Great Barrier Island

Great Barrier Island is less than an hour from New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland. But when you get there it is a different world altogether. I went there for work last week and the journey there just blew me away and when I got there, I just couldn't believe that this was so near to civilisation.

The island had a population of about 700 people and has no reticulated electricity. So you need to have your own generator for your power. The island is sparsely populated and DOC manages close to 70% of the island.

Getting there was half the fun. The plane I took from Auckland was an 8 seater which I shared with a dog, several crates of food and chilly bins filled with frozen meat. Reminds me of the small aircraft I took flying to the interiors of Sarawak in Malaysia. There was nothing between Auckland and the Island but the aircraft had no life jackets and nothing on the safety booklets that talked about water landing. On the way there we saw several pods of dolphins on the water and even a whale. That was how low we were flying.

I stayed at one of DOC's lodges and just outside my balcony, there were heaps of native birds that one would have to search for elsewhere. They were every where to extent after the 2nd day I stopped taking photos of them. There were Tui, Kereru, Banded Rail, Kingfishers, Oyster Catchers, Brown Teals and many more I could not identify.

Here is the plane that took us there and brought us back in one piece.



Inflight magazine. Which other airlines will give you this???



DOC Ranger showing some of the work we do with the Brown Teal.



Banded Rail right outside my back door.



A pair of Oyster Catchers and their chicks.



Kereru or the New Zealand Wood Pigeon.





Kingfisher with a worm in his mouth.



A Brown Teal crossing my path to the river.



If you get a chance get to the Great Barrier Island. It is absolutely beautiful and well worth the visit. Perfect get away to just get away from it all!

Auckland and its outer islands

One of the two last trips for the year took me to Auckland and its outer islands. Aucklanders are one lucky lot with so many beautiful islands just an hour or two away from the main land. Main land? Actually Auckland is on the North Island.

The week I was there, the weather was not too far from Wellington - windy. I tried taking this shot from North Head but the wind was so strong I could not take a night shot as the camera even on a sturdy tripod was vibrating violently.



As the sun started to set, the sky became a painter's canvas.





This was from the other side of North Head.



The next day, I went out to Rangitoto Island, a volcano just a short distance from populated Auckland.



The island is made up of volcanic rocks and main vegetation are Pohutukawa trees. Pohutukawas are also known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree, as it blooms around Christmas time. The view from the top of Rangitoto is absolutely fantastic.







Then we crossed over to Motutapu Island where DOC is doing a lot of work getting rid of pests, one of which was the hedgehog. Getting from Rangitoto to Motutapu, I crossed the world's shortest bridge over the Pacific Ocean!





This is the view of Rangitoto from Motutapu.



The dog trained to sniff out the most elusive hedgehog on the island.



The Pohutukawa flowers just starting to bloom. It will quite a sight when the whole island is red!





One of the island's many inhabitants.



Next week I am heading to The Great Barrier Island. And am looking forward to arriving on a grass stripped air field.

Sydney sights

I was in Sydney for a couple of days this week. After my last meeting I had a couple of hours before my flight back home. So I went on a shooting spree with my camera.

The hotel I was staying for the night was right across Darling Harbour and I had a room facing the harbour. The night was clear and the view from my room was stunning!



The next morning was just as glorious with hardly any clouds in the sky. Lunch was approaching and I visited a restaurant highly recommended by a Malaysian living in Sydney. But then I passed by so many other food outlets until I couldn't decide where to go. I then ended up having lunch at an Indonesian food store and topped it up with a glass of "Teh Tarik" at Mamak.





After all that food, I needed to walk a little before catching a cab to the airport.















As I was coming back there was a street show and this guy performing made all sorts of weird faces, one of which was...

The White House in Auckland

As I was walking along Queen St in Auckland, I came across a sign that said that the White House was just a few hundred meters away. And the sign looked pretty legitimate as well!


Was I dissapointed that this was only an entertainment centre and not Obama's holiday bach here in New Zealand.

My trip to the Far North

I wonder why they call the northen end of the country, the Far North and the southern end of the country as the Deep South?

After having visited the southern tip of New Zealand, I now had the opportunity to visit the other end of the country, Cape Reinga. This is not quite the northen tip but the most northern tip accessible. The North Cape which is 3 km further north from Cape Reinga is a reserve where public has no access to.

On the way, up to Cape Reinga we took the 90 mile beach which is apparently about 90 km but hey, who's to argue. There was a 100km/h speed limit on the beach which is also part of the highway. Cars can drive on the beach during low tide although some did not quite make it. You see parts of vehicle buried deep in the sand, despite the warning.



A bus which was trying to cross almost in the nick of time. The driver had to go in to check the depth of the water before the bus could cross.



Parts of the beach where there are sand dunes are massive. People, mostly tourists, use these dunes to sand board, like snow boarding, only this is on sand.



And finally the Cape!



According to Maori legend, the tree right at the bottom of this cliff is where the spirits leave this world.





I made it to the tip!

Sunset

Brilliant colours in the sky as the sun started to set this evening right in front of our house!

Africa

I recently went to South Africa for a conference and after the conference had the opportunity to visit some of the most amazing landscapes and wildlife the African continent had to offer.

My journey started from Johannesburg to the world famous Kruger National Park. We spent 2 nights at Kruger doing a night safari and a whole day safari at the park itself. We saw 4 of the big 5 famed animals and a host of other animals and birdlife at the park. The journey then took me across to Botswana into the Chobe National Park. Another amazing park with heaps of wildlife along the Chobe River. Finally crossing Botswana into Zambia to the awesome, breathtaking Victoria Falls, a World Heritage Site.

Here are some of the thousands of photos I took. Instead of uploading to many sites, I have added some here but the bulk of it is in my Facebook album. Link on the sidebar.