Where to start?

A renewed monthly data allocation, a couple of days off work and weeks of unwritten blogs; I'll just chip away a little bit at a time and get back into the swing of things. My Telco, Spark, has given me an extra 2.5Gb/month which makes the difference between running out and having some to spare. I'd love to switch to rural broadband with 80Gb of monthly data but will wait until after the busy summer season first.

Spring means orchid time again but this year's different to last year; the spider orchids appeared at the same time but the greenhoods are emerging 2-3 weeks later than 2015. I never tire of looking closely at the spider orchids - no two are the same. Here is a selection of them...

Graham, the roading contractor, did a fine job of trimming the banks at the sides of the road and it's fun watching the wee orchids pushing through the dirt.

Masses of Thelymitra (sun) orchids filling the bare bank

More sun orchids

Greenhood orchids (Pterostylis) just emerging

My friend lent me Gertrude Dempsey's book 'The Spell of Stewart Island' which covers the author's  first visit to Rakiura in 1951 and her life on the island after her marriage to an Islander. She has a lovely way of describing the jewels you can find here; not just the beautiful views but the birdlife, community and observations that only come from one who looks closely at things. Here's a wee snippet of her description of Ryans Creek track...

"The beauty of coastline of the nearer shore was told again in emerald depths of water, and emerald were the reflections of the little islets in the dark blue sea. Splendid clouds were piled about the blue distant shores. A tui settled on a branch not six feet away and we could see every detail of his iridescent plumage and the delicate curled white feathers at his throat. Her perched there, regarding us without fear and then flew into a tree, and his heavenly notes dropped into the sunlight which blessed that place. Yes, it is better to allow a day for the walk, for it is a long one and much too interesting to be hurried."

More next time!

Photo catch up

Woohoo! My monthly 5Gb data allocation renewed itself today so I can get back online. I dream of having a fast fibre internet connection with unlimited data but I don't think it will ever come to Rakiura. My Win10 notebook is performing very well but the upgrades for the operating system and apps seem to hog a lot of the 5Gb so I'd better get a few blogs up before I run out again! This blog is a potpourri of photos from last month...

Golden Bay with Iona Island to the right and Ulva Island in the background

Golden Bay at low tide

As usual, the weather in April was a mixed bag but still very warm...

Beau and Nonu playing on Ringaringa Beach

What better way to spend a day than walking Ringaringa Beach at low

tide - Mac looks on while Nonu and Beau play tug-of-war

Beautiful rainbows abound on showery days - this beauty appeared 

at the bottom of Hicks Road

Low cloud over Halfmoon Bay disrupting flight schedules

My bush track was mostly under water through the month; we've had quite a lot more rain compared to last year and it hasn't drained away. Gumboots are the perfect footwear for stomping around my rat traps as long as you know where the deeper puddles are, otherwise you end up with wet and muddy feet!

Muddy tracks - great for seeing kiwi footprints

April was a boomer month for catching rats - a grand total of 18 caught in the traps, 17 of which were adults. Twelve of them were kiore, five ship rats and 1 Norway rat - great to have those out of the area as we go into winter but I wish I could eradicate them rather than just keeping them at bay.

Graph of rat catches per month since Jan 2015

Nicely caught

Autumn equals fungi time!

My good intentions to blog have been undermined by a sooner-than-intended upgrade to Windows 10. Once upon a time I upgraded to new operating systems without blinking but Windows 8 left me floundering and I've been reluctant to try again. Great to see that Microsoft has listened to the world and I'm very relieved that my Windows 10 upgrade went smoothly. I've just about finished installing software (all going well except for Adobe Premiere Elements v8 which I've had to remove) and transferring files so that I can finally retire my trusty Windows 7 workhorse.

I've decided that I can't be productive when I don't try new features so I'm going to take a few months' break from blogging about Rakiura once I've finished processing the backlog of photos. Instead I'll blog about my exciting adventures on the computer. I'm too addicted to Mother Nature's offerings to shun her completely but I'm hoping I can spice it up with some fancy new ways of showing her off.

Autumn time is usually a fun time for me as I explore my bit of bush for the fungi popping up. I'm amazed at how the spores sit in the ground just waiting for the right conditions to come along. How do they know that our calendar has ticked over to March, especially when Spring and early Summer were cold and wet? Here's a selection of the amazing fungi that's around - I'll label those that I can but I could well be wrong...

Entoloma hochstetteri (Blue pinkgill)

Weraroa virescens (Spindle pouch)

Ringed fungi of some kind - gill structure shown below

?Hygrocybe rubrocarnosa (Rare waxgill)

?Mycena spp

Hmm... maybe Tremella mesenterica (Witch's butter jelly)

Coprinopsis spp (Revolute inkcap)

Close-up of above

Another kiwi

Cor, over two months since my last blog and my apologies for those who have come looking for new posts. Since I changed to a new phone plan, I've found my reduced data allocation is largely gobbled up by Windows updates, especially as I prepare to install Win10 on one of my devices. With a new data allocation happening today, heavy rain outside and no work to go to, putting up a blog is my highest priority!

Island life is quietening down after a busy tourist season. With such an early Easter most of the tourists have gone now and with them, the call for casual work at accommodation providers. I've enjoyed my cleaning jobs and another birthday has seen me one year closer to retirement. It's hard to wait when I can see so much that needs doing on my section but I now have the winter to redirect my energies.

My deer-proof fence (DPF) MkI wasn't! I reckon the males caught their antlers in the bird netting and then thrashed around creating a hole big enough to jump through. The deer must have strained to reach the rhubarb and snapped the wire that was holding the bird netting up. Grrrrr. The rhubarb got hammered again so it was out with the old and in with DPF MkII...

Mum Whitetail

Spiker Whitetail

Pruned rhubarb

MkII version of the deer fence - it now has wire netting in front
of the bird netting

Hoping this will keep them at bay

If this doesn't work then I'll give up with a vege garden and take down all the barriers!!

I've been dog-sitting Mac and Beau while their owners were off-island. I've had limited experience with dogs and not quite sure what you do with them when you're not walking! Luckily both dogs were on their best behaviour. I thought that they would react noisily to deer being on the property so was very surprised to find Mac sitting quietly and observing Mum Whitetail and her twins feeding a few metres away.

Can you see the three whitetail deer?

Beau and Mac digging to China on Golden Bay Beach

The days are noticeably shorter from mid-February onwards and the end to daylight saving means that it's dark after dinner now. I needed a torch to help a friend get back out to her car and was waiting by the car door when we were surprised by a kiwi that almost collided with my leg! We watched whilst our feathered friend probed around the front of the car then headed off back toward the garage. Magic! I haven't heard any calls for a while but often see kiwi footprints or probe marks outside so it's more likely my double-glazing blocks out their welcome sound.

It's Autumn and of course the fungi know that! Great to see a wide selection of colours popping out of the ground - I'll put some pics up on my next blog.

Kiwi cruising

This week's cruise ship visitors had a mixed bag of weather; they arrived yesterday morning in bright sunshine and just a gentle breeze - just perfect for wandering around the village.

The Silver Discoverer moored out in Halfmoon Bay

Low tide on Halfmoon Bay - lots of seaweed to collect for the garden

Looking up Main Road - 2km from home!

The wind got up during the night and dawn brought low cloud and drizzle for our visitors' guided tour to Ulva Island. Our choppy ride over in the water taxi was a tad bouncy but the tenders coming from the Silver Discoverer were open zodiacs so a lot more exposed than an enclosed water taxi. With a front moving through at speed there were times we thought the guided tour might be called off but the Weather Gods blessed us and passengers started arriving on Ulva Island - a tad wet in the rain and spray but full of enthusiasm.

Lots of people and narrow paths make for a bit of congestion so I steered my group past a couple of others and we headed off to the Sydney Cove turn-off. Another group got there just before us so we changed plans and took another track; what a turn of luck though as partway along we came across a kiwi! Especially exciting as it's the first kiwi I've seen over at Ulva Island - and also the first Stewart Island kiwi that I've seen in daylight. We watched him/her for a few minutes and I managed to sneak in a quick pic before he/she disappeared into the bush on the other side of the track. Woohoo!

Nigel watching the kiwi cross the track

With huge grins on our faces, and with the sun coming out, we completed our short tour of beautiful Ulva Island. The island was set aside as a nature reserve in 1899 and I reckon it's one of the best examples of temperate rainforest in all of Aotearoa. I love its diversity - not only of the trees and birds, but especially of ferns, mosses, shrubs, lichens, orchids...

Zodiacs leaving Ulva Island jetty on the way back to the
Silver Discoverer on far right

My patch is a heap more modified than Ulva Island but there are still gems to be found when you look closely...



Lobelia angulata (above and below)



Thelymitra venosa orchid (above and below)