Life on Great Barrier

It has been so long since I posted last!! Life on the island has been far more busy than I could have ever imagined. I suppose that happens though, when you work any and all jobs that are offered to you! I have been mainly working in Tryphena - in the south of the island - leading a team that is removing invasive plants. To sum it up, we go into the bush - areas that are typically privately owned, and walk back and forth through dense bush searching for target plants. The work is pretty challenging, especially for someone like myself who happens to have a pretty significant fear of spiders. I am also responsible for a "rat line" that runs along the border of Glenfern Sanctuary - an area on the island that is working to be pest free. I check rat traps and tracking cards, hoping to catch rats, mice and rabbits. Another dirty and sometimes gross job, but very interesting and rewarding. I also have been working in a cafe a couple days a week. On top of those three main jobs, I have been teaching myself how to bake, and been creating a garden in my front yard. 

Here are some pictures from the past month or so on the island.

This is the first loaf of bread I have ever made!! It was quite tasty!

Karaka Bay at low tide

Dan was gardening and one of the chickens came to dig in his soil

Dan and his chicken friend

Beautiful sunset from my front porch

Sunset behind the flax flowers

Squash flower in my garden!

Thanksgiving feast - New Zealand style

Dan sitting next to my boss Brett and his wife Jo

Dan in the garden

Pumpkins, beetroot, onions, potatoes, spinach, broccoli and squash!

Dan and Scotty heading out to surf at the Whangapoua Estuary

The beautiful estuary

Scotty found a John Dorry stuck in a tide pool and entertained the kids while he filleted it

Scotty filleting the fish

A Kaka drinking the juice from the flax flowers

The view from a house we are watching - that's the Pacific ocean in the distance!

The house... simple but really nice!

What a view!!!

Dan soaking in the amazing view

Tracks in the estuary mud

Down time in Thames, visit to Rotorua, and the epic journey back to the island (Mid October)

We had about a week to get ready to head to the island permanently. This not only required packing up everything, but tying up any loose ends and attempting to buy enough food to last a few weeks. While we were busily getting everything sorted out, we took two days off to travel south to Rotorua and catch up with some friends. While there, Dan, Cara and Colby went down the Kaituna - one of the best rafting rivers in the world. Colby is training as a raft guide in Rotorua, so they got to go down the river with him. I chose not to, for various reasons! 

A fern in Dan's mum's backyard.

Some pretty flowers...

I fell asleep and apparently Nikau joined me for a nap! 

This is one of the waterfalls on the Kaituna - Dan and Cara and Colby are in the boat!

This is the big drop!!! The boat totally submerges after the drop for a couple seconds! Scary!!!

The boat returning to the surface with Dan poking his head out

Back in Thames - the car all packed up and ready to go - with our back suspension hardly there at all. Yikes

Nikau was sad we were leaving

Sitting on the ferry at 5AM in Auckland Harbor waiting to leave...

The sea! 

After spending about 1.5 hours seasick - thankfully not emptying the contents of my stomach - but so ready to get off the ferry.

After 14.5 hours on the ferry, as we pulled into Port Fitzroy (our final destination) we had a family of dolphins playing in front of the boat! This is the mom and dad, the baby was on the other side! They swam with us all the way into the harbor, and then went fishing around the boat as we unloaded. 

We arrived in Karaka Bay just in time for a beautiful sunset! 

Great Barrier Island preview!

After our stint in Taupo, Dan and I headed out to Great Barrier Island for a week. He had to work, and it was time for me to get the feel for life on the island and to start making some connections. Island life is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It is a very small community where everyone has some connection to someone else. Its a very basic way of living - electricity comes from a diesel generator that only runs for a few hours a day, food must be ordered and shipped from the mainland, and anything you buy on the island is 2x as expensive as on the mainland. Roads are insane, and the locals drive like "bats outta hell." Mostly gravel, with so many blind turns you can't even imagine, and only enough space for 1.5 cars, you just pray you won't meet another car on the road. The scenery is stunning and breathtaking. Every night there is an amazing sunset. The birds own the island, and their calls are heard from every place you go. The sea life is booming, and the water is so clear you can see 10 meters down. If you can manage the oddities that come with this place, its a heaven on earth.

After our 30 minute plan ride from Auckland, we stopped for a quick hike up Windy Canyon. The view was incredible, and you could see both sides of the island! This is looking out 

 towards the east at Whangapoua estuary.

This is the little "dog house" we stayed in for our first week! It sits right next to a stream that is filled with eels. When the wind blew at night, I swore the roof, if not the entire structure, was going to blow away! That is Karaka Bay in the background.

This is the inside of the cottage - very small and cute!

This is the view from up the hill of Karaka Bay. Dan works for a company called The Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuit Center that functions kind of as a camp for school kids. Kids come over to the island and Dan takes them out sea kayaking, tramping, rock climbing, sailing, etc. OPC is based down and to the right. The huge fence in this picture is a predator proof fence - it keeps things like rats, mice, cats, etc out of Glenfern Sanctuary, which is on the left side of the fence, and runs all the way down and to the other side of the point of on the left. 

Unfortunatly I didn't take many pictures while I was out on the Barrier this time around, but there will most definitely be more to come!

Lake Taupo (15-17 Oct., 2010)

After completing our journey through Northland, we headed south to Lake Taupo. The lake is the largest in New Zealand, and was created through one of the largest natural explosions known to man - about 26,000 years ago when the volcano exploded. It is such an incredible landscape, with lots of other volcanoes surrounding the lake. 

Dan got covered in rocks

Even though I know you're not supposed to feed wildlife, they were so cute and I wanted to see if she would eat some bread out of my hand! She did!!!

The lake was very cold!!!

After spending the day in Taupo, Dan had to work and so I ventured into Tongariro National Park for a solo hike. It was an amazing experience, and such a beautiful hike!

Mt. Ngauruhoe in the distance - which was used as Mt. Doom in The Lord of the Rings!

Looking back on the trail that took me to Taranaki Falls

Looking North

Me with Mt. Ngauruhoe in the distance

Taranaki Falls

As I was leaving the park, I stumbled upon a short hike out to Tawhai falls. It was such a cool spot!