Ok, so here's one complaint I have so far about New Zealand. For how much they rely on internet to do everything, it never works! The internet at my house has been cutting in and out all week, and when we called to get someone to come look at it, the earliest they could come was next Tuesday. So I went to campus to use the school's wireless....AND that stopped working too! Come on!
Ugh. K, I'm done.
Now it's Sunday night and I'm packing for my next field trip to Hawkes Bay on the North Island, and the farthest I could get on a post about my last field trip was uploading pictures. So, enjoy these pictures for the time being. By the time I get back on Friday, our internet should (SHOULD) be up and running again.
Alright, internet up and running, let's try and get this post finished.
Here's the first field trip;
Monday morning the 6th we left Wellington and took the ferry to Picton on the South Island. Our transportation for the week was vans, so we all piled into 3 of them and headed off towards Kaikoura. We spent that evening giving our debates, my first grad school assignment. I had to argue that government managed conservation projects can achieve better results than community managed. I don't know if I won, but I got an A so I don't care! :) We also had a presentation from one of the workers from Whale Watch Kaikoura.
Here are some fun facts about Kaikoura; after a rerouting of the railway in the 80s, the town started going downhill. There was a rising trend in eco-tourism in the 80s so a family in Kaikoura decided to capitalize on this and started boat tours to view the marine mammal wildlife. They started only operating a small boat that fit 8 people and now have 4(?) vessels that each can carry 48 people. This interest in one aspect of the environment has led to more respect for nature as a whole, and Kaikoura was the first community in New Zealand to be green certified. You can read more about how awesome it is and what they do to achieve their green status here.
And here's why there is such an abundance of marine mammals off the coast of Kaikoura; cold Antarctic currents from the south and warm tropical currents from the north meet and mix in the area. There is a ginormous trench only a few kilometers off the coast of Kaikoura from a fault line which causes upwelling of the mixing waters, prime conditions for fish, and therefore ideal feeding grounds for mammals like whales! There are resident sperm whales that have been living near Kaikoura for dozens of years, and here's why! Female sperm whales are smaller than the male so they live up in tropical waters. Most all of the sperm whales in Kaikoura are juvenile males; they spend years just eating and growing for the day when they travel north to the tropics to try to mate. If they are unsuccessful in this single attempt, they then swim down to Antarctica to spend the rest of their life's alone there. The poor guys. It's also a stop over for many migratory whales and dolphins. yay.
Fur seal pups. Just north of Kaikoura
Tuesday morning was whale watching day. I was excited to see whales, but nervous about getting seasick after Hannah, Jessie and Kyle got seasick in Alaska this summer halibut fishing. I was thisclose to looking like Grimsby from the Little Mermaid. But I kept it in. :)
Kaikoura, morning of the whale watching
Sperm whale!
Another sperm whale.
That afternoon we had a presentation from DoC (Department of Conservation) about the Kaikoura peninsula. There is an enclosed area on the peninsula to try to get Hutton Shearwaters (a seabird) back to the area. There are a lot of so called "predator proof" fences throughout New Zealand; fences designed so that no rats, weasels, stoats, possoms, cats, etc can get through the fence and eat the birds and eggs. That is a BIG problem in New Zealand; introduced land mammals. We then got to wander around the peninsula to see the enclosure, and just to see the area.
Kaikoura peninsula
Those aren't penguins, they are shags that were fooling us into thinking they're penguins.
Wednesday the 8th we left Kaikoura and headed towards Abel Tasman National Park. Along the way we had another presentation from the Marlborough District Council (another regional government group responsible for resource management).
Thursday we got to spend the day in the National Park. We took a water taxi and got dropped off at a bay in the park, then hiked for 2+ hours along the trail through the park, with another DoC presentation during the hike. Not a terrible place for a lecture, eh?
Abel Tasman National Park
Split Apple Rock in Abel Tasman
More Abel Tasman
Friday we headed back to Picton, with a stop in Nelson for another presentation. SEE MOM, I AM LEARNING THINGS! They just all happen to be awesome! Took the ferry back to Wellington, and that was the end of field trip number one.
Field trip number two coming soon.
And (as you know) Peace.
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