Friday 17th August –
Chris arrives
Having already had a very social
week, it wasn’t going to stop there! After the boys had left for work I gave
the place a quick going over and I was off to Auckland airport to pick Chris up
for her weekend stay at Chez Newdey, Pukekohe. The flight up from Nelson had
been a little hairy by the sounds of things, mostly due to some massive
thunderstorms that had rolled through this morning.
Chris had arranged for us to
have lunch, so we headed to a restaurant called Melba in Manukau City to meet
up with Stacey, who is an ex-colleague of Chris’s and was my co-role player
when we went in to help with some training at Si’s work! After a very nice
ladies’ lunch Chris and I headed back to the house before going to pick up some
treat-type groceries for the weekend.
The workers got home, and we
headed straight over to Huihana and Steve’s for a darts and Mexican food night
along with plenty of other Continuous employees.
Keru the dog got most of the attention during the evening |
Some had started drinking at 4pm straight
after the end of work and became the worse for wear early on. I was designated
driver and by 1230ish the Edwards and I were done and headed home. Si decided
to stay over to continue into the early hours.
Saturday 18th August –
First round of the Bledisloe Cup
Si was dropped off about 9am
having had very little sleep so we all went for a much needed brunch in
Pukekohe.
The Edwards gave us a tour, showing
us their plush ex-house in Puke (pronounced ‘pooky’ not pewkie) and we popped
into the Gillies’ house for a cup of tea.
The Edwards went to see some more pals for coffee during the afternoon
whilst Si and I chilled out.
Simon and Lulu 'watching' the rugby |
After such a social day we had
the option of heading out again for the evening to see the rugby at a bar but
we all felt exhausted, so opted for some homemade Chinese food for dinner after
which we played five crowns and a looong game of Trivial Pursuit (mostly
because the set contained Kiwi-based questions AND dated from 1983!!). But it
kept us awake, in the most part, to stay up for the rugby. The Bledisloe cup is the yearly rugby union head
to head between Australia and New Zealand. The first test was being played in
Sydney and with Sky having the rights to the live match we had to wait for the
replay on terrestrial telly at 1130pm.
Some of us were struggling to maintain our interest
especially after a scruffy first-half performance from both teams (right).
Thankfully
the All Blacks pulled through in the second half to win 38-13 and we were all
straight to bed.
Sunday 19th August
The Edwards had arrangements for
the day to play archery and have lunch with their old neighbours, so Simon and
I had a regular relaxed day with a Sunday roast in Tuakau again – nice!
Monday 20th August –
Ultimate bird geek day
I dropped Simon and Nick off for
work at continuous so that Chris had a car for the day so I was really early to
arrive at Bird rescue. I was surprised when the regular worker, Rex, was also
early so I went inside and got to see an amazing patient – a Northern Giant
petrel. Almost black all over and with
an extra ‘nostril’ riding on top of its beak like a jet plane intake, it was
the largest bird I have ever seen close-up (except for an emu I guess!).
Unfortunately, it was a very poorly bird and that was why Rex was there early –
to drive it straight to the vets in an effort to save it. As soon as he left I
was employed elsewhere – some ducklings had made a break from their weekend
enclosure and were on the run around the paddock. Lyn gave me instruction and, just like a
shepherd and her poorly trained sheepdog, we just about managed to herd them
back to safety!
Then it was on to the usual morning’s
duties. It is starting to get busier in the hospital as spring approaches with
many more ducklings and kererus (New Zealand pigeon) as patients. It’s getting
rarer to be able to finish on time at noon. I stayed to finish the caged birds
off today and sweep the floors, so it was 110pm by the time I was done.
Not a problem for me today. With
plans in Auckland that evening I was staying north for the day as there would
be no point in going all the way home to come back through the traffic again
later. So, after my late finish at bird rescue it was time to decide whether to
drive a further 45-minutes’ north west to visit the gannet colony at Muriwai
Beach. It may not have been the sunniest of days, but it was too good an
opportunity to miss. I drove the scenic
route through the Waitakere Ranges. With all of the tracks closed to protect
the areas Kauri trees, I had to make do with stopping at the view points next
to the road.
View over the Waitakeres and, below, view back towards the City and Rangitoto volcanic island |
Muriwai Surf break |
I reached Muriwai and it became clear that New Zealand had
gone and amazed me again. The gannet colony is easily accessible with car parks
right by the coastline and two boardwalks that take you right up to the edge of
the cliffs. You can literally lean over the railings above the birds:
They didn’t seem bothered by me and the other tourists, they were too busy
building their nests:
A bit of history for you – my grandmother gave
me a bird identification book when I was very young due to my interest in all
things avian. The cover included the image of a gannet and from then on I was
hooked and used to enjoy drawing them.
They are such striking birds. The perfect black lines leading from the
corner of their eyes makes them look almost like they’re wearing eyeliner. This
contrasts beautifully with the creamy yellow of their heads and the brilliant
white of the rest of their feathers. Absolutely stunning.
I also loved the
regimented spacing between the birds – there must be clear rules regarding the
amount of personal space allowed for each pair before they would be intruding
upon a neighbour’s territory. Look how uniform it is:
I would have
happily stayed for hours to watch them, but some blustery wet weather helped to
move me on and remind me that I had plans back in Auckland. But it was well
worth the trip and now that I know the timetable for when the chicks are due to
hatch I will be trying to get back to see them later this year.
Back on the road, I had agreed
to meet Chris in Newmarket as she could get the train there easily, there would
be plenty of places to eat and then we would be reasonably close to our evening
presentation. We timed it perfectly. I found a car park just as Chris was
reaching Newmarket and we almost bumped into each other on the street. We found
a lovely tapas bar which made some delicious food for us. We then made our way
to the Red Lecture Theatre at the Institute of Technology in Mount Albert. It
was time for some more birds! The Great Kokako Story – celebrating 21 years on
Tiritiri Matangi (TTM) was something that I’d heard of through my connections
in Hunua. Having only heard and not yet seen a kokako in the wild why would I
not want to find out more? And especially now that I have my invite to go to
Tiritiri in person. I was grateful that Chris had agreed to stay on an extra
couple of nights in Auckland to accompany me.
We got there way too early, not realising that there was a buffet and
drinks supplied for the first hour of the session. Neither of us could touch a
single piece of food! I bumped into some fellow Hunua volunteers who had been at
the conference last week with me. Cue jokes of ‘we’ve got to stop hanging about
the same places’ etc. (Okay, so not ‘jokes’ so much). Our conversation was
suddenly halted…. By a brass band of all things. I didn’t see, or in fact hear
that one coming. Chris and I decided to go into the lecture theatre around that
time to find our seats. Not a coincidence. Their choice of musical accompaniment
was somewhat drab and depressing-sounding.
Start time rolled around and we
enjoyed five speakers telling us some of the interesting details and
characteristics of the kokako population on the island and the methods behind
the successful repopulation. Along with some photographs to show us the
delights of the island. The future of the population was discussed. They are in
the fortunate position to be considering what the maximum population of kokako
might be on TTM – there must be a point at which the population numbers would
reach saturation due to the limited availability of habitat and food. They have
already re-located some of their stock to other sanctuaries on the mainland but
what does this population limit mean for the management of kokako on the island
in future? I guess I might find out more next month!
The night finished a little
early, which was a relief for us after a long day. It gave us the time to get
home and see the boys before calling it a night.
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