Finding the End of the Rainbow

We started off a bit later today on our journey into Akaroa. The first stop was at our favorite little cafe, over in Little River. Morning tea went quite well and got us in the mood for kayaking on the open waters of Flea Bay. And on we went to meet with the Pohatu Penguins team (Ave, Ben, and Kevin). We left our vehicles behind and hopped on the tour vans. Some of us got to meet Ave's daughter as well, who likes to pretend she's a tiger (ferocious!). It was a long, winding road that led around Akaroa Bay and into Flea Bay, our kayaking destination. We got a few chances to take pictures along the way, often seeing the end of rainbows (something that was a trend today).

Akaroa Bay surrounded by fog

Akaroa to the right

On the way to the bay, Ave talked about the origins of Akaroa and how there used to be so many whales, you could use them as stepping stones to go across. Whaling greatly declined numbers until recently. These great mammals, along with other aquatic species, have been making a comeback in the last 50 years due to conservation efforts like with Pohatu. Also, the inactive volcano crater that is Akaroa was originally colonized by the French, but the English beat them to a land agreement with the Maori by only 6 days. One of the coolest things about doing the kayaking was that our "tourist activity" acts as a secondary source of income for some of the farmers in the area. These farmers are now quite involved in conservation efforts and growing back native forests. 

We finally arrived around lunchtime, only to find some friendly, yet camera-shy sheep. Once lunch was over, we prepped to go out with tons of kayaking layers and got a lesson on how to paddle. And we had a little fun with it too!

Emily enjoying the sheep

Learning how to use the kayak bibs 

Soon enough, Ben and Kevin helped us out into the bay and we took sail! Some of us forgot to grab our sea legs today but it was tons of fun and an amazing experience. We got to kayak by the Pacific while looking out for little penguins and fur seal pups. We even got to see Northern Giant Petrels at the edge of the bay. Ben explained that for a while, little penguin numbers were low, but now there are 2000 breeding pairs nesting in the area. Although, there are only two pairs of yellow-eyed penguins which we, unfortunately, did not see. This marine reserve was more beautiful than we could've imagined, especially with the rainbow on the horizon. Eventually, we had to return to shore and say goodbye to the shaky waters.

 Our journey begins!

Will we find the pot of gold at the end?

Fur seals chilling on the rocks

Primary color jackets

After landing and bringing the gear back, we got a super special surprise. Kevin went to check penguin nest boxes and we got a great look at one! We had to be super quiet and still, so we didn't stress it out too much.

Penguin Nest Box

Little Blue Penguin

We didn't have much time to waste, though. Soon enough, we were ferried off to Christchurch for a talk at Smash Palace's Tuesday Club. Although we showed up a tad bit late, it was a great talk with tons of questions. They spoke about making a global research organization focused on recovery of cities after a disaster. After the earthquakes in Christchurch a few years back, many people have tried to come together and foster creativity in a new way. They seek to bring these creative thoughts in and help create progress within disaster-affected areas. We ate dinner there and headed back to our dorms, hoping to get some rest before another long trip.

Adios for now,

Devin

Attack of the Fur Seal

After an early start this morning, we all piled into the Gator Waka and made our way towards Oaumaru! We made a quick stop at a very long flying fox and everyone got in on the action (including Dr. Hostetler and Dr. Meurk!) Of course, our next stop was tea time at Coffee Culture in Timaru.

We finally reached Oamaru just in time for lunch. We ate lunch around the Gator Waka then went for a short walk down the beach to explore the Moeraki boulders. Our timing was perfect for viewing the almost perfectly round rocks, and we had quite a few interesting things happen while we were there! We encountered a young fur seal resting on one of the boulders and Tupelo led the transformation of a pile of driftwood into a very impressive teepee. 

We stopped by our gorgeous backpacers (it has foosball AND a view of the ocean!) then headed back out to explore the Steampunk HQ museum in downtown Ouamaru. Steampunk is based on the Victorian era idea of the future, if electricity had never been invented. The origin of steampunk ideas can be found in the book “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Vern. The museum was full of interesting things, including a steampunk pipe organ, steampunk themed goggles and dress up clothes, recycled metal native New Zealand animal sculptures, and “The Portal”, a trippy experiment in lights and mirrors. 

Then, in town, we enjoyed a steampunk themed playground for half an hour, where the most popular attractions were a VERY steep slide and a hamster wheel. 

Next was the most exciting part of the day!  We went to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony to watch the penguins come back to their nesting boxes after a long day of fishing.  Little blue penguins are the smallest penguin species in the world, growing to a height of 30 cm and a weight of 1 kg. Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to take pictures of the penguins because it may disturb them. Before the penguins arrived, we watched a few large fur seals resting on the rocks. The penguins were incredibly adorable and pretty clumsy as well. They fell a lot, but it was always cute! We got to see a total of 153 little blue penguins! About halfway through our time watching the penguins, I heard a commotion. A very large fur seal decided that the bleachers where visitors were sitting to the left of us looked like a more comfortable resting  place, so he climbed over the fence! Many people moved far away from the fur seal, and a lot of people completely left. The fur seal definitely tried to steal the show! 

After our interesting experience with penguins and fur seals, we went to Scott’s Brewing Co for supper. We all got delicious pizzas! 

Now we’re all back at the hostel and hanging out for a little while before heading off to sleep. 

Until next time, 

Eliza