Monday 30th April to Sunday 6th May – Dive club and more volunteer training

Monday 30^th April – Dive club.
I forgot to mention that one thing we discovered whilst exploring the harbour yesterday was a dive company called ‘Global Dive’. We had approached the staff there who were very good at filling our heads with all the amazing dive trips we can do whilst we are here – both along the coast of the North Island and to some fantastic tropical destinations like Fiji and the Philippines. Both of these locations were already firmly within our cross-hairs. It just so happened that the shop was having a club night today and so we were invited along.

We were spectacularly early, but the barbecue was already on and the beers were chilling.  We met several regulars.  There is a good mix of experienced technical divers and those who are just beginning to learn.  After a social over a banger or two we settled down to be shown images from the club’s recent trip to a largely unknown area of the Philippines.  I may have to get some paid work sharpish after seeing the kind of diving we could be doing if time and money allow!  Thankfully they run regular dive trips at weekends locally too, so that is more within our reach and a wonderful place to start. Though, many of the regulars use dry suits due to the low temperature of the waters here which neither of us have ever tried but may be a necessity?!  I never needed one when I used to dive the chilly waters of Devon but maybe I wasn’t such a wuss back then….

It was nice to have a sociable evening and meet some other divers.  We’ll have to wait until we’re ‘visa’d up' and getting paid before we can get too involved though.

How young do we look?!

Tuesday 1^st May – A momentous event today – I finally submitted my Visa application!! The process for completing my application was a world away from Simon’s. The reason being that I am applying for a visa on the back of his work visa. For some reason, my application couldn’t be submitted online, but had to be done on paper. Some parts were similar, for example the medical requirements and Police checks but I had the responsibility of proving that our nearly-eleven-year relationship is not a sham! To do this I created a chronology of our relationship, backed up with photographs of us together or with family and friends.  Although I’m not a great fan of social media, getting those reminders sent to you non-stop saying ‘do you remember this seven years ago?’ with an image is finally coming in useful! (right)

This had to be backed up by proving that we are linked financially and through other important documents, so it took me quite a while to compile my report to the level that I was satisfied with. Let’s hope immigration are impressed. The other major difference between our applications is the fact that I had to send off my passport with mine, so I’m not going anywhere! Simon is still in possession of his.  A little unfair I feel, but now the waiting begins…

Wednesday 2^nd May – Hunua Ranges day two!
It was far easier than last time, though I think the other volunteers were surprised to see me back after the march I was taken on for my debut.  It had clearly been a test! Today I went out with a different experienced walker called Kerry. It was only a mere two and a half hour tramp this time!  The going was generally easier but with several challenging escarpments and with the added satisfaction of carrying a set of shears and cropping back the undergrowth getting in my way to make our trail as safe as possible.  We were first back to the hut today, so I jumped straight into the responsibility of getting the kettle on for the other hikers.  They started to file in not long after we arrived, and it soon became clear why we had such an easy time of it today – my guide has misunderstood the instructions on which track we should be checking and so we had checked a trail that had been quite recently serviced! It all made sense then…

There was the bonus that it was a couple of the volunteer’s Birthdays and some kind people had made cake for all of us.  We’re going to a different habitat next week, so I will be back to not having a clue what I am doing or where I am going but for today I was feeling a lot better about being able to cope with the terrain.

Thursday 3^rd May – Bird Rescue training, Green Bay.

A Kingfisher waits for free fish

Onto my next volunteering project! I was allocated three training mornings, between 8 and midday, before I will be allocated a regular shift if I have done well enough.  It is a bit of a trek to this place, but it seems to be the largest and most professional outfit in the Auckland area which is crying out for people to help.  I set off at 630am hoping to be there with time to find a parking spot and get my bearings before 8am. I decided to try and avoid the roadwork traffic on the highway by diverting off for that section.  This turned out to be an error as I ended up in an even longer queue with everyone else trying to get back on it!  I rocked up with two minutes to spare, panicking when I walked in one minute late!  But as it turned out, I was the first volunteer to arrive so I wasn’t in any trouble.

I was shown the ropes by Esther, who has volunteered there for roughly a year.  I met some of the locals outside who have been ‘released’ but somehow refuse to go far away from the constant free food source?! 

Pete the white-faced heron knows where the best freebies are

The site consists of a hospital room on the ground floor of the house with Lyn, one of the Managers, living on site upstairs. There are numerous aviaries in the grounds, but I didn’t have the time to explore those today!  As expected, it was mucky work. Especially the ducks and ducklings!  There is a full-time paid employee who looks after the outside cages containing long-term residents or birds who are nearing release. We were responsible for the short-term casualties and new arrivals in the hospital.  Considering what their personal complaint or injury was, we transferred them into suitable temporary accommodation, which for the ducks was a sink for them to have a little splash-around in to maintain the conditions of their feathers.  This meant that we could clean up the horrendous mess that they had made overnight in their cages and replenish their food and water.  Sounds pretty straight forward, if messy, right?! Well, the most challenging aspect was preventing any escapes or being injured by the perturbed patients who did not want to be handled!  Luckily, Esther managed to lose a Pigeon first so I wasn’t too embarrassed when my first escapee, a Tui, made a break for it towards the door. Thankfully, I managed to recapture it without any further loss or injury!

Zambesi the rainbow lorikeet tucking into a sandwich

 

We made progress through the enclosures, stopping for a tea break at 10am to keep us motivated! There were Chickens wandering around our legs and a Rainbow Lorikeet with a penchant for butter who joined us! (left) My previous experience with handling wildlife was definitely a bonus and I think they were pleased to see me get ‘hands on’ straight away and stuck in to the cleaning.  It was a little after noon by the time we had completed the morning rounds.  I said farewell and promised to try and be on time tomorrow, but they seem very laid back and realistic about how tricky it can be to get through the traffic.

This chicken has an awesome hair-do

It was a beautiful day.  It seemed wrong to just head straight home when I was in such a scenic part of the country, so I took myself for a drive.  It was a swift reminder of how stunning some of the coastline around Auckland is (below). I was hoping that there would be somewhere to have a short stroll but instead I visited a few cut-off inlets and beaches to bear in mind for future reference when we need somewhere to relax in the sunshine.

 

Friday 4^th May – return to Bird rescue!

My second day’s training at Bird Rescue was similar to the first but the traffic was lighter, so I made it in plenty of time. I got to work with different cages today, learning how to clean out and feed the ‘pet’ species in cages, like budgies, cockatiels and zebra finches. It seems that the existing volunteers each have their areas of expertise, so I will have to fit in around them depending on which day I end up working.

I didn’t hang around after work today, heading straight home for a shower as I had been invited out early that evening for a girls’ night at Angie’s. Angie picked me up about 4pm to drive me back to hers where we made the most of a bright evening to sit outside and enjoy some cheese and wine whilst putting the world to rights.  We were joined by Jules and Huihana and the wine and conversation flowed.  As we had started so early it wasn’t much of a surprise that people started to leave about 9pm, so I called Simon for my lift home.  As he came strolling in to Angie’s he asked why we weren’t helping Huihana who was stuck in a ditch outside in her car?!  Well, that was news to us. I’m not sure that she needed some tipsy females to come and offer ‘assistance’ in her time of need?!

Digger to the rescue....

The benefit of being stuck in a ditch at Angie’s was the fact that her neighbours own several diggers, so in no time at all Huihana was back on the road and with not a scratch to show for her adventure (but some footage captured for future ribbing). Simon and I headed home, and I had a reasonably early night as I had drunk far too much wine.

Saturday 5^th May – Project Jonah Training
After the practical training had been postponed due to severe weather last weekend, I had managed to get on the first course this morning to complete my Project Jonah training.  Due to a low tide the location had changed, so I made my way to St Helier’s Beach, which was closer than Browns Bay where we had been last week. I arrive in plenty of time and was already fully prepared, wearing Steve’s spare wetsuit for my time in the water.  We were given our own high visibility waistcoat with our individual volunteer number on the back:

Other trainees getting comfortable in their wet-suits and high-vis jackets at St Heliers Beach

I'm no expert but that 'dolphin' definitely looks poorly...

The PJ instructors were already there, filling two fake whales with water, one the size of a dolphin, the other the size of a pilot whale (right). It was incredible the amount of public interest we got and how people think you know what you’re doing as soon as you’ve got a fluorescent jacket on!

Many thought that the whales were real and approached us to offer to help, a very realistic training exercise indeed! I think they felt suitably red-faced when they were told that the animals were in fact latex and just training-aids. We were split into two groups to be instructed on how to use their special inflatable pontoon to support and relocate the pilot whale while the other team were trained in how to use a dolphin lifting mat.  For once, my height was a disadvantage. The taller you are, the deeper you get sent into the sea because you can still kneel to support the whale without the added risk of drowning! We were taken through the process slowly, but it is a good thing that it will be a team effort when I next need to use these skills as it needs to be used in a very specific way. Having successfully released our fake pilot whale back into the water the teams swapped over, and we tried to recall our theory training from just the previous weekend about how best to tend to a beached dolphin. 

Guiding our 'pilot whale' back out to sea on a pontoon

The training was only for a couple of hours and it wasn’t particularly cold today. However, the wetsuit I had borrowed was tight around my torso and legs but gaped around the arms, letting the water wash in and making me cold. A worthwhile reminder of why I need to invest in a decent quality, properly fitting wetsuit if I am going to be able to make myself useful at a future stranding.  

Talking of which, I tried on one of the other volunteer’s wetsuits, which was for sale for only $50, but sadly it didn’t fit. A real shame. But I am now apparently a fully trained Marine Mammal medic. If there is a stranding nearby, or one with such high numbers of casualties that it demands a nationwide response, then I will receive a text asking if I can answer the call. So I am now on permanent standby.

Another sociable evening, this time we were invited to Huihana’s house in Ararimu, about twenty minutes’ drive away, right in the sticks.  Huihana lives there with her husband Steve and their son, Ryan. They have an awesome ‘game cave’ which I think started life as a stables, but has been transformed into a top quality hang-out complete with massive stereo, numerous music DVDs, a massive beer fridge and a dartboard.  It seems that darts is their game of choice. I can’t say that I’ve thrown an arrow in years, but I gave it my best shot.  They had plenty of different games to try and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I was glad I didn’t have to try and keep up with the drinkers who were downing shots and drinking continuously until 1am!!