About Me for this Blog

A Maine girl on the hunt for birds, maps and conservation in the farthest Pacific.

The Perfect Trip to Milford Sound

This will be my last blog from New Zealand as I am leaving tomorrow morning to return to the great state of Maine! Thankfully, I just had the most perfect last weekend in NZ that I could have hoped for, and that I won't soon forget.

On Saturday, my flatmate Chris and I left Dunedin in his car at 10am heading westward, making only one stop in rural Gore for KFC before getting to stunning Te Anau, on the shores of Lake Te Anau, the largest lake on the South Island. We stopped briefly to pay for our kayak trip and get coffee and pancakes before pressing onwards, north along the Milford Road! The Milford Road starts in Te Anau and ends in Milford Sound, and at 120 kms long it is the longest dead end road in New Zealand :) Chris and I made several stops on the way, just because the mountains of Fiordland rising up on either side of the road are so massive and amazing. We finally arrived at the Homer Tunnel, a long tunnel that goes right through a mountain, carved out by hand during the depression. Not long after the tunnel we drove down into Milford and checked in at the Milford Lodge. Chris and I made pizza for dinner and talked with a British couple that were also kayaking the next morning. We hung out for a while at the lodge, but when the full moon rose, we walked the 15 minutes down the road to the sound and looked at the ghostly images of Mitre Peak and the surrounding mountains lit up by the moon.

On Sunday we had to get up fairly early to get ready for the day. To our delight, there wasn't a cloud in the sky! This fact alone is amazing because Fiordland, a temperate rainforest, gets 6 meters (18 feet) of rain per year. It's almost never sunny! We were pretty excited. Even more so when our kayak guide couldn't contain her excitement about how nice a day it was! We were very very lucky. Drove down to the water and got all of our kayak gear on, and Chris and I jumped in a two person kayak, with me in front. There were 3 other double kayaks and our guide, a great group size! We were out on Milford Sound for 4 hours, marvelling at the view, drinking out of a glacial river, snapping photos of a sunning seal, and very thankful for the calm water. It was an amazing trip. We finished with a stop at Bowen Falls, three times higher than Niagara Falls, and very impressive. On the way back I counted 14 mountains that I could see from my kayak that were well over 1500 meters high. Amazing! All that kayaking made us pretty sleepy, so we spent the afternoon lazing around and went out for dinner that night at the Blue Duck Cafe :)

On Monday the clouds had returned, settling in the ridges and valleys of the mountains. Chris and I made one last visit to the sound, and lucky we did, I saw 2 new birds! A white heron and some grey ducks. We set out at 10:00 knowing we had to cross the entire country before dark :) Made some stops along the Milford Road on the way back, stopped in Te Anau for coffee and walked to the wildlife refuge so I could see a Takahe, then continued on towards Dunedin. After 4 hours of DJ Kate's 90's hit remix, we were finally back. When I closed my eyes to go to sleep, all I could see were mountains...

Goodbye Wellington, Hello Chilly Dunedin!

I haven't posted in a while, but there have been some big changes! Last week my job ended and I spent a day running around snapping photos, going to the museum and going out to dessert with my workmates and my friend Dave from university. On Wednesday I flew down to the South Island to spend my last two weeks back in Dunedin with my friends. I was very sad to leave Matt up in Wellington... I told him to win the Lotto so he can fly to Maine and meet everyone :)


This past week I have been sitting around and sleeping a lot. Flatmate Chris and I went out to the end of the Otago Peninsula on Sunday and it was freeeezing and very windy. We didn't see any penguins, but did somehow find my dog, Jetta.






Just kidding, that's a seal :) Next up is a trip to Milford Sound this weekend, and I'll be home in a little over a week! Looking forward to summer weather!

Things I Like...

...about Wellington! A short list:

1. The Forest and Bird Society plays bird sounds on top of it's building next to a giant tui.
2. Sometimes people put soap suds in the Bucket Fountain.
3. Carrot cake from Mr. Bun.
4. Flat white for $3 from Midnight Espresso.
5. Watching the sun rise over the Rimutakas from the Terrace.
6. Using the toilets in the Embassy Theatre (and pretending I'm Liv Tyler...)
7. The whale bridge.
8. Random music on Cuba St.

Ok, that's all for now. Back to work!

Otari and the Zoo!

Quick one: this past weekend Matt and I spent Saturday at the Otari/Wilton's Bush reserve in Wellington. We walked around through all-native gardens and native bush for about 2 hours. Saw quite a few wood pigeons and an 800 year old rimu tree! It really felt like we weren't near the city, it was nice.

On Sunday Matt and I took the bus to Newtown to go to the Wellington Zoo! It wasn't a very big zoo, but it still took us a long time to walk all the way around. They had the usual giraffes, lions, chimpanzees, a tiger, zebras... but also had kangaroos, red pandas, and malayan sun bears! Quite a few different birds as well. And I got to see my first kiwi in the Twilight exhibit! It was a pretty fun time :) And for those Peter Jackson fans out there, they filmed part of "Dead Alive" at the Wellington Zoo! Ok, it's back to work for my last week at Motu, and hopefully a trip to Kapiti Island!

The Sunny Wairarapa

Just got back from a weekend away with Matt in the Wairarapa, one of the North Island's most prominent wine regions and a beautiful piece of countryside between the Rimutaka mountains and the coast. On Saturday we got up early and took the train one stop out of Wellington to pick up our rental car, went back to his flat and picked up our stuff, then headed north out of town! It felt good to leave the city behind, especially as it looked like it would be a very nice day. We drove up over Rimutaka Hill (scary! I'm glad Matt was driving...) and down into the Wairarapa to the town of Masterton. Stopped in Masterton to pick up lunch and dinner from the grocery store and a flat white at a cafe in town... soooo good.

From there we headed right to Castlepoint on the east coast, named so because Captain Cook thought the point looked like the battlements of a castle. What a genius that guy was! We got there too early to check in to our room, so we drove over to the point and looked around at the reef. When 1:00 rolled around we went to check in to our little kitchen cabin (Matt let me drive back!), brought all of our stuff in, and went back to the point. Go to google maps, type in "castlepoint nz" and check it out, it's really cool! First we went to the lighthouse, then ate lunch in the bright sunshine, then went down around on the ocean side of the point looking for a cave Claire had said was around there somewhere. Didn't find it, so we started to walk over to do a loop walk when we aw a DOC sign saying where the cave was! And it was low tide so we could actually get to it! Climbed along the shore of the point until we got to this big limestone cave that goes under the whole point, so you can see light and waves coming in on the other side! So cool. Apparently it was once home to Te Wheke, the octopus, in Maori legend :) From there we did a loop walk around to Castle Rock were we got some elevation and could see pretty far up the coast in both directions. The sun set around 6:00, so we went back and made dinner in the little cabin (so cute!) as the full moon rose, then went out later for a cider at the bar.

The next morning, I was up at sunrise (much to Matt's chagrin) and shaking him to get out of bed since it was so beautiful! We walked down to the beach through the strong wind and took some photos and waited for the sun to come up over the horizon. Nothing makes you feel like the earth is spinning more than watching the first rays of the sun appear. Since the sun rose at 7:30, we decided to eat breakfast and pack up, and we left Castlepoint at 9:30. And then the driving began... We drove south to Riversdale beach, then I took over (yes, Matt, I will stay on the left) and drove a gravel stretch of the road for about an hour. Continued on to Martinborough after thinking we might be lost and finally got a coffee and some carrot cake!!! Mmm. And the town was really cute, it's like the heart of the Wairarapa where all the wine enthusiasts go. From there we drove south to Lake Ferry on the coast, then east along the coast to the lighthouse at Cape Palliser. We stopped there for lunch and were entertained by the cutest New Zealand fur seals ever. And some of the seals went in the ocean and were jumping clear out of the water like dolphins, it was amazing!

<-- Matt and me at the lighthouse.

Made one stop on the way back to take a short walk up a stream valley to see the Pinnacles, interesting formations made out of eroding mud on the sides of the valley. It was dusk then and the valley smelled like home in the summer. From there we drove all the way back to Wellington, with a stop in Featherston for fish and chips. It had been such a hot, beautiful day, and weekend, and when we got back to the city we were exhausted but happy :)

Cape Palliser Lighthouse, 250 steps up a cliff!

Two-Dozen, Carrot Cake and Turkish Food

Well yesterday was my 24th birthday (or two-dozen, as I've been telling people), and it was a really great day! I got breakfast muffins (with candles!) in bed and then went out for bagels with Matt in the morning, went to work and then went home at noon to call my mom :) I had also gotten my packages from my mom and from my best friend that morning, so that was really exciting! In the afternoon, since it was a Thursday, we had afternoon tea and the ladies got me a carrot cake (with candles!). I went shopping after work for a new top and skirt, then got ready for Matt to pick me up at 7:00 for my surprise evening! Ooooh...

I threw on my heels and met Matt at the door and we headed towards Cuba St., and then I figured out where we were going! Cafe Istanbul! I had been wanting to go out to eat there since Matt has been to Turkey three times and said how good the food was. He had reserved a table by the fire in the middle of the dimly lit room, so that was really nice. We got some Turkish beer (Efes), halloumi cheese and bread, then lamb shish kebabs with salad and rice, and bread with four different dips. Mmmm. Finished it all off with some Turkish coffee in the lounge with brightly colored pillows. It was so good! Below is a photo of me and Matt, awww... :)

Matt and me at the restaurant (you can see his eyes in this photo, haha):