Time flies faster down here...

...or am I just getting lazier?? August is just about over and my good intentions of being more productive haven't eventuated. On the other hand, my new job is going well and my social life has been far busier!

I've spent many hours choosing a paint colour for the exterior of the house and garage. Unfortunately the LCD screen on my notebook is miles away from the physical colour and I've wasted a lot of time trying to colour match the screen without success. The garage is looking very spotty with all the test pots I've bought and the colour I've finally picked is Resene Stonewall and fingers crossed that it helps the buildings blend in with the bush behind. I was leaning towards Cobblestone but Stonewall has a touch of yellow in which makes it look warmer.

The birds are getting louder and more active as Spring approaches - as I write the korimako (bellbirds) are singing in unison, kakariki are chattering as they fly overhead and there's the occasional loud fluttering of wings as kereru chase each other. I was privileged to see a kiwi on a bush track as I walked home around 10pm last Tuesday. What a buzz! I skipped the rest of the way home with a huge smile on my face; it's exactly the reason why I moved down here and I am so lucky to experience this unique bird up close.

Sir Paul Callaghan's dream for a predator-free New Zealand would enable future generations to still see and hear our national emblem and it's exciting that Gareth Morgan is keen to attempt this on Stewart Island after completing the Million Dollar Mouse campaign to eradicate mice on the Antipodes - see http://www.ourfarsouth.org/milliondollarmouse/. This is a fantastic opportunity to hone skills and create something very special and it deserves more than, what I see as, a sluggish response; surely our society can still look further ahead than the end of its nose to see the long term benefits? Grab a cuppa and listen to this Talking Heads 1hr discussion on Sir Paul's dream here (opens in a new window). 

Whatever the outcome of these big plans, it would be a huge help if all human Kiwis could start trapping around their homes and businesses now. Chuck in a couple of weta and lizard hotels, be eco-responsible pet owners and you'll be saving Aotearoa's unique fauna for future generations.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/home-and-garden/build-a-weta-motel/
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/1840335/2527449/article.html (great article but it seems to have lost its navigation bars - I can email you a PDF of the article if you want to contact me)

I'll finish up with some pics of kaka; it's lovely to watch them fly around in groups and to hear them call. Ka kite...

Look at those colours!

The rare 'Kaka Tree' :)

Back in Technology Land

I'm sitting in my nice warm lounge with 3 bars of internet signal - and no windows or doors open! It's all thanks to a Cellutronics AY12 yagi aerial kit that was installed yesterday by Jed, along with a Freeview satellite dish and receiver. Not only do I have fast internet but I can watch tv with a decent picture again - and just in time to watch the rowers get 2 gold medals, YAY!

Jed checking the instructions

Installing the satellite dish

Finished assembly - the yagi aerial is on the right pointing toward
the Telecom cellphone tower

Info on the yagi aerial kit from Cellutronics

The aerial has boosted a non-existent internet signal to 3 bars and I can play YouTube videos without having to wait for ages. The only glitch is that I can only have one device plugged in at a time - so either my mobile phone or the internet. Swapping between them entails turning devices off when plugging in the aerial cable so it's not perfect but at least it's a solution.

Rakiura is known for its 'glowing skies' and we had a great example on 29 July with this sunrise...

Today was another stunning day with a light frost to start with. There's something about winter light here that doesn't have the harshness of summer; Halfmoon Bay looked especially pretty as I walked over to my rat lines.

Rakiura Track part 2 - North Arm Hut to Port William turnoff

North Arm Hut was re-opened in mid-July after the hut was extended to make a larger cooking room and to separate the bunkrooms. Both huts on the Rakiura Track sleep 24 and the Great Walks booking system ensures a bunk for the night. The cost is $22 per adult per night, children/teens under 18 are free - pretty cheap for a family experience. Firewood is provided but trampers have to provide their own cooking gas, sleeping gear, food and torch/candles.

I left North Arm Hut at 8.40am in cloudy and dry conditions after overnight rain. The section between North Arm and the Port William turnoff is 100% bush but the composition of the bush keeps changing depending on altitude and aspect. I wandered through fabulous green rimu, then a few minutes later it was crown fern and ponga territory in shades of brown. Plenty of history too with a system of bullock tramways and the steam log haulers - it must have been a tough life for the people working there at the turn of the 20th century.

I arrived at the Port William turnoff at 2.15pm just as the rain started falling. My waterproof camera ran out of battery at the log haulers and my other camera wasn't waterproof so I don't have photos from the turnoff back to Lee Bay but it was covered in my January blog

Lovely ngahere

Lots of bridges through this section

Clear tannin-tinted streams

Easy walking

Second viewpoint - great views over Paterson Inlet

Rimu and ponga country

Bridge over a bullock tramway stretching from Fern Gully to
north of North Arm Hut

Steeper gullies for the last couple of kilometres

A good climb up to the log haulers - looking
back down the steps

McAllister hauler

Johnston hauler

Log hauler display panel

Port William turnoff

Rakiura Track part 1 - Fern Gully to North Arm

The Department of Conservation has nine 'Great Walks' showcasing the best that Aotearoa has to offer. The stunning alpine scenery of the Milford Track and the volcanic landscape of the Tongariro Northern Circuit are world renowned and are drawcards for many overseas visitors; so much so that the tracks are crowded both with trampers and air traffic. If you are wanting a quieter backcountry experience in stunning temperate rainforest then come to Stewart Island with its 36km Rakiura Track.

The Rakiura Track is generally walked over 3 days, staying at DOC huts at Port William and North Arm. Each day's tramping is a comfortable 12km and offers a mix of coastal views, historic sites and pristine bush. With shorter weeks at work, I thought it was nigh time I experienced this 'Great Walk' for myself.

See also: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/southland/stewart-island-rakiura/rakiura-track/

I chose to do the Rakiura Track clockwise, staying one night at North Arm and bypassing Port William hut this time round. It doesn't matter which direction you go and, as it's a complete loop track, there's no need for transport to/from either end. Winter is an ideal time to walk the track; generally the weather is pretty settled with cooler temperatures for tramping - and the chance to see a kiwi is increased with the longer night length. Mud is a Stewart Island highlight - always check to see if kiwi have walked through recently; the majority of the track is benched gravel with an easy to moderate incline.

This blog covers my tramp from Oban to North Arm Hut; 5 hours of delightful walking in the bush, often with surprise views as another corner was turned. My new Sony waterproof camera was perfect for lightweight carrying and it got a lot of use until it ran out of battery by the log haulers (see Part 2!).

Fern Gully road end - the start of the Rakiura Track

Rakiura Track - the old road to Kaipipi

Grassy knoll at Kaipipi

Gallon's Sawmill historic site

Rakiura Track between Kaipipi and Sawdust Bay

Tramping in kiwi footprints!

Sawdust Bay

Rakiura Track between Sawdust Bay and North Arm - random
rocks appear from time to time

The newly-extended North Arm Hut; bunkrooms to the right,
kitchen and woodburner at far end

View from North Arm Hut

Offline!

Today is my 18 month anniversary of living on this beautiful island; my smile just gets bigger when I think how lucky I am to be living my dream.

I'm having to sit out on my deck to write this blog issue as the internet signal I got inside has disappeared after getting my double-glazing windows installed yesterday. Whilst I'm thrilled to keep the warmth inside, having to keep the door open so that I get an internet connection seems to defeat the purpose! I guess it's obvious that a weak signal would disappear with thicker glass but I hadn't given it any thought when I signed up for retro-fitted double-glazing. I've lost my mobile phone signal too but all should be rectified next week after I receive and install the Cellutronics yagi aerial on the roof. Fingers crossed!

It's getting cool and dusky here so will insert a few pics from today and venture back into the house.

Sunrise 19 July 2012

Deep Bay

Paterson Inlet looking east

Paterson Inlet looking west

Grandad Rimu towering over the ngahere

New supplejack shoot

Mussels, chiton and barnacles

Pub Quiz

Every Sunday at 6.30pm another slice of Stewart Island life is served - the world famous 'Stewart Island South Sea Hotel Pub Quiz'. Registrations start at 6pm and half an hour later teams are seated and waiting for Vicki the Quizmistress to blow her whistle signalling the start of this weekly ritual. There are 6 sets of 5 questions each, plus 10 pictorial questions - each team gets a black and white copy of these and a coloured version is hung up on the wall. Inbetween each question set Vicki gives a clue to a separate question and a member of each team goes up and whispers what they think the answer may be. If no team guesses correctly then another clue is given at the end of the next set. The more clues, the less points.

Quizmistress Vicki ruling the roost

The questions aren't easy! It pays to have six team members who are specialists in history, sport, geography, language, television and trivia - oh, and politics, anatomy, engineering and ecology would help too!

The pictorial questions - name the US talk show hosts

Our game sheet was a combined effort but despite good intentions we only got 28 out of 40.

Heaps of fun though and a great fundraiser teamed up with good food, a pint of beer and guaranteed laughs.

Kiwi feast

What an exciting week! Not only was I successful with applying for a DOC job, I also had a close encounter with a kiwi and have heard 6 kiwi calls in the last 5 days. Add some fresh kiwi prints in my mud puddles and you can see why I haven't stopped grinning :).

I heard two calls on Tuesday 10 July, a male at 2.49am, followed by a female calling at 5.05am and another female call at 3.32am this morning. It's amazing that I can curl up snug in my bed to listen to these wonderful birds - it sure beats sitting out in the cold!

Mud puddle prints

The close encounter occurred whilst I was walking down Back Road at 7.30am on Thursday morning. There was just enough light to walk without a torch and quite easy to pick up the shape of the kiwi as it ran away from me. I stood still and she didn't run far, maybe 5m away; then she started calling. Seconds later a male answered from up the road and a wee while after that, another male called from a different direction. I'm picking that they are all from the same family group, and, as it was around the same spot as the kiwi that was killed by a vehicle on Anzac Day, I'm guessing that he may be part of the family as well.

The kiwi sign that was nicked a year ago was replaced at the end of June so I'm hoping that it will remind drivers to slow down - we share this island, not own it.

Replaced kiwi sign at the intersection of the road to the airstrip (left)
and Main Road (to the right of the photo)