The full moon rising above Te Anau from across the lake was a spectacular site, especially for a camp spot for the night (also the start of the Kepler Track).
Looking across the Waiau River the following morning, this rainbow appeared. This river drains Lake Te Anau (technically an inland fiord) to Lake Manapouri.
The next stop was the DOC office in Te Anau where I went through a vigorous quarantine process before driving to the Southern Lakes Heli hangar to board the seven-seater Squirrel for our 35 minute flight to Anchor Island.
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| Anchor Island location |
On board the heli, we were warned that we were in for a slightly bumpy flight and sure enough, about 20 minutes into this otherwise spectacular flight, we hit a good bit of turbulence, rising over the ranges into Dusky Sound. It's quite unnerving watching the pilot concentrating to bring the heli into line as you pass over some of the most remote and isolated countryside in New Zealand. Still, at least if we went down, we wouldn't be short on food - we had the re-supply on board!
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| Crossing Lake Manapouri |
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| The south arm of Lake Manapouri (L view) |
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| Doubtful Sound (R view) |
Shown in this image is a tarn perched high up on the mountain range. It amazes me how these small lakes sit, seemingly teetering on the edge of steep drop offs. Even more spectacular are the streams and waterfalls draining them.
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| High mountain tarns en-route to Anchor Island |
Up, up and over the range, we passed Mt Ward to get into Dusky Sound, home for the next few weeks.
Spectacular views west to the Tasman Sea, little did I know that this time in about a week I would be having lunch and installing New Zealand's western most smoke alarm in the Bonny Doon bivvy!
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| Entering Dusky Sound from the east |
THE EXPERIENCE: ISLAND LIFE
Day one and we were straight into it, snorkeling for crayfish, chasing kakapo around the island, seeking out other native birds, what a place!
Here's a shot of Anchoria, just prior to touching down (yes that's the heli pad you're looking at!):
Day two and we were out hunting for a kakapo, Toitiiti, who we needed to do a health check on. All kakapo on the island are chipped and we can track them down using radio transmitters. Unfortunately, she managed to give us the slip while we were crashing through the bush, though we did find this rather large pile proving she had been in the area recently!
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| Kaka-poo |
In between hunting kakapo and doing feedout runs, there is a huge range of flora and fauna to find, in all manner of sizes.
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| Here, a dragonfly eats a fly |
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| Looking east from the Dusky track saddle to the many islands in Dusky Sound |
Dinner for the second day, two rather large cray, a blue moki and a butterfish...all swimming only minutes earlier! Sorry Chris, the diving is spectacular, the visibility amazing and the water mostly warm!
Blood-red tannin stained waters.
The daily routine is to hike one of Anchor's six primary feedout runs, along the 30-odd tracks which traverse the often slippery, muddy and rooty trails. Before heading out each day, we fill out the intention board with planned route and estimated return time.
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| Intentions board |
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| Tracks map |
Shown below is a kakapo feedout station which the birds are familiar with. The green platform and dog bowl are for the kakapo, the rest of the equipment is used to track the kakapo's presence or resupply the food stations.
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| Supplementary feedout run |
On Boxing Day, Jen (one of the rangers) and I hiked up to the summit of the island, a gut busting 417m above sea level. The views were well worth it on such a stunning day!
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| Views west to the Tasman Sea |
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| Crooked handstands were in order |
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| Anchor Island has a long lived tradition of air guitar at the summit, here Jen and I 'rock on' in true Anchor fashion |
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| More stunning views! |
Later that evening (yes Boxing Day was a very long day - over 13 hours in boots / on the track), we went for a night walk to see which of the males were booming. Late in the day (around 10pm) we stumbled up to the top of the Serenity track to find this sunset.
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| Sunset from the Serenity track |
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| Stunning views back towards inner Dusky Sound |
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| The team embrace in the fading light of what was a rather long and challenging day |
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| Andrew, Yanni, Tim, Theo and Jen, two volunteers and three DOC staff (L to R) |
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| Tim doing signals on the hill, tracking locations of birds as they come to life in the evening |
During this night walk, we saw three kakapo, a very humbling experience to see these guys in their natural environment. Somehow, I don't think they were comparably stoked to see us.
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| Kakapo - the nocturnal parrot |
With not much booming happening, we headed for the top of the Serenity hill for a splash of air guitar beneath the stars.
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| Air guitar a-top Serenity Hill |
While we didn't hear any booming this evening, we decided to make a little BOOM! of our own.
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| The kakapo team BOOMING! |
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| Starry nights on Anchor |
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| Feeling a little creative, we continued painting with light into the wee hours of the morning |
Run in with the seals
One task which needs completing fortnightly on the island is resetting the traps. These traps are spring-loaded, baited traps with eggs, meat and peanut butter to attract a variety of pests and predators including mice and rats, stoats and ferrets and occasionally, the unintended by-catch of robin. Mid-way through resetting the traps (all of which were empty aside from the robin), I spooked a baby seal. A little while later as I neared the seal colony end of Luncheon Cove, I spooked a mother seal who also spooked me. Can you see the theme emerging here? A little while later, mama seals cries were heard by papa seal who came lumbering over the hill through the bush. Needless to say I didn't spook him, he spooked me! That was the end of trapping for the day!
KAKAPO: THE NOCTURNAL PARROT
Kakapo ranger Tim with Kumi, a 3kg male, likely one of the heaviest in the population. The weight of females is controlled via the supplementary feedout programme with the weight of the bird having a direct influence on the sex of the offspring. This correlation does not apply to males where the bigger the better!
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| Kumi, a healthy male kakapo |
I was stoked to have such an incredible interaction with this healthy male. Here I'm a bit lost in the moment. The duration of this encounter lasted about 20 minutes in total and, much to Kumi's displeasure, involved inspecting every part of the kakapo to check for infections, disease or signs of injuries. Kumi, however, received a clean bill of health.
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| One of only approximately 140 remaining kakapo in NZ |
Here, Jen holds Toitiiti, a female, prior to her health check.
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| Jen holding Toitiiti prior to her health check |
Toitiiti being 'shown' to her hopper, in the hope that she will learn to feed from there in the future.
...and she's off, not sticking around for goodbyes!
The day following Christmas, Jen and I went out to see if we could capture the kakapo Jem and show her to her hopper as she was not yet eating the supplementary feed out we were providing. Though she proved elusive, perched precariously at the top of a yellow pine tree, it provided an excellent opportunity for me to get some natural pictures.
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| Spot the kakapo |
With camouflage as good as this, they can be incredibly difficult to spot!
Impressive claws used for gripping to branches. In addition, they also use their beaks to aid balance when clambering from branch to branch atop the forest canopy.
And with massive claws come massive footprints
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| Rather large kakapo footprints |
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| Even kakapo aren't immune to sandflies! |
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| The end of a hard day at the office, one of many spectacular Dusky Sound sunsets |
Jem kept a careful eye on us as we watched from below, clearly not happy that we had disturbed her when she would usually be sleeping.
with massive feet!
and very curious expressions.
We suspect this is why she didn't want to come down from the canopy, this was the view I found when I rose to her height in an adjacent tree!
I think we scared her a bit when we first arrived, this 'wee parcel' falling to the forest floor (nice leaf though).
NATIVE BIRDS ON ANCHOR
Throughout each day, more and more of the birds reveal themselves, here one more of NZs native parrots which normally hangs out in the upper canopy of the forest comes down for a chat.
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| Yellow-crowned kakariki |
Across the island, there is a constant stream of native birds, as curious to see you, as you are to see them.
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| Mohua, also known as yellowhead, a native saved from near-extinction |
Saddleback are quite common on Anchor, their birdsong patronisingly sounding like laughter. This one was curious enough to hang back as I fumbled with my camera to get a shot of this elusive bird. Typically, the bird is curious for the first 30 seconds of the encounter then, once it has satisfied its curiosity, is off.
Juvenile saddlebacks have not yet formed the distinctive saddle across their backs. Here, this mature saddleback stops just long enough for a quick shot.
A saddleback singing...
This robin uses distraction techniques to occupy me while her fledgling makes an escape. This is quite a common stance to find robin in when their nest is near by.
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| This nesting robin distracts me from her fledgling near-by |
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| Amazing feathers |
When we arrived back at the hut in the wee hours of the morning (just after 2am) from one of our night walks, we found this Little Blue Penguin huddling near the board walk.
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| Blue Penguin |
Saturday evening (29 Dec 13) we went for a night walk and caught Tiwhiri for a transmitter check. She was very agitated throughout the catch-and-bag process but calmed down enough to have a health check completed once out of the bag. This was, yet another, great opportunity to see these birds up close. The detail of their feathers is remarkable.
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| Kakapo feather (single) |
Under their feathers is a layer of soft down (right-hand side of image above) which insulates the birds throughout cold winter months.
We bivvied out in the bush for the night after watching the sunset, a nice change from the hut and great to be in the bush on an incredibly still night. Here is our camp in the forest:
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| Our bivvy shelters for the night |
On the walk home from one of my feedout runs while walking through an open section of bush, I came across a kaka who obviously wasn't expecting me - he SKRAAAAARKED as he swept past me, revealing a beautiful red underside of the wing.
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| Kaka in the forest |
I was stoked to see this kaka, probably the final bird I had hoped to see on the island.
On Anchor Island I have seen: kakapo, saddleback, bellbird, keruru, kakariki, mohua, robin, fantail, blue penguin and a Fiordland Crested Penguin (most of whom are in the ocean feeding following breeding). I also caught a fleeting glimpse of an NZ falcon dive bombing an oyster catcher, but nothing up close. The only bird I didn't see at all, though heard plenty of, is a morepork / ruru (who are both nocturnal and shy) - not bad for a few weeks!
CHRISTMAS DAY
For the second year running, I spent Christmas Day in the bush, and what better place to spend it? Good food, good company and good times, just lacking the family element but otherwise all the right factors!
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| Christmas lights in the hut late one night |
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| Here, our miro Christmas tree flourishes in the sunny corner |
Christmas lunch was a roast with all the usual delicacies (stuffing, roast veges, trifle etc) and to top off the afternoon, we decided a scavenger hunt was in order. The task list included pictures of the following:
1. Bird
2. Flower
3. Lake
4. Poo
5. Feather
6. Epic drinking
7. A 'selfie'
8. A 'natural beard'
9. A 'natural letter'
Some of the pictures are shown below.
Look what Santa found in the bush, ergh! Nice beard though!
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| P. Theo |
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| Selfie - Santa in the bush |
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| Flower (rata) |
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| 'Epic drinking' |
Also worthy of inclusion is the limerick that Tim taught us:
There was an old man from Madras
whose balls were made of brass
in stormy weather
they clang together
and sparks fly out his ass.
Prior to leaving the island, we heard some great news that will make this sanctuary an even more special place in the future; the impending arrival of up to 45 Little Spotted Kiwi from March 2014! See here for further:
Kiwi Return to Fiordland
To donate to the Kakapo Recovery, for more information about this unique and endangered parrot, or to volunteer check out the Kakapo Recovery page:
http://kakaporecovery.org.nz/
Juvenile saddlebacks have not yet formed the distinctive saddle across their backs. Here, this mature saddleback stops just long enough for a quick shot.
A saddleback singing...
This robin uses distraction techniques to occupy me while her fledgling makes an escape. This is quite a common stance to find robin in when their nest is near by.
Day two and we were out hunting for a kakapo, Toitiiti, who we needed to do a health check on. All kakapo on the island are chipped and we can track them down using radio transmitters. Unfortunately, she managed to give us the slip while we were crashing through the bush, though we did find this rather large pile proving she had been in the area recently!
Blood-red tannin stained waters.
Toitiiti being 'shown' to her hopper, in the hope that she will learn to feed from there in the future.
...and she's off, not sticking around for goodbyes!
Impressive claws used for gripping to branches. In addition, they also use their beaks to aid balance when clambering from branch to branch atop the forest canopy.
with massive feet!
and very curious expressions.
I think we scared her a bit when we first arrived, this 'wee parcel' falling to the forest floor (nice leaf though).
