There is wild life in NZ and I don't mean sheep which are everywhere. Most of the wild life sitings have been sea life or birds but both count and I do love birds maybe not as much as moose but a close second.
On our drive from Auckland to Ngunguru(nung-oo--roo) we all noticed that cattle seemed more plentiful than sheep. That did not last long as I am pretty sure that sheep out number the people here.I have not yet bagged my self a picture of a sheep. I am waiting for just the right moment and many of you know that getting it is a tad bit problematic for Greg to pull over for a Kodak moment. One needs to anticipate these things far in advance of the actual event and then give a clue that there may be a view stop ahead and then holler STOP. He will probably slow down.
So where was I? The scuba and snorkeling day was full of beautiful fish. On our trip back to the dock,Gary and Greg spotted dolphins jumping just behind the boat. The skipper slowed down immediately and four or so dolphins began playing around the boat. They breached jumped and played in the bow wake. There are loads of raptors flying around which don't look big enough to be eagles , perhaps they are hawks. At our second B&B our hosts raised a breed of cattle related to yaks. They were big -real big- with long brown hair and horns with curled ends. They stayed on their side of the fence and I stayed on mine. I did get a couple of pix though.
The seal colony in Abel Tasman is reknown hence the swim with seals experience. We saw loads of them in various angles of repose. We spied quite a few of them on the drive from Nelson to Kaikoua, as well. These are not your garden variety harbor seal. Their fur is brown and from what I have read are unique to this part of the world.
Then there are Keas. These large green parrots hang out around the small cafe at the summit. They are noisy and can be quite aggressive, so much so, that the cafe will not refund the cost of a meal if a clever Kea happens to steal it. By the time we arrived the cafe had closed and the Keas were in the trees eating berries and making a racket. It often seemed as if they were posing while we aimed our cameras at them. Several wekas ( weeka) hung out at one of our campsites. The Weka is a flightless bird that bears a striking resemblance to the velociraptors in Jurrasic Park only smaller. They are very curious; several appeared as soon as we had successfully parked the motorhome in our campsite. One was ready to jump inside the RV and have a look around but our own Lovebirds saved the day. The critter was busted. They also look a bit like a wingless chicken but with a higher I.Q... ahem.
Besides cattle and sheep folks raise deer. We have observed herds of them behind barbed wire fences. Well, they look like deer. How farmers keep them from jumping over those fences is a mystery. Maybe I will ask someone about it.
New Zealanders request that if-while driving-you see a possum aim for it. Possum were brought to here to control the rabbit population and have no natural predators. Naturally they have taken over the place and laid waste to the vegetation and we also here that they enjoy kiwi eggs. Some resourceful New Zealander figured a way to make money from possum road kill. The fur can be used to make clothing. It is woven with merino wool and made into sweaters and jackets etc. Pretty cool really. Although, not for the possum who sacrificed himself, but still novel. Sorry about that animal lovers.
Almost last but not least the kiwi. It was not in the wild but still thrilling. Kiwis are much larger than I thought and are nocturnal. We went into a darkened pen set up to simulate a wild environment. We were asked to keep our voices to a whisper and not make sudden movements. Apparently the birds are easily stressed and when stressed drop feathers. The feathers do not grow back. Even though the birds were in captivity they appeared well cared for and it was a thrill to be able to see one because sitings in the wild are rare.
And now the final bit of wildlife,if you can call it wild life, the ubiquitous sand fly. Like sheep they are everywhere and bite unsuspecting tourists like me about the ankles and legs. The sand fly is the size of a fruit fly but doesn't go for fruit, it lives on blood. It doesn't care whose blood just blood. Tourists are prey to this small predator including moi. I must say that it hurts a bit when these pesky devils are extracting their pound of flesh.The resulting welt itches like crazy, and is slow to heal. Oh well, it could be worse. That's all folks. The wild life update has ended! I know yippee, right?
Stay tuned Nelson is next!
No comments:
Post a Comment