A kowhai flower - tuis and bell birds are fond of these, eating the entire bloom.
The lodge was offering a pre-breakfast kayak excursion up the river (where the lodge is located) onto the lake. We demurred as we have kayak/walk excursion after breakfast although Jim and Pat paddled by the breakfast room a few minutes ago.
While eating our breakfast, a wood pigeon alighted in a bush by the riverside that had yellow flowers (kowhai, pronounced “ko-fi”, the New Zealand national flower). While the bird was eating those flowers, it was joined by a smaller bird with dark plumage. Looking closer, the second bird had white neck feathers (like a bowtie) that identified it as a tui. We had heard tuis on our walks throughout the forest as they have a rich almost bell-like timber in their calls.
We met the lodge’s guide, Corey, at the front of the hotel with some of the other guests at the lodge. This morning’s walk would take us through the coastal rain forest to an inlet on the river where we would get into kayaks to paddle the rest of the river to the coastal lagoon which had no road access.
The trek through the forest repeated a fair amount of the information that Nicky had provided on earlier walks, so it was mostly for the benefit of the lodge’s other guests.
We got to the inlet where the lodge brought the kayaks and paddles. They lined us up by height as the footrests had been adjusted accordingly. To get right to the punch line, Country Walkers became Country Swimmers as I managed to capsize my kayak almost immediately. I got soaked up to my chest, as the water was only 3 or so feet deep where I went in. Somehow I managed to keep my head dry. The purchase of the waterproof camera - which was in my shirt pocket at the time of my immersion - proved to be prescient.
I dragged by soggy butt out of the water, boots squishing as I did. I shed my VT fleece jacket and Nicky and I squeezed most of the water out of it. I also took off my outer shirt, leaving the moisture wicking tee shirt on as it dries quickly. John, the lodge manager, lent me his fleece. So instead of the one-man kayak (which I was now fairly sure I wasn’t going to manage well at all), I went in the two-man kayak with Nicky, so she could keep me out of trouble (at which she did a fabulous job).
We paddled out the inlet into the main channel of the Moeraki River, past several whitebait fisher huts saying hello as we glided past. We pulled out at the sandbar that guarded the river’s mouth as it flowed into the Tasman Sea. There was a stiff breeze which made it a bit cool with my wet pants, but it also helped dry them rapidly. after wandering about, picking up a stone or two, we returned to the kayaks for the return trip up the river. We pulled out at the inlet and loaded the kayaks on the trailer and started to walk back to the lodge (squish, squish). Once back in out room, I shed all my wet clothing and got into dry. I took my soggy laundry to the laundry room and put them in the dryer. My boots I stuffed with newspaper and put in the drying room. A bit later, Nicky dropped by to check on me and we re-stuffed the boots again - this time removing the insoles. The paper that I had stuffed in them less than 10 minutes earlier was already damp and soggy.
A kowhai flower - tuis and bell birds are fond of these, eating the entire bloom.
Pat, Tom, and Jonathan head into the woods.
Corey, the guide from the lodge, standing in front of a large rimu.
Close-up of a fuschia.
A whitebait trap.
Looking up at the secondary growth on the giant rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum).
Between these shots, I had my dunk in the river. Nicky kept the camera for me while kayaking to the beach.
A view of the Tasman Sea from the beach.
Looking back up the Moeraki River - the kayaks are beached at the far left of the image.
Jonathan strolling on the beach.
A Variable Oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor).
Another swing bridge.
After lunch, I retrieved the clothes from the dryer and the boots (which were now only slightly damp), and changed back into hiking gear. The afternoon’s walk was to an isolated beach frequented by penguins and fur seals. The track is not a well known one and the lodge guides, Corey and John, took some pains to keep it obscure by parking the car some distance up the road so passers-by wouldn’t realize there was a trailhead there.
The track descended the hill, crossing several streams where I offered the guide to fall into, just to keep my string alive. On our way down the narrow and primitive trail, we heard a number of birds - bell birds, tuis, kaka, and even penguins. Corey was able to call/whistle a fantail down where she rather enthusiastically whistled, chirped, and fluttered at him. So much so, a male fantail swooped in to see what the fuss was about.
Moving closer to the beach, we spotted a penguin in the bush where they make their nests. One penguin led us down the last few feet of the trail onto the beach. Corey and John led us southward on the west-facing beach to a place where the beach was protected between two arms of rock outcropping from the cliffs. There we sat quietly to see if the penguins would get closer - and they did. First, the three individuals we saw earlier returned up the beach warily, where they were joined by a fourth who emerged from the surf. They wove their way around the boulders and rocks, going into the water and emerging further up the beach even closer to us. Ultimately there were up to a dozen or so individual penguins that were frolicking in the surf among the rocks not 30 feet from where we sat. When we left, after an hour of penguin watching, the penguins continued to play, preen, and sun themselves on the rocks now used to our presence.
Corey, leaning against trunks with possum damage, discusses the impact of the possum on local vegetation.
Another view of kidney ferns.
This was hound's tongue fern.
Not sure of this variety, probably Blechnum - I liked the red at the tips of the leaves on the frond.
nother variety of fern.
In this fuzzy shot, the penguin that lead us down the path to the beach heads down the beach.
A view down the beach. One of the black spots is a penguin.
Looking back inland, this is where the penguins nest in the underbrush.
The beach was composed of small rounded and colorful gravel/sand, the grains are smaller than a pea.
Two oystercatchers.
The penguins make their appearance; Fjordland crested penguins - 'tawaki' in Maori.
Walking across the beach.
Looking out to sea.
A couple of penguins looking around the rocks at us.
Sporting in the water among the rocks.
As we eased southward on the beach, we encountered fur seals. Nicky advised us not to come between the seal and the surf - i.e. don’t cut off their escape route. The beach was fine smooth gravel and sand. At one point we had to climb over rocks and up into the vegetation to continue our walk. We saw a few more seals before Nicky lead us to the “trail” that led straight up a 300 foot cliff! Yikes!! There were ropes strung along the track to pull yourself up the 60° slope that kept on going and going. Eventually we pulled ourselves over the top.
The trail led us back to highway 6 where Corey had us move quickly off the track once no cars were coming, and out on the road so that the trail would not be spotted by casual passers-by. We trudged uphill to where the van was parked, piled in, and returned to the lodge.
Heading southward from the penguins.
Seaweed and barnacles.
A fur seal perched on the rocks.
After looking at us for few seconds, he decided he'd rather be in the water.
This fellow figured we weren't worth the effort to move.
Limpets on the surface of a rock.
Various sea stacks and rock formations just off the beach.
Ahead, the outcropping of tumbled rocks that we would have to climb over to continue on.
Jonathan, Jim, and Pat.
While climbing over the rocks, someone thoughtfully left a ladder to help navigate the obstacle.
Jonathan climbing up the slope.
Another fur seal heads for the surf.
Heading down the beach - showing the cliff we were going to have to scale to get back to the bus.
Some interesting rock formation showing wear and erosion - the pockets are about the size of a quarter.
We spotted a waterfall tucked back in a canyon.
We didn't go all the way to the point opposite the two-rock formation.
Nicky standing on top of the boulder where the 'trail' that went up the cliff started.
The height of the horizon gives some indication of our precarious perch on the hillside.
The trees silhouetted against the sky and ocean.