Whale I'll be blowed another albatross!

As you can see from our very witty title we have been whalewatching in the 'whale watching capital of NZ', Kaikoura. This is a lovely seaside town on the east coast about 150km north of CHCH. We have come here to whalewatch, have some r and r and to meet up with our neighbours from the village, Sue and Jim Bryce. Anyway, back to the whalewatching. On a clear, sunny morning we set out on a very fast catamaran to the deep water which is not far off the coast. We were very lucky to see four large, male sperm whales swimming on the surface and then diving down showing the classic tail fluke. We were able to get quite close and I managed to get some good video footage. We also saw some beautiful dusky dolphins and a range of beautiful sea birds including a young albatross which was just sitting on the surface too full of fish to fly and not in the least bit concerned by our presence. An amazing morning for me Phileas and now over to Fogg.

Hi, Fogg here. We really did see all the attached images. These sperm whales are majestic creatures. The water round Kaikora is deep and these whales dive about 800 metres for about 40/50 minutes holding their breath. Apparently the record dive for one of these whales is 3.5 km for about two hours but this was recorded in Sri Lanka. The dusky dolphins are amazing. They swim faster than our boat which itself was travelling at about 60km per hour. They seem to put so little effort into it! And the water was so clear. All quite wonderful. Very best wishes to you all. Fogg. x

Down on the farm

Well readers, this is the blog about farmer workers Phileas and Fogg! Here are the action shots taken on the farm with Jude and Alan Phileases cousins. What an amazing time we had, most of all getting to know them and meeting up again with Lorrane, Dorothy, Dean, Dana and the children. A whole new family for us. We worked for our suppers and thoroughly enjoyed being out on the farm helping with the milking and moving the stock. The farm is itself really beautiful, steep hills and gullies of native timber, birds and trees. We collected mushrooms which we had for breakfast from the hills above the farm and pulled turnips for the cattle. The highlight for Fogg was of course the milking and he will tell you all about that. We also spent 2 nights with Jude and Alan in Hanmer Springs where Phileas learnt to fly fish, good technique but alas no results! Photo shows Fogg, spinning. We were high up in the mountains fishing the Clarence river on the Molesworth Station, the largest in NZ. One of the remotest places we have been to so far and yet only an hour out of Rangiora. Also one of the most beautiful and we have seen some seriously beautiful places. In the late afternoon we relaxed in the hot mineral springs that the resort is famous for, really wonderful and a very social place - a bit like the Romans!!

I could wax lyrical for hours but will pass onto Fogg now. I had an e mail from a colleague this morning which confirmed that keeping in touch with friends is so important. So I hope that you enjoy reading our blog, we certainly enjoy writing it and of course it is for us too, a memory for our return.

Hi. Farmhand Fogg here. I enjoyed every minute on the farm . Alan and Jude were so kind and Alan was very long suffering of me in the milking shed. He is a natural teacher. He showed me

what to do and then left me to make mistakes and sort it out myself. I do think I improved my milking skills over the few days I did it. The cows were very long suffering too. However Alan did play a few jokes. A bull appeared in the milking shed. Why wasn't I milking the cow with one udder! Helping feed the calves was a delight and I always enjoyed driving the 4x4 with Flynn, the farm dog sitting by my side in the cab occasionally licking my face! The mustering and driving the cattle onto fresh pastures was great and Phileas really got going with that and seemed to have control over a bunch of bullocks. Her pastoral care skills really came into play then. One shout from her and they did what they were told! Turnip pulling was surprisingly easy. The cows loved them. Fishing up in the mountain streams was fantastic. I was 'spinning'. Whilst I did not catch anything I loved the whole experience. It was a wonderful place to be, surrounded by beautiful mountains on all sides with only the sound of the fast running water of the stream.
I felt really happy on the farm.

So this is Farmhand Fogg saying goodbye.

Best wishes from us both

Phileas and Fogg

Sun, sea and sky (oh! and birds that eat cars)!!

Well, what a country of contrasts. Yesterday Fogg and I ate our sandwiches (cheese and tomato, of course - Fogg's favourite) watching snow falling in the Southern Alps. This morning we have had our morning coffee (large latte and a long black today) in hot sunshine in CHCH. A friend has said that NZ is a pocket handkerchief of the world and it is so. Between Hokitika on the West Coast and CHCH on the east we travelled through the aforementioned Alps, the Flow Country (of NE Scotland), a rain forest and the prairie. Back to the photos they show some of the things that we have seen during our time on the West Coast. We sat on this beach which was just beside our log cabin in Hokitika. On our last evening the wind was from the south and the waves crashing on to the beach were stupendous as was the light and the sunset. We had been staying in a log cabin in a holiday park - 'The Shining Star', highly recommended, just outside the town of Hokitika. Whilst there we drove about 100km north to the Pancake Rocks - quite extraordinary limestone rocks and their associated blow holes.


The Maori call New Zealand Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. On our journey yesterday we saw what they meant, long strings of white cloud decorating the green mountains like tinsel on a christmas tree. Before I finish I must mention this crazy bird, the Kea. It is an alpine parrot which is crazy in itself!! They are inveterate flirts and love having their photos taken. They also pick at stuff and pull it to pieces. Some friends tell the story of leaving their bikes outside and unprotected overnight in the mountains, in the morning the seats had been shredded to pieces by the Keas. The birds also love nibbling at the trim on cars and if you are not careful will have pulled the trim off in a matter of seconds. In their defence they are very beautiful and when they fly show a brilliant orange colour under the wing.
Hi Fogg here at last! Phileas has failed to mention the stunning photos of course. The drive from the west coast to east was, despite the weather, marvellous. We came through Arthur's Pass when we saw the snow above 1500 metres and sat in the valley in warm rain. The clouds that Phileas has mentioned go on for miles. The photos, depite my best efforts do not really show the grandeur of it all. The beach at Hokitika was also quite extraordinary. The sea is magnificent. Sadly too much to swim in and the beach was littered with beautiful pieces of wood. Some almost complete trees whilst others were exquisitely formed small bits which of course we have collected and will send back to UK. All these pieces of wood were bleached and were very sculptural. On arriving back in Sumner we went to stay with Nikki and Mark Wallace-Bell. Nikki is an ex Art teaching colleague from Redborne Upper School. It was great to see them and Mark cooked us a wonderful meal. He has restored my faith in Green Lipped Mussels!!! A good evening with them and now we are on our way to stay in Rangiora on Phileases cousins farm.

So, our journey continues to go very well. This is Fogg and Phileas wishing you all very best wishes
xx

whirlibirds

Hello from a slightly damp Franz Josef, Fogg and I are on the move again today but wanted to share with our readers 2 wonderful experiences that we have had in the past few days. We firstly visited the Whataroa White Heron Sanctuary which was just up the road from where we staying. After a short mini bus ride we hopped onto a jet boat for a very exhilerating ride to the hide from which we could view white herons and Royal spoonbills. To get to the hide we had a 500m walk on a boardwalk through native rainforest. Absolutely wonderful, tall white pine trees dominated but there were others and tree ferns. Also these beautiful tree orchids just coming into flower. The hide gave wonderful views of the herons who only ever nest on this particular bend on this particular river and nowhere else in New Zealand. In with them were Royal spoonbills and little shags. It was brilliant to be able to watch these wonderful birds and they did not seem at all bothered by our presence. They were all coming to the end of their breeding seasons and the young herons were practising their flying skills.

All in all a brilliant experience which also gave us a brief glimpse of some of this regions wonderful wood strewn beaches. We visited another one at Okarito which despite the sandflies is one of the most beautiful beaches that we have seen. The title of this post does not refer totally to real birds but to 2 new fliers P and F and I will leave Fogg to tell you all about this.

Best wishes
Phileas

Hi Fogg here.

What Phileas is referring to is our Helicopter flight! It has rained a great deal here and that combined with low clouds means that the helicopters do not fly so we woke on Tuesday morning hoping for clear skies and no rain. We are again very lucky people as this is just how it turned out to be. To Franz Josef to pick up our small ( six seater ) copter. We were both apprehensive but as soon as we took off and left ourselves in the capable hands of Jules,our pilot, all fears were dispersed. It is difficult to describe this experience. We flew over the Franz Josef glacier which is massive and very deep, about 30 metres with huge chasms in the surface. It advances and retreats which it has done over many thousands of years. It eminates from the neve, which is the collecting point for the snow high in the mountains where the snow gets compacted and then travels slowly downhill. It is strange to see a glacier from high up with rain forests below in high temperatures all near the sea, but the glacier never gets there. We set down on the neve and left the copter to take photos and play ice balls ( carefully!) It was just the most truly awesome moments of our trip so far. Expensive, but worth it. Back on the copter we flew round Mount Tasman and Mount Cook and marvelled at the scenery. We then flew down the Fox glacier back to Franz.It was a small 'mosquito' type helicopter and it was very manouverable and we flew very close to the mountain sides. Also large windows which gave us sideways as well as downwards views. All in all absolutely wonderful. I wanted to stay up there. Our travelling companions were from Australia and obviously felt the same. Phileas has just reminded me that we in fact flew through the mountains first and then set down (whatever!)

I am sure that Phileas would like to add her bit here, but I would just like to add to her comments about Spoonbills. The adults have feathers on their heads which to me are very similar to the rota blades on our helicopter so 'Whirlibirds' refers to them both!

So back to Phileas, and this is Fogg signing off with very best wishes to you all.

Nothing else from me except to say that it doesn't matter which way round it was, it was awesome and also very moving and those who know me well will know how I reacted!!

On a lighter note I must put on record how ingenious the NZ people are. We are using the internet in a converted red bus, sitting on reclaimed coach seats!

Phileas

Sun, sciatica, serendipity and moving house!

Good afternoon from a very hot Wanaka, it is nearly a month since we have experienced temperatures in the mid 20s. It is wonderful but does make sleep a bit difficult. We are in this lovely town in Central Otago for 3 days having travelled here yesterday from Dunedin. The journey was wonderful, through some very beautiful counrtyside, past fruit orchards and vinyards (wineries here). We were also driving through the area that experienced New Zealand's gold rush in the mid 19th century. Fogg will explain the sciatica; but I mention it here because it was while I was waiting for him that something very serendipitous happened which once again drew me to the wonderful poem of Robert Frost 'The Road not Taken' It was as I have said very hot and after exploring a while I decided to rest in the shade of a cafe umbrella. I chose the cafe for no other reason that it had a table in the shade. I ordered an iced coffee and settled down to catch up with my journal. I looked up as a man and woman on bikes stopped at the cafe and the woman came up to me and asked what it was that I was drinking. We struck up a conversation and to cut a long story short when Mike caught up with me we were invited to a meal with them at their house in the town. Heather and John Walker are typical of so many of the people that we have met here - generous and interested in people. We had a lovely meal at their beautiful house and met Mavis, John's mum. It is so important to both of us to meet and talk to people who live and work in the countries that we are visiting. It's through this sort of contact and reading the local paper and watching the news that we really feel as if we are developing an understanding of NZ and its people. It is also fantastic to meet new people and to add them to our e mail contacts and to encourage them to read our blog!

Now as our regular readers will know one of my favourite things is watching wildlife and I realised that I had not shown you the picture of the first penguin that we saw in NZ. Totally out of place, sitting on a piece of wood in the middle of a muddy creek in Oamaru.




Our regular readers will also know that we have seen a church that was moved across the road (the scene of Sir Ed's funeral) and have stayed in a school house that was moved up the road some 5km. What we hadn't seen was the process in action so we were delighted when we saw this on the road from Kaka Point to Dunedin.

I will close now and pass over to Fogg.

Best wishes to you all. Phileas

Fogg here. Actually Phileas is quite wrong about the house. We have bought this one and are having sent back to the UK. We love them so much. They are marvellous. Mostly with porches and decks. The decks are essential, unlike in England where they tend to be a fashion accessory, that is not to say I do not like them. We could be tempted when we get back to UK. Phileas also wants me to paint our 'Garden House' white to remind her of NZ.

Kate has mentioned our chance meeting with Heather and John Walker. I was going to say it has been a long time since I was picked up in a cafe but perhaps I should refrain. We had a wonderful evening with them and it was interesting to hear a Kiwi view of the English. Apparently one perception is that a large number of us have dogs. Also our accent is much liked, particularly the ones which might be described as 'home counties' John and Heather in turn tended to be a little critical of their own NZ accent. But vive la difference!!

Kate had met these people before me as I, Fogg was in the local physio surgery having massaging, crunching and acupuncture. For those of you who do not yet know I damaged myself whilst working on a farm owned by relatives of Phileases. I was helping feed calves and part of the job was to transfer large buckets of milk from the milking parlour to a truck. I twisted my back and trapped my sciatic nerve. I have done something similar in the past but this time it did not right itself. So, a lot of discomfort for Fogg who at one time a couple of weeks ago could barely walk it was so painful. But physio, drugs and alcohol seem to be helping and whilst I am not right I am able to get around a lot better but a little slower that I would like. The amazing thing is because the first physio I saw in Te Anau said it was an industrial injury I was eligible for free treatment and here in Wanaka the physio is only going to charge me for the acupuncture needles! Usually treatment costs about 45 dollars for half an hour.

So things are begining to look up again for Fogg who is determined to stay on track even if he does chunter along a little more slowly.

This is a marvellous part of the world. It is as I type on Thursday 7th Feb about 30 degrees and yet as I look over towards the mountains I can see great tracks of snow on the peaks. This area becomes a winter sports haven in May/June/July time and yet at the moment it is all water sports and para gliding in and around the mountains.

So, all continues to go well on our adventure.

Fogg signing out too with my love and very best wishes to you all.

Albatrosses

Greetings from The Otago Peninsula the home of the only land based colony of albatrosses in mainland NZ. We spent an hour watching these amazing birds on a high cliff right at the end of the peninsula and as you can see Fogg has once again captured the moment. For those of you not familiar with the life of the albatross (how do I know you!!), the top photo shows 2 things. First a bird flying, and you must take my word for it that its wing span was over 3 metres!! You will also notice that there is not a feather out of place despite a force gale wind blowing. At the bottom of the picture you can see the 'youth' who have been out all day flying and fishing. They are now back at the end of the day socialising, having a 'party' and beginning to form relationships for later years. The second picture shows 2 birds, a pair and under the front bird is a chick. We watched the parent feed and preen the chick and welcome home her mate. She gave him a few bits of grass which he accepted! He then took over sitting on the chick and feeding it while she literally walked off the edge of the cliff into the wind and flew away.

I will say no more except to say that this was one if not the best thing I have seen so far. I have been looking forward to it so much and it was as good as I hoped. Fogg was pretty impressed too despite being wildlifed out!!

Watch out for a new blog soon on moving house in NZ.

Till then best wishes from me

Phileas

Hi Fogg here. This is going to brief as the site closes in a few minutes. These birds are seriously clever. They go out flying for most of their life. About 90 per cent of it. They go out singly. Not with their life long partner but they all go back to the same colony at about the same time sometimes within hours of each other. How do they know? They cirlcle the southern seas fishing and never touch land for all of that time. Amazing.

The guide we had, Jane was great. We were the only two on our ' tour ' She has a degree in Fine Art. Why did I not think of that as a career move! A lovely girl who really seemed to enjoy her job. It is pretty fantastic. As far as the visuals are concerned theartist who sprang to mind when I watched these magnificent birds soaring above in the sky was Escher. For those of you who do not know his work look him up. He must have known about Albatrosses. Lots of clever tesselations.

Anyway we are being kicked out know, so must quickly go.

Lots of love to you all from

Fogg