Mackenzie Magic

 Mackenzie Basin Magic –  The Great Southern Rock Wren Trip – part 7

In my last post, we had just passed through the Danseys Pass, the weather was cold, wet and the Pass itself seemed a very desolate place. However the further nor-west we headed towards the Mackenzie country, the brighter the sky became.
The Mackenzie marks the southernmost boundary between the South Canterbury Region and Otago and has to be my most favourite part of the South Island.
There is a very good reason for this, the Mackenzie has something special going for it no matter which season or weather conditions.

Summer 

Summer in the Mackenzie has a hot dry heat that does not seem to soak up your energy, unlike more humid places. This lady is enjoying her biking across the Mackenzie basin on a beautiful and very hot summers day.

Falconing around in Central Otago

Falconing around in Central Otago The Great Southern Rock Wren Trip –  part 6

After our exciting trip through the Nevis valley with the sun beating down on us the day before, it was quite a shock to wake to a very cold and bleak day the next morning.
Today we had plans to hunt for a pair of famous kārearea or the New Zealand bush falcons that frequent the Poolburn area. The first and only time I had been up there previously the road had been closed because of snow, so was unable to reach the top, but I saw 3 kārearea from the wagon that day lower down.

This time, my second attempt to get to the dam up the top there was no snow, so up the wagon climbed to the top of the hills we went, looking for bush falcons except there was no bush and no Falcons.
These birds live completely out in the open in central Otago region which was very novel for us as our North Island birds never seem to stray far from the bush. As we climbed higher up the road the temperature plummeted.

We scanned the large rock formations each side of the road searching for the classic and distinctive telltale silhouette of the kārearea against the steel grey sky.

A perfect rock for a karearea to sit atop on the lookout for prey except there weren’t no kārearea. There is something starwarsy about this rock.

The nervous Nevis

The Nervous Nevis The Great Southern Rock Wren Trip – part 5

Our last instalment left our heroes staring somewhat nervously at the gate to the Nevis track. All over that gate and posts surrounding that gate were a plethora of warnings about the tracks ruthlessness during the winter months.
While this was mid-autumn, it had been a very wet autumn.

However, there was no turning back so up the track we went gaining height rapidly trying to ignore that nagging apprehension deep in my Tummy. This is a long track and a long walk out if we got stuck.

In search of the Yellowhead or mohua.

In search of the Yellowhead or mohua The Great Southern Rock Wren Trip – part 4

In my last blog, we, Steve and I were in Hasst, a small town at the southernmost end of the west coast road of the South Island.
With no way to head further south, we turned east, away from the sea and the heavy rain-sodden bush covered mountains, up through the Haast Pass into the open tussock lands of the Otago region.
All the time hoping the rain that had dogged us thus far on our trip will be left sulking behind us on the coast.
We made our way up through the high silver beech forest stopping every now and again to see what birdlife would grace us with its presence.

First up Mr Tomtit or ngirungiru his Maori name, whatever he answers to he came into our call to spy us out.

Invasion of the road Buzzards

 

Invasion of the road Buzzards The Great Southern Rock Wren Trip – part3

Still bubbling over with excitement after our Rock Wren encounter, we held an executive board meeting and it was decided we would strike out west, then head south down the coast, so we jumped in our covered wagon,  pressing the go button we geeeeed up the  horseeeees and westward we went.
Eventually, we were faced with a huge puddle of water known as the Tasman Sea. With no way to get around it, we turned left and scooted south with the rain once again hot on our heels.
We wanted to get to Haast that evening so with the rain catching us up and pelting down at times we didn’t stop much on the way, however, one place we did stop was at Whataroa, home of the famous kōtuku or White Heron colony for lunch.

I have made it my lifelong mission to search for the best feed of fishinchips in New Zealand  I have come close to that perfect meal a few times and the shop at  Whataroa  is now in the top ten bestser-rist fishinchips in the country. That is according to the  Boney Whitefoot scale and that counts.

For the uninitiated, this is a Kiwi  feed of “Fishinchips”

 

A Kiwi icon, Fishinchips