountain) from the east side and walk to the second longest glacier they have in NZ. But the weather hasn't been cooperating in the mountains so we're just waiting till the weather clears there.

Other than that, our time here in NZ is almost up! Hannah leaves in just under 2 and a half weeks and in a month I fly to Hawaii! Where did the time go?