Eastern North Island and a Bit of Work

Heyo. So nothing too much has changed since the last post, basically just trying to cover as many paths as possible until we leave. Mack got a chance to kiwi track yesterday while I was checking email, so hopefully I'll be able to do that in the near future. Last week was quite rainy, which made going into the field rather unenjoyable -- one day we cut a bit short because we were soaked within about 15 minutes of going out. Our walks to arrive at tracks to begin work are getting longer and longer, today being about 1.5 hours. However, nice days here are just amazing. The forest is very interesting, in the fact that it's much like a tropical rainforest (traps heat, incredibly humid, lots of rainforest-like plants like ferns) but also very empty of fauna other than birds.

Anyways, here's a photo of a trap with a relatively fresh rat. Probably not going to publish the old/decaying/gross ones, but you get the idea. This is one of the older traps called the Fen 2. (Mack's photo).

Me getting the rat out. Fun times.

This past weekend, Diane (our cool roommate from France), Mack, and I went for a bit of a North Island adventure to see as much as possible on the Eastern side. We began our trek from Masterton, heading north to Taupo. Here's Mack and Diane looking across the Lake Taupo:

The lake (on a nicer day) gives an incredible shot of the Tongariro National Park, which Mack and I are planning to visit either this weekend or the one after:

After Taupo, we headed north to the Rainbow Mountain Track just south of Rotorua. The trek itself was quite easy, about 1 hour each way with a view of hot springs on the way. A view from the top (the weather was pretty terrible on Saturday, thus the resulting gloomy image):

After passing through Rotorua, we headed up to Tauranga and Mt. Maungani. The very popular surfing beach nearby:

Morning of Sunday, sunrise at Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty:

Mack.

More.

The drive from Gisborne to Napier was absolutely beautiful. We also stopped off at hot springs on the way, which were incredibly refreshing after sitting in a car for a loooong time.

Mack running on the beach just outside of Napier looking North.

Mission Estate, one of the wineries we visited in Napier.

Back to Mt. Bruce. Here's Diane prepping the kiwi food (ox heart, veggies, etc).

One of the many very colorful birds here at Mt. Bruce, the takahe:

It was a bit nippy recently.

One of the small kiwis that they're nursing until it reaches 1 kg, enough to fend off predators like ferrets and stoats. It doesn't like being disturbed, as it is nocturnal, so sorry for the not close up.

Here's an idea of all the trap locations in the park. The green is the park, blue dots are the trap locations.

Bait stations with poison.

Mustelids, our worst enemy! I.e. stoats and ferrets.

The exhibit in Mt. Bruce just got a renovation a few years ago and is incredibly nice! Lots of information and interactive stuff for kids and adults alike.

A video detailing the history of the area.

This is where we work.

Til next time.