Americans on Great Barrier Contd.

After our sea kayak adventure, we decided to show Cara and Colby the rest - or most of - the Barrier. Dan took us up to a spot called "The Needle" which gives you an amazing view of the island. The picture below shows Tryphena Harbor, the most populated area on the island. In the distance you can see the mainland - that's Coromandel Peninsula. 

This is looking northeast at Medlands beach and Kaitoke Beach. Both face the Pacific Ocean and are located around Claris, which is the central hub of the island.

Dan looking out at the surf down at Medlands Beach

Me, Cara and Colby climbing down from "The Needle."

Cara and Colby going for a walk at Medlands Beach

Me watching the waves

Back a home - amazing sunset in the bay

I have always wanted to walk over to the other side of the peninsula where I live to see a place called Nimaru Bay. I've heard of its beauty but never had the chance to go, so I took Cara and Colby there. After a very steep and very hot walk up and over, we came down through the tea trees to this view.

We also stumbled upon some of the most amazing Pohutukawa trees I have seen! The pictures do not do them justice - but they were massive and curvy and like a playground. 

There was a tree swing from one of the branches, and it was very fun!

The flax on the beach had this amazing tree/flower growing out of it - very cool

Colby looking at shells on the beach. 

We paddled across the bay in the distance to that point of land a few days before on our sea kayaking mission. That point is Ahariri Point, where we paddled through the cave. 

I have had a struggle getting myself to go snorkeling since I've been here. I think it has to do with knowing there are sharks and sting rays the size of a room lurking in the depths. I've wanted to find a place with a nice and friendly beach to start off on, to get used to the mask, snorkel and the flippers before being faced with some crazy fish or startled by something big in the water. Nimaru had just what I've been waiting for! I finally, after 4 months living in this amazing marine environment, went snorkeling! And it was INCREDIBLE! I can't wait to go again!!!

Walking home from Nimaru Bay, we found "Lookout Knoll" with this amazing view. This is Karaka Bay, where I live!! 

   

The island in the distance is Little Barrier. It is protected land, and you have to have a permit to go there - which is very hard to obtain. It is seen as one of the last "untouched" lands in New Zealand.

We went for a fish out in the bay and a school of big Kahawai came through. Dan caught one!

And kissed it...

And Colby caught one too!!

Sea Kayak Round the Needles!!!

Hello again!!! When Colby and Cara came to visit, Dan had the week off so we decided we had to embark on some amazing adventure. We went on a 3 day sea kayak mission around the top of Great Barrier. I'm not going to lie, I was very nervous at the thought... I'd never really been kayaking before. I trust Dan fully - he takes children on kayak adventures for a living, but I am a worrier! The most daunting part was knowing that nobody lives in the north of the island, in fact there are no roads that go up there - so I knew we had to be careful and not get hurt. We took lots of safety gear from Dan's work, including a radio and a GPS device that sends a signal if you need someone to send rescue. We packed up food, fishing and camping gear and got on the water early Monday afternoon. I've included the following maps to give you all an idea of this journey... The first is a map of Great Barrier Island as a whole, and the second is zoomed in on the part that we kayaked - I live where it says "Home." The light green line shows the route we took around the island.

DAY ONE:

This is me, in total awe at the amazing cave that we are paddling through at Ahariri Point. Because it was low tide, to get into the cave we had to time our paddling with the waves so we could make it over a rock blocking the entrance. It was absolutely amazing in there - the water was crystal clear and you could see all kinds of fish and this pink and orange stuff growing on the rocks. The best part was that while we were sitting in there, the water would rise and fall about 3-4 feet every couple seconds. It was very very cool. 

Once we arrived at Miner's Head where we were spending the night on our first night, we went for a fish. Cara and Colby caught Snapper! I caught a fish called a Wrasse, which was very surprising and very fun to bring in. It is in the picture below...

After catching enough fish for dinner we headed to the camp spot. Cara and Colby are unpacking their Kayak getting ready to set up camp.

Camp! Dan's filleting the fish and the rest of us are getting camp set. 

The incredible sunset. 

DAY TWO:

We left Miner's Head in the morning and headed north, checking out old copper mines along the coast as we paddled. The geography changed a lot from where we live, and I started to understand why the north of the island is uninhabited. There are no beaches to land on! It is all sheer cliff faces.

This is one of the old Copper mines - note the green tint to the surrounding rocks...

Me paddling with The Needles in the background. The Needles is a group of very small and very pointy islands that make up the northern most tip of Great Barrier.

Here's a closer picture of The Needles - they're on the left..

Once we got to the top of the island we had a few options. The first was to attempt to paddle through a very small channel. We had heard that it could be done with small swell and little wind so we went to check it out. The Western side of the island, which is where we were, is very sheltered - it is in the Hauraki Gulf. The Eastern side of the island faces the vast Pacific and gets hit with anything that the Pacific feels like throwing this way. Where we were, the seas were calm and the wind was light, so we thought the channel would be fine. We paddled up to it and sat watching it for a few minutes to see if it was possible. The channel is about 15 feet wide and has sheer, very tall cliffs on either side. A very daunting place, I think. We were considering heading through until all of a sudden a wave came through from the other side and met up with a smaller wave from our side - they essentially clapped together and extended upwards about 10 feet. Upon seeing this, we very quickly decided that the first channel was a no go. 

Our other two options were a second, wider channel about a half a kilometer north, or to attempt to paddle all the way around the Needles, which was a rather far paddle, and had the potential to be a nasty mix of calm and not-so-calm sea at the tip. While we were heading north to see what was in store at Channel number two, Dan spotted a shark. Of Course. It was only a little one, but it still made the challenge that we were facing a bit more scary! 

When we got to the second channel we were happy to see that it was much wider than the first, and was definitely crossable. We still sat and watched it, because there was a sand bar in the middle and waves were coming through from the other side. We paddled our little hearts out (or at least I did) to make it across and entered the Pacific Ocean, which was feeling a little testy that day. I definitely left my comfort zone on the other side of the island, but I was ready to push forward and really challenge myself. So, off we went, up and down the wave faces, paddling against the wind, with the thought of finally taking a break, eating something and drying off keeping me going. Eventually I got used to the roller coaster of waves - being up and seeing everything one second, and then being down and only seeing the next wave coming towards us the next. It was definitely something I had never experienced before! 

This is our camp on the second night in Wreck Bay. Nice sandy beach, protected from the wind and swell....

While exploring the camp, Colby found a severely injured Kingfisher. He had a broken neck and was not going to make it - a very beautiful bird though...

This is a very cool Pohutukawa that watches over the beach at our camp.

DAY THREE:

We woke up early on the last day because our final mission was to make it back to Whangapoua Estuary before low tide. We were planning on making it into the estuary and paddling up to the beach where we wouldn't have to drag our 1 ton kayaks for miles. If we missed high tide and arrived at low, not only would we have quite the mission getting our kayaks to were a truck was meeting us, but we would have to also battle through the crashing waves at the entrance to the estuary. 

Me, packing up our kayak and mentally preparing for the day ahead

When we got past the point that created the bay we were staying in, we were greeted with a very black rainy cloud, strong winds and a pretty big swell - all going against us. We paddled very hard for about 30 minutes, then I looked up to see how much progress we had made to realize we only moved about 50 feet down the coast. We had a talk to decide if we should turn back, but decided to push on and see how far we could get. When you stopped paddling, the boat would move backwards. It was intense and very tiring. Slowly but surely we made our way down the coast, and finally saw the white sandy beach that lies adjacent to the estuary. The tide was definitely on its way out, but we made it to the channel in time and didn't have to fight many big waves to get through!

Once in the estuary it was too shallow to paddle with both people in the boats, so Colby dragged Cara to the beach

Dan and I - very happy we made it in time, and happy to be standing up!!

The four of us - proud to have made it round the Needles!!!

Americans on Great Barrier

Hello again! Recently, Dan and I have had a fair amount of visitors to the Barrier - which has been a treat! The two couples that we brought to New Zealand with us from the states came out to get a taste of this incredible place before heading back to California. 

Tommy playing on a boogie board at Whangapoua Beach

Chaundra surf kayaking at Maybe's Beach

Mr. and Mrs. Kingfisher in the Pohutukawa outside my window

Dan being in charge

There are more photos to come in my next blog.......

Winter Sunshine and Snow

HELLO!! It has been quite a long time since I have had a spare moment to add pictures and tales of my most recent adventures. Work picked up right before Christmas, leaving me attempting to juggle 3 jobs and care for a garden and house! It was pretty chaotic. I made the 36 hour adventure back to Connecticut to spend Christmas with my family, which was lovely and COLD! I ended up getting to stay for New Years because of the blizzard that closed airports all over NYC. My trip back to NZ took over 40 hours!!! but I made it back, and left for the island a day after reaching the mainland. 

Back on the island, we were saddened to see that our garden, which we had put many hours into, had been demolished by beetles and lack of water. We did our best to salvage what was left, and I have started some new plants since. I finally had the opportunity I'd been waiting for to explore the island with Dan, without any work looming over our heads. We found the most incredible spot - Awana Creek - with a very steep and slippery track down to it. Waterfalls, jumping rocks, impressive swimming holes, and the song from Pocahontas "Just around the river bend" stuck in our heads; we explored as far as we could go. It was truly an incredible little spot! 

We had some friends out to visit, and went on fishing excursions, surfing adventures, lazy beach days and visited Awana Creek again. 

Within the past week, a cyclone has visited the island, bringing with it HEAPS of rain and very strong winds! Chaos! Its peetering out at the moment, but another one is on the way for Friday/Saturday. 

At the moment, my conservation work has been halted because of the weather, so I have been racking up hours at the Cafe. Once the weather clears, I'll be back out there, this time trapping Argentine ants in Sand dunes. 

Dan and I are trying to make some plans for once we have finished up on the Island in April. We haven't made a solid decision yet, but I will be sure to let you all know once we decide! For now - here are some pictures from the past month or so. Enjoy! Miss you all and hope you're doing well!!! XOXO

Our garden before we left for holiday - before the beetle invasion

Our funny little cottage - all rusty on the outside, but a very warm and lovely home

Back in Thames, Dan decorating our NZ Christmas tree

NZ PLUMS!!!!!

Connecticut Goldfinches having a feed before the blizzard

Back in NZ - Pohutukawa Blossoms

More Pohutukawa Blossoms - New Zealand's Christmas Tree

The Tui drinking nectar from the blossoms

A Kingfisher - slightly out of focus, but cool shot nonetheless

Dan surfing at Whangapara Estuary -- Santa Claus brought me a very nice new zoom for my camera, which allows me to capture moments like this.

The Whangapara Estuary seen from the mountains of Windy Canyon

A Kereru!! Or Pigeon Chicken as our American friends nicknamed it. 

They are very awkward, fat birds. 

The wind blown Karaka Bay - first time I have ever seen white caps here!!!

That's my "driveway" - I usually walk down to that house on the right, but with the impressive high tides  mixed with 45 knot winds, walking down there proves to be mildly dangerous, and very wet. Its been up and over the hill instead! 

Waves crashing over the barrier and flooding Orama's front lawn

More of waves crashing...

This is usually a very calm little stream running into the bay - you can see it in pictures I've posted previously of Karaka Bay. Now, due to heaps of rain and a very high tide, it is flooded - and breaking over into the lawn!

This is our baby oystercatcher (the one standing up) with one of his parents. He was born in mid-December, and used be a tiny white fluff. Just since I went on holiday he grew up and has starting getting the mature feathers his parent's have. 

Pateke - or Brown Teal - Highly endangered Duck in New Zealand. We have 3 families living in Orama's front yard. They like the yard being flooded because their food is easier to find!

Me relaxing in a Pohutukawa tree...

And relaxing on a boat out in the ocean

This is the waterfall at Awana Creek...

A very bright, and kind of cute in an ugly way, fish we caught! I've never seen a fish this color before!!!

Dan jumping from above the waterfall at Awana Creek

Me climbing some rocks at Awana Creek

All of the rain from the Cyclone brought to life some creeks we have never seen before - this being one of them! I spotted this one on the way to work just off the roadside. So beautiful!!!