25 November 2013 ~ Arataki

Listening to:  Ed Tang & The Chops ~ Pualei (Goodbye, Zen5, Sushi Dinner)

Part of my trip last weekend was to a rain forest which is also located on the west of Auckland, and included the Arataki Visitor Center.

The entrance is marked by this totem, known as a pou, which acts as a guardian of the Arataki visitor Center and surrounding areas. In depicting the ancestors of the Kawerau iwi, it is a reaffirmation of the Kawerau mana in the area. The ancestors are referred to top to bottom:

Tiriwa
Hape
Hoturoa
Maki
Te Kawerau a Maki
Te Hawiti

This is the Ponga, or Silver Fern, New Zealand's national emblem. The underside of the fronds would guide travelers via the moon reflection from the water, or side up as markers on tracks. Trunks of this tree fern are used for low retaining walls and living fences.

This is the Whau, or Corkwood NZ Mulberry. It has the lightest wood in the world. Maori used the wood to make fishing floats and marker buoys. The seed capsules are covered with spines. It is the only New Zealand plant with this kind of fruit.

Nikau is the most southern naturally growing palm in the world. The hard seeds are sometimes used by kiwi (the bird) as gizzard stones and early European settlers used them as ammunition. The large leaves were often used by Maori as thatching for houses and leaf strips were used for weaving baskets.

Kowharawhara grows as an epiphyte, or perching plant, high in the branches of host trees. There are over 80 species of epiphytic plants in the Waitakere Ranges. This one gathers its own water with its v-shaped leaves and is home to a type of mosquito whose young can only develop in the water found in the plant.

The Kahikatea, or White Pine, is so named because of its pale-colored wood. It is dominant in swampy areas. Striking orange berries (koroi) appear on female trees only, and are popular with the tui and kaka birds, as well as eaten by Maoris. Kahikatea are New Zealand's tallest trees, growing 60 meters high.

Here are just 2 shots of the ferns I liked.

A close-up.

24 November 2013 ~ NZ Currency

Listening to: Wilco ~ Outta Mind (Outta Sight)

The bills are very interesting and informative. Also easy to use because they are color coded. I didn't get a picture of the $10 bill.

Sir Apirana Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand politician and lawyer. He has often been described as the foremost  Māori politician to have ever served in Parliament, and is also known for his work in promoting and protecting Māori culture and language.

He is positioned next to the Porourangi Meeting House. It took twelve years, from 1852 to 1864, to build the house. When it was completed it was truly a work of art. Each part of it is designed not only to display Maori skills, arts and crafts, but also to represent ancestral figures, elders and warriors who performed great deeds for their people. All these ancestors lived within the Ngati Porou tribal area.

The reverse side diplays:

Conifer broadleaf forest scene
Kōkako (Blue wattled crow)
Supplejack (kareao)
Sky-blue mushroom

I was intrigued by this Sky-blue mushroom, so I googled it to get more information.

It looks like it could be something offered to Alice just before she makes a journey in to Wonderland but this sky blue mushroom is not a product of the imagination of Lewis Caroll.  It can be found on both islands of New Zealand.

It is not edible.  It gets its very distinctive blue color from pigments within the body of the fruit known as azulene. Azulene is found in nature as a constituent not only of pigments in mushrooms but of some marine invertebrates.

The $20 note is represented by Queen Elizabeth II.

A New Zealand alpine scene backgrounds a Karearea (New Zealand falcon), a Marlborough rock daisy, a Flowering red tussock, and Mount Tapuaenuku.

Sir Edmund Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist and he adorns the $5 note, along with Aoraki/Mount Cook and a Ferguson TE20 tractor.

On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed as having reached the summit of Mount Everest.

Amongst the Campbell Island scene can be seen an Hoiho (Yellow-eyed Penguin), Ross Lily and Bull kelp.

 

22 November 2013 ~ Piha Beach

Listening to: Jared Bateman ~ In Belize

Piha beach is on the west coast of the North Island, just about 25 minutes drive from downtown Auckland.

Surfers were out, but the water here is very treacherous with lots of riptides.

The entrance to the beach indicated a Penguin zone...but alas, I still did not see one.

Really beautiful rock formations caused by volcanos millions of years ago.

I did not go in the water, but enjoyed the fresh salt air.

 

17 November 2013 ~ Rotarua

Listening to: Bob Dylan ~ Mozambique

After the Glowworm Caves, the tour headed to a Maori Tribal Center, and we passed through the city of Rotarua.

 

 

Nice location on the lake. 

 

 
 
 
 


This clock tower is the Visitor's Center.
   

This Polynesian Spa is rated as one of the top 10 in the world. Wish I had time for a spa break.

This is a former government building, now a hotel.

And a "guard" statue.

 

16 November 2013 ~ More Animals & Sheep Shearing

Listening to: Steely Dan ~ Rikki Don't Lose That Number (3/20/1974, Record Plant, Los Angeles)

Several other animals were living at the Agrodome. Deer are farmed here, but I'm having a hard time to get a clear picture.

Lazy days.

The ostriches came running and were happy to snap food out of hands.

Good use of the sign as a back scratcher.

Here's a longer video of the guide actually shearing a sheep. I think he said he shear about 600 sheep in a 9 hour day. The world record is 836.

Sheep Shearing:

http://youtu.be/Xtsf-VB_2lc

15 November 2013 ~ Agrodome

Listening to: Booker T and Priscilla ~ Soul Limbo (The Matrix, SF, 1971)


One stop on my weekend tour was to an Agrodome or sheep farm.

So many types of sheep were on this farm. I can't tell if this sheep is looking at me or not.

Nice horns. I don't remember what our guide was telling us.

Cute.

And more cute.

Another tourist bus arrived, so the sheep knew they would get snacks.

This lamb was born less than 24 hours earlier and still getting his legs under him.

 

14 November 2013 ~ Glowworms

Listening to: Shawn Colvin ~ Diamond in the Rough (Paradise, Boston, 7/8/91)


All my colleagues kept telling me about "glowworm" caves. So, I booked a trip to Waitomo, about a 2 1/2 hour drive south of Auckland to see for myself what all the amazement was about.

Wow!

Arriving at the caves the visitor center has a nice totem commemorating the centenary of the cave exploration. The carving depicts Tane Mahuta -- the god of the Forest -- guarding the entrance to the cave and the inhabitants below.

Here we are being led into the cave entrance.

No photography is allowed in the caves, and I can understand why. The glowworms emit a light to trick the insects that come into the cave, so everything must be kept as dark as possible, or they turn off their lights. It was really cool that no one spoke during the short ride as well.

So these pictures are official from the website, not taken by me.

It's like floating under a meteor shower, only smaller.

This is another view, actually lit in the cave itself, of how the glowworms create a single web thread. When an insect gets caught in one, it will reel it up like a fishing line, have dinner, and then produce another web line.

The glowworm doesn't really live that long. Here is a depiction of the lifecycle.

Here we are exiting the cave.

And the river continues.

 Leaving the caves the bus went by this totem pair, but unfortunately I don't know what it is representing.

 

10 November 2013 ~ Doubtful Sound

Listening to:  Matisyahu ~ Escape (10/23/2008, The Fillmore, Detroit, MI)


Ferns are mostly a tropical group, and New Zealand has an unusually high number of species for a temperate country. There are about 200 species, ranging from ten-metre-high tree ferns to filmy ferns just 20 millimetres long. About 40 per cent of these species occur nowhere else in the world.

Because of all the rain, the rivers were running along the pass.

That picture was before the snow really began to come down. We stopped along the Willmatte Pass to wait for a snow plow (either that or put chains on the bus). It was fun watching the children who had never seen snow get outside and have a snowball fight with their parents.

http://youtu.be/ABHqI-IDT48

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but ever since I found out I was coming to New Zealand, I had the idea in my head that I wanted to see penguins in the wild. That was the reason I selected this tour. I was so excited, but alas, no penguins to be seen...even as we passed the island they typically are found on. It didn't help when I told my co-workers or the hotel clerk, and they told me they had seen penguins on similar tours in the past 4 months. Well, I guess that's a reason to come back.

http://youtu.be/sODUHIJEPU4


 In the distance, we can see the crest of waves where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. The Tasman Sea is named after the Dutchman Abel Tasman, the first European to record New Zealand in 1642.

Finally, the sky began to clear, and I went outside to the back of the boat.

Numerous waterfalls were active due to all of the rain.

The guide said this was not just cloud cover, but actually an avalanche at the peak of the mountains.

The pilot stopped the boat and asked everyone to be quiet, to really get a sense of the nature.

http://youtu.be/ILXkt-7PUeQ

I've seen other natural beauty spots, as depicted in this blog. One main difference...the lack of people. In China when touring the lime hills of Guilin, there was a convoy of boats going through a gorge. I could barely get a picture without a boat. Here, there were basically 2 boats in the entire Sound, and this is regulated by the NZ government.

You could close your eyes and really imagine Solitude.

http://youtu.be/fsXmZostdKM

So, despite my "Doubts", I had a great day on Doubtful Sound. The lesson of the weekend...remember that since we cannot control Mother Nature, just enjoy all the beauty around us every moment.