Snow Day!!! :)

Today our mom got us up at 10am to go to Castle Hill. As we were driving through Sheffield, it started to snow! Huge, beautiful flakes fell from the sky and stuck to the ground. We pulled over and I got out of the car and caught snowflakes on my tongue. We then drove up through the Southern Alps through Porter's Pass. The views were spectacular! A light dusting of snow covered everything, making the world look black and white. When we arrived at Castle Hill, there was a decent amount of snow covering the ground and all the rocks. We made snow angels, took pictures of the gorgeous views, and had many snowball fights. It was SO fun! When we drove back, a lot of the snow had melted in some places, but in others it was snowing so hard it felt like a blizzard. We also stopped at Sheffield again and got their famous meat pies. I wish the students could've been with us! Love and hugs, Tupelo 

It's snowing!

Snowball fight!

Snow angels

Mmm. This snow tastes good!

August 4th Already?!

Glad to not be heading out for a hike in cold rain, but bummed to be leaving, we decided to have breakfast together at Hillyers Cottage Café.  It was fun to have one more cuppa together before loading up the Gatrwaka one last time and heading out to the airport.  We hung out together for a little while playing cards and finding some last minute gifts, and, of course, we needed ANOTHER group photo before hugs and saying our goodbyes (for now).

We are all tired, sad to be leaving, and excited about our next travels and being home with loved ones.  Most everyone is back to their families in the States and Lauren and Emma will be traveling on to Australia for a few days before heading home, It has been a really fun time and we can't believe it is already time to go?!  Tonight, our driveway outside the flat looks empty without the Gatorwaka (Piwakawaka looks lonely without her buddy), and Lincoln Campus seems a little too quiet with the thought of our students not being just across the cricket and rugby fields. Love and hugs and safe travels, Meryl

Rails to Tales

After a chilly night, we ate breakfast and bid farewell to the historic Waipara Sleeper Cars.  We were off to explore the Waipara valley Greening Waipara wineries.  We reviewed our native plants and learned about the wine of the region.

Then it was back to Lincoln to catch the last few minutes of the Saturday Market and get some lunch.  After a break to unpack our bags, we had a friendly game of Cricket with the Huhu Grubs taking on the Hugh Wilson Warriors. Unfortunately, we will ever know the outcome of the game as an hour-and-a-half in, the game was called on account of weather.  A southerly change came up quickly and brought too much cold, rain, and wind, but the tales might be told of the mighty Huhu dominating the Warriors 42-33, or the Warriors coming back to crush the Huhu if it were not for the weather.  hmmmm...

Rest Up!  A few more adventures to come, m&m : )                                               

Penguins, Sea Kayaking, and Sheep – Oh My!

We tried something different this year – sea kayaking in Flea Bay or Pohatu (near Akaroa). Pohatu means the “place of stones” because the Maori had to remove so many stones from this area in order to till the ground and grow kumara – or sweet potato http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/kumara . The pakeha (or foreigner) name was Flea Bay – because when the settlers picked up the abundant penguins in the area – they were covered in fleas and these proceeded to cover their arms.

The company that took the group started a unique conservation reserve called Tutakahikura Scenic Bush Reserve and they take folks kayaking through the marine reserve. Shireen and her husband were both farmers and bought the property and when they saw the penguins disappearing around the peninsula, they decided to do something about it and started protecting the penguins (see http://www.pohatu.co.nz/About+Us.html ). We were greeted by Benoit and and Kevin, our (French) guides through the land and marine reserve.

Hopping into two vans – we headed the road over to Flea Bay. From the top, we had quite a view of Akaroa Harbour, which is actually the crater of an extinct volcano over 6 million years ago.

View of Akaroa Harbour

Ben explains the origins of Akaroa Harbour

The class near the top

Along the way, we looked at a weta hotel and saw a Bank’s Peninsula tree weta Hemideina ricta. http://ecan.govt.nz/publications/General/banks-peninsula-tree-weta-brochure.pdf   These lovely wetas became really large – in the absence of mice and other small mammals – sort of taking over their niche. 

Checking out a weta hotel

This is a giant weta form the North Island

Banks Peninsula tree weta in the hotel that we saw today

We dropped down into the bay and begun our preparations. We were instantly surrounded by some shaggy brown sheep – much to the delight of the class. We got to feed them!

Over here!

More?

After safety instructions and some instructions about the sea kayaks, we entered the water on a beautiful sunny day. The water was a nice turquoise blue and we began to look for white-flippered penguins Eudyptula albosignata http://www.penguin.org.nz/white-flippered-penquin.html and Hector’s dolphins Cephalorhynchus hectori. http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/marine-mammals/dolphins/hectors-dolphin/  Both species are rare and endangered.

First up though were New Zealand fur seals Arctocephalus forsteri basking on the rocks. As we paddled by, they were basking on the rocks. They lazily lifted up their heads as we paddled by. 

Out into the bay!

Grouping together as we head towards the penguin colonies

Tupelo giving it her all

Then, Kevin pointed out our first white-flippered peguin along the rocks. Amazing! These penguins are unique only to Banks Peninsula and at one time numbered in the tens of thousands but were reduced quite dramatically due to predators (e.g., rats, cats, dogs, and stoats).  The penguins dig/find burrows on shore and this is where they are vulnerable to introduced predators. There is an extensive predator control program in the area. Even grazing sheep help because they prevent the exotic grasses form seeding out – and this reduces the amount of food for rats and mice. Currently, it is estimated that there are about one thousand penguins nesting in the area. 

Cute penguins huddled on the rocks

As we got out towards the ocean, we saw Hector’s dolphins. These little guys (they grow 1.5 m in length) are highly endangered, affected by fishing nets and boat propellers. The Banks Peninsula marine mammal sanctuary in Canterbury was established in 1988 primarily to reduce set-net deaths of Hector’s dolphins in the area.

We returned to shore, dragged up the kayaks, and cleaned the gear. We were introduced (to our surprise) a pair of penguins nesting right by the boat shed. 

Hello there!

Ok guys - cover us back up!

We had lunch and headed back over the hill. next stop was tea time and then back to Lincoln. We leave for Kaikoura tomorrow and will have limited internet connection. So more in a few days! 

Cheers Dr. H

One last look at Flea Bay

July 22-24 Free Weekend

We have all been off on adventures of our own during this free weekend.  The weather was a factor on Saturday with rain and high winds.  Despite this, we all had fun...

mmjt at Lake Tekapo (no skiing, but we did get to ice skate on Friday, and got a few photos in between raindrops on Saturday)

Can't even see the snow covered mountains in the cloud and rain

Amber, Grace, Kathryn, Kelly, Lauren, and Mimi were down in Queenstown enjoying the sites and advetnure-town-capitol activities

BEFORE they jumped ; )

Emma, Maris, and Santiago explored the Christchurch area

And Matt spent quite a bit of time on a plane to Perth, AU and back just to visit with his folks and a koala or two

Glad everyone had fun!  Meryl : )

Port Hills Panorama

On tap for today, my favorite hike in the Port Hills - the Crater Rim Walkway section near Omahu Bush Reserve which offers 360 views that include the Pacific Ocean, Birdlings Flat, Lake Ellesmere, the Canterbury Plains/Christchurch area and views to the Southern Alps and of Lyttelton Harbor, Diamond Harbor, and Quail Island.  It was the perfect day for it – sunny, warm, and with a light breeze. We hiked up to a large rocky outcrop where we ate our lunch and enjoyed the views and some peaceful down time.

After driving along the Summit Drive of the Port Hills we headed down to Governor's Bay to explore the rocks and look for sea life whilst (as they say here) the tide was still out a bit.  We found little crabs under rocks, a chiton, and enjoyed the views out to the sea along the rocky shore.

Then we were off for a decadent tea time at She Universe which features ever manner of fine chocolate and a beautiful view of Governor's Bay. It was fun to sip hot and cold chocolate drinks and watch the large barges bring containers full of goods to Lyttelton Harbor to be off-loaded.

We headed back mid-afternoon so that everyone would have time to do laundry and get packed up for their free weekend.  Be safe and have fun everyone!  Look forward to hearing about your adventures on Sunday when we are all back together.  Stay Tuned, Meryl : )