Art in the Sounds - A day at Lochimara Lodge

I'm so far behind all my photos and day trips it's not funny, but better late than never.  A year ago my friends Debbie and Sheila came down to do the St Clair half marathon - a run through the vineyards.  The day after we took the ferry to Lochimara Lodge to take a look at what they had to offer.  The weather wasn't looking promising as we left Picton, murky with the threat of rain...

The ferries were running to schedule, and to me looked like they were on ice, the water being so calm...

We arrived at Lochimara sometime about 10am.  It was quite cold, so once on land, we headed into the cafe for a hot chocolate.  For anyone wondering - they do a good hot chocolate, and have wonderful lunches.

I was intrigued by the lights inside the cafe. Pieced together by old computer chip boards, thought it would be the perfect present for any 'nerd' study (like me!) Couldn't be too hard to do surely?

This was our view while drinking our hot chocolate. Calm, beautiful green waters of the Marlborough Sounds...

After our warm up inside, it was time to go exploring and to take a look at some of the art. Debbie took charge of the map and we followed her blindly... First bit of art we saw was a rather nice sculpture of a sailing ship, perfectly placed...

Up the hill a bit and we found this gorgeous sculpture of a woman's face in wood..

However my eye caught this most cheeky fantail...

I willed it to land on the stump of wood, and it obliged. Deb and Sheila had to wait for me while I shot off several thousand photos of this one fantail. They were really patient, but I could tell they wanted to move on by the way they were back on the track when I was still in the field. I reluctantly left!

Another sculpture carved into wood in it's natural surroundings. Very cleverly done, and inspired by nature. Nature also adding it's unique touch.

I came across one of the locals. I know some people like this...

We found a beautiful couch all done in mosaics. I really liked this and could imagine one in my garden, out the back.

Sheila was a bit tired after the half marathon yesterday so took a quick nap...

More sculpture carved into the actual tree - stunning and one of my favourites...

Nature's Art....

And the famous face on the wall...

The people in the woods. I really liked the way this was done, and it certainly made our walk through the forest interesting...

Then Debbie found her place for her nana nap...

And Sheila decided to have one as well...

Back at the lodge, and refreshed after all the naps they had, Debbie and Sheila decided to go kayaking. As I had taken my role of photographer very seriously, I hadn't had a nap, so decided to rest on the jetty and mix with the local shags. Besides, cameras and water don't mix and I didn't want to take a chance.

Here they are, about to take off to the unknown. Kayaking here is included in the price of the ferry trip over, so well worth doing.

I was allowed to get up close and personal to Ms Shag, but if I overstepped my boundary and crept into her personal space, then I got nipped by the beak..

I found other interesting things from the jetty though with the nips got too hard...

Although she always managed to get the attention brought back on herself... What a star! The story here is that the shag is injured in some way and can't fend for itself any more, so relies on fish brought to the jetty by local fishermen.

We left Lochimara knowing we would be back, and headed back to Blenheim where I showed Debbie and Sheila some of the beautiful spots all in Autumn colours...

Then the view from the back of my place....

A great fun day out.

The Red Crowned Parakeet

The Red Crowned Parakeet is a native New Zealand bird, that was once spread right across New Zealand, but is now extinct on the mainland.

I was lucky enough to be able to get a few good images of them in a wildlife and art park in the Marlborough Sounds last year, at Lochimara Lodge.  They are known by the Maori name - Kakariki.

They feed on seeds, berries, fruit, nuts and other parts of plants. They were extremely abundant in the 1880s, and they were known to rapidly increase in numbers at times (to irrupt). They are now only found on off shore islands such as Stewart Island, Tiritiri Matangi, and Somes. They are now categorised as vulnerable as the remaining populations are fragmented.

Their extinction on the mainland was due to their vulnerability to introduced species, particularly stoats, rats, possums, and habitat destruction following human settlement.

Kaka in Maori means Parrot, and Riki means small.  The word is also used to mean strong green colour - literally "parrot-green" - due to the birds' vivid plumage. The patches of red on the birds' rumps are, according to legend, the blood of the demigod Tāwhaki (White 1887). The Kakariki are basically bright green in colour but as with most green coloured birds, some very beautiful colour varieties are produced. The red-crowned Kakariki is distinguished by a bright crimson forehead, crown and a streak through the eye with violet-blue on the wings while the yellow-crowned has a golden yellow crown. Sometimes specimens have been found where the green gives way to a bright canary yellow while the bright red and violet remain. There have been other specimens taken which are bright red or predominately blue.

They are also bred in captivity and they make good pets, however a licence from the New Zealand Department of Conservation is now required for this.

Red-crowned parakeets favour holes in branches and trunks of trees, particularly decaying trees, for nesting. They also use crevices in cliffs or among rocks, burrows in the ground or densely matted vegetation.

During incubation, the cock calls the hen off the nest and feeds her by regurgitation. Both sexes feed the chicks but the cock usually transfers the food to the hen which then passes it along to the chicks. The red-crowned fledglings are fed on the ground for a period before they can fly which makes them especially vulnerable to predators

Kakariki are usually solitary or found in pairs, although in autumn and winter they may form small flocks. In flight they make a loud rapid chatter and may also chatter and babble when feeding.

There can be no doubt, that the destruction of the bush, especially the felling of the broad leafed trees, the Kakariki’s favourite haunts, the attacks of mustelids and rats which can get into its nesting holes, the increase of bees in hollow trees, shooting by farmers, trapping by fruit growers, are all reasons for the near demise of this lovely bird.

I hope that one day they'll be back in numbers on our mainland.

Bottlenose Dolphins

Back in January I spent some time with family in the Sounds. It was one of those perfect summer days, calm water, sun, a slight breeze, beautiful colours.. What better day to spend in the boat? So up to the Head of the Tory channel to do a spot of fishing... and photographing..

On the way up we came across a pod of bottlenose dolphins - beautiful creatures. The followed us for ages, surfing in the wake of our boat...

It's the second time I've come across them - the first time they were doing huge flips in the air, but unfortunately I had the wrong lens on so didn't get any photos - and by the time I had changed lenses, they had settled down and were being sensible. This time they were only interested in surfing in our wake...

I can't remember how many were there, but I think I counted at least 15 of them.

The water out here is pretty cold, so I wasn't about to swim with them - wetsuits would have been needed. Besides, I really didn't want to upset the dolphins - they might have thought I was a Beluga Whale!!!

Even though we caught some Blue Cod for dinner, my main memories of the day were the dolphins. (And the champagne we had a lunch!) They, in my opinion, are just magical.

It's a beautiful part of New Zealand I live in. I can't wait to see the dolphins again!

French Pass Revisited

I first visited French Pass at the end of March 2010 when my friends Jill and Ian came down to visit me. At the beginning of June, my friends Nancy and Dave came up from Christchurch for the long weekend, and I was lucky enough that they wanted to do the drive out there, so I got to go along again!

It was the same road, nothing had changed, even the same temperature, but the weather was quite different and this made for interesting photography! The weather back in March was fine and sunny - you can see the last blog for a comparison here.

Road to French Pass in the middle of native bush.

We actually stopped here to take a photo of the lovely view. Unfortunately, there weren't many places to stop as the trees screened the view in a lot of places. Here's Nancy getting a good shot between the trees....

I mentioned the temperature was the same - about 12C, the big difference was in March we were still wearing summer clothes so we froze, but this time, as it was winter, we were dressed for the chill so it was much more pleasant!

Back in March 2010, the wind blew like crazy, but this time everything was dead calm and still. Chalk and Cheese.

And here's Dave. Notice the mist coming off the sounds...

And in case you're wondering, here is the gorgeous view we were photographying...

Half an hour further up the road, we came to a place where you could see both sides - on the left the Pelorus sound, and on the right, the Tasman Sea... This one is the Pelorus Sound - note the mussel farm in the bottom right - this is one of many.  You're in Green Lipped mussel farming territory here...

And the Tasman sea...  If you look up at the top right, you can see the French Pass - our destination...

In case you're wondering, the farmland is privately owned, and this area has been farmed (sheep and beef) since 1857.

Our beautiful native bush. Unfortunately, you can see possum damage, the branches that are bare - 66 million possums are munching through our native forest with absolutely no natural predators...

The area we're in is wild and remote, but beautiful...

An old picnic table where you can stop and eat and see for miles. Back in March last year it would have been impossible to stop here because the winds would have been too strong.

Some sort of memorial at the top as well - I forgot to read the plaque! Now I'll have to go back again at some stage to find out what it said!

The cows are monstrous up here. Look at the size of the dung in comparison to my foot!!!!!

Crossroads - we'll go left and explore later!

Anyone have a letter they'd like to post?

The pass itself. French Pass is a narrow and treacherous stretch of water that separates D'Urville Island, at the north end of the South Island of New Zealand, from the mainland coast. At one end is Tasman Bay, and at the other end the outer Pelorus Sound leads out to Cook Strait.

French Pass has the fastest tidal flows in New Zealand, reaching 8 knots (4 m/s). When the tide changes, the current can be strong enough to stun fish! The first recorded European navigation of the pass occurred in 1827. Admiral Jules Dumont d'Urville navigated the pass during his second voyage to New Zealand, in the French Navy corvette Astrolabe. Approaching the narrowest part of the pass, the vessel swung sideward and did not respond to steerage. The corvette struck rocks twice, and was then washed over the reef and into Admiralty Bay. The high energy and complexity of the location was summed up by d’Urville suggesting that no one should attempt to navigate French Pass except in extreme emergency.

In 1888, a Risso’s dolphin appeared in the area. For the next 24 years, this dolphin accompanied boats to and from French Pass. He became famous as Pelorus Jack and was the first dolphin in the world to receive the protection of the law. Pelorus Jack stayed in the Pelorus Sounds, and did not navigate the pass into Tasman Bay. He would meet boats as they came out of the pass, riding their bow waves for 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to Pelorus Sound. Then he would join boats returning to Nelson at the entrance to Pelorus Sound and escort them back to the pass. Pelorus Jack was last seen in April 1912. The lightkeeper at French Pass claimed he found the body of Pelorus Jack decomposing on the shore

Just north of the Pass looking up into the Cook Strait...

While waiting for Nancy and Dave to read everything about French Pass, I managed to find a Manuka tree in flower and whipped out my macro lens... The flower is only about half the size of my little finger nail.

Down in the tiny township of French Pass, the weather wasn't so good, so while Nancy and Dave explored, I shot this from the window of the car - one of the yachts moored in the bay...

After having a picnic lunch on the beach, we started heading back the way we came. Just one of the little beaches that you can see from the top of the hills...

Looking down the Pelorus Sounds - the weather was turning, misty and starting to rain. That kind of weather has never stopped us from doing anything though...

It just adds a mysterious element into our photography...

Oh look - the fridge again. The best letterbox in the world. Always reminds me of Dr Who for some reason...

Down to Cissy Bay where we found calm waters, an old fishing boat, amazing reflections, mist, and a beautiful spot for photography....

These are the rocks that were on the beach - these rocks were actually underwater - but the water was so crystal clear...

Here's the wonderfully reflected boat and hills...

Just the reflected boat...

Nancy and I found some crabs under the rocks and were enjoying fossicking and photographing....

Until we heard the horn and turned round to see Dave waiting to take us back home!!!!

A good fun day!