A Bird's Life in Fiordland

Its finally happened. After going through all the stages; denial, shame, confusion. I have come to accept and love a change in me.  Granted, I have never been one of the cool kids and perhaps its a sign of my age, but there is no going back from this.

It turns out I'm really into birds. Say hello to a new bird watching recruit.
Frankly I blame New Zealand and Fiordland. Because before the move there I would of never have realised how awesome birds are.  Being set apart from the rest of the world for so long, new Zealand has a unique ecosystem.  For except for some bats and sea mammals, new Zealand's native animals are made up of birds and lizards.

From the crafty Kea, the world's only alpine parrot, to the whistling blue duck, the forest is filled with wonderful bird life.

I've begun appreciating the smallest feathered friends. Ones like the fantail and black robin, who'll dart around you trying to warn you off their patch.  They are so tiny and yet have a lot of guts. I like that.

Then there are the flightless birds, the chicken like Weka and the reclusive Kiwi bird.  One of my fellow bush workers was able to get this photo but so far I've been unsuccessful - they are just too quick for me!

My favourite of them all has to be the incredibly cheeky Kea. These birds are so smart its scary.  But they have such character and will happily pose for photographs (while its friends still the distracted photographers lunch!)

My photo success with Fiorldand birds has been limited to the less shy birds.  I only have one zoom lens for my cannon and its not all that.  Also, contending with sand flies means standing still can be a little tricky.  But let these photos be a testament of my inner bird-geekness and love of all things feathered. Except, ostriches.  They're just creepy.

Picture of Kiwi by  Andrew Knowles. All others by me.

Five reasons why I love Vanuatu

It's no secret that my fragile little mind was blown away by Vanuatu.  here's a few reasons why.

1. Volcanoes. Whether its the splendour of mount Yusar (above), a lava pit on Ambrym or the extinct volcanoe of Ureparpara, I have never experienced such a show of mother natures As the ground shook with every explosion, all I could think was how fragile our existence is.Geology certainly does 'rock.'

2. Creatures of the sea. Turtles, whales, dolphins and dugongs all inhabit this part of the world. Excluding the dugong, I was fortunate to see the others in abundance.

3.  Beautiful people. There may have been exceptions, but on the whole, Vanuatans were warm and friendly to us travellers.

4. Mystical Jungle.

5. Outriggers. Best form of transport. Ever. Instead of riding their bikes around the estate, kids will cruise the waters on these bad boys.

So if you're planning on a trip to the South Pacific, be very careful.  Falling in love with Vanuatu is very easy, you may never want to leave.

Favourite snorkelling spots in the South Pacific

One of the perks of working on a sailing ship was having access to incredible reefs.  While a few spots were disappointing, having major damage from storms or human inference, others blew my fragile mind to pieces. Here's a countdown of my four favourite destinations.

In 4th place is Aitutaki, Cook islands.  A honeymooner's haven, Aitutaki had great coral and sea life close to shore. The clear water meant we had great visibility for snorkelling.  Much better than what I saw in Rarotonga.

In 3rd place we have Hide away resort in Efate, Vanuatu.  This resort has plenty of marine life (one of my friend's saw an octopus).  However the underwater post office was the kicker!  There are a lot of people about, but this is compensated with having a bar right there after your snorkel (or before, I won't judge...).

In 2nd we have The Coral Gardens, Vavau, Tonga.  This place is so incredibly awesome that in my mind, it should be under international protection.  The coral was so beautiful that during our first visit, I don't think I paid much attention to the fish.  Which there are also there. Lots.

But in 1st place I've crowned Anchorage Island, Suwarrow atoll, Cook Islands.  As one of the most secluded spots on the planet, Suwarrow has had the luxury of little human interference.  When swimming to the coral's shelf, that's when things got interesting. The abundance of Sharks really puts this place on the map.
And here is an important disclaimer: There are not only reef sharks (the harmless guys) but aggressive bigger boys.  At one point me and Zim sighted a pack of sharks, including a brown big'un and moved quick sharp. Snorkelling at this spot is not recommended and only done by silly people like me. But wow, what a place!

Where are your favourite places to snorkel?

* First picture courtesy of Mr J. Biddlecombe.

The Final Voyage: New Caledonia to Sydney

From New Caledonia to Sydney, Australia.  In the beginning this voyage had it's set backs. On the day we left Noumea I was crippled by stomach cramps.  Only lasting 24 hours and still not leaving the reef (thank god -open sea and an upset tummy do not mix well) I was optimistic about the final sail.  But good old mother nature wasn't playing ball. The wind was totally against us, which is pretty hard to work with in a square rigged ship.Let the motor sailing begin! And as we reached our first planned stop, Lord Howe, the wind just died.  Approaching what seemed to be a lone rock in the ocean, Dolphins came out to welcome us, and we even had a shark sighting! Despite the anti sailing weather, reaching Lord Howe was a show stopping moment. It was so calm I felt all right bringing my camera, a.k.a my baby, up on deck.

However, anchoring up in the evening, the wind picked up and we were told by the authorities to clear out in the morning. A fierce wind was coming our way, which would make the anchorage a dangerous one. So we left Lord Howe, without even going a shore. However, at least the wind was in the right direction and we could get on with some sailing.   My watch (8-12) carried on as usual, rain came and went, the final fish were caught and the cooks kept bringing out delicious food.   

It wasn't long until we reached Mainland Australia - Horay! After spending a night or two in broken bay, we then picked up our local knowledge ticket holder (requirement for ships over a specific length wanting to go into Sydney harbour) and went through 'the heads.' 

Under clear blue skies we came into Sydney.  After six months away, the Soren Larsen was back, Ready to clear customs and immigration in the best position possible.

* In regards to the final photo, I would like everyone to look at the amazing paint and turgo job.  It deserves an 'ooowwww' or an 'ahhhh.'

** First picture of moi and the 6th taken by Mr Biddlecombe.

Fake Killer Whales

Once the ship left Tanna and the awe inspiring Mt Yasur, we sailed to New Caledonia baby. On the way we came across these crazy mammals. Is it a dolphin? Is it a pilot whale? No its a fake killer whale. That's there actual name. Really. I had to read it up. Apparently a fossil was found before the species was recorded and the latin translates to, yep you guest it 'fake killer whale.' Anyhow, they later realised these guys weren't extinct but actually quite widespread in the old ocean!

This pod played with our baw for a while, hitching a free ride, before getting bored and heading off.

Nature's fireworks

Mt Yasur - Tanna.  After anchoring at Port Resolution, we hopped in a truck,

climbed up a peak

and found this bad boy

As the sunset, the exploding lava became even more spectacular.  The earth trembled with every boom and I wondered, will it finally blow? Will this volcano turn me to a crisp? Obviously it did not. Instead, Mt Yasur reminded me how beautiful and powerful mother nature is.

A volcano walk

Impressive isn't it? Our four and a half hour trek certainly delivered.   

After a twenty minute lift in a truck, we hiked through jungle for an hour and a half...

then came to the ash plains, which came as a 'flat' relief...

but, uh-oh what's this, yes its boulders to climb over and around.

However, with great heights come spectacular views and even when I was crawling up the almost vertical path, all I had to do was look around for inspiration. I forgot how beautiful hiking could be.

and in this instance, great heights also came with a lava pit. Note: if you ever do this, bring a scarf to protect against the fumes (mmmmmm sulphur lungs!) and a jumper - it gets a little chilly at this altitude!

In our expedition up to the volcano, we were extremely lucky to see the lava mouth so clearly.  Previous crew had trekked up here only to find cloud coverage.  After lots of oohs and arhhs watching the lava spurt up, we hung about eating our pack lunch and took a few more shots.

And then it was time to start the long walk home...

Twin Waterfall

On Vanua Lava Island, which we past heading to the Banks islands, we stopped off at a place called 'twin waterfalls.' Like the title gives away, this village lies next to two brother waterfalls that jetted out at such a power, this is as closest a picture that I dared. I feared of the water spray would reach my  on my camera (AKA - my baby) or I'd slip into the water pool. But fear not readers, soon I will track down the pictures of someone who wasn't a big scaredi cat.  

With the waterfalls filling a large pool good for swimming (and deep enough to jump from the rocks), some of the locals tried to teach us water dancing. In this women use the water like a musical instrument. My attempts to master this art form were rather clumsy, but by the end I kind of had it figured...sort of.

Whilst ashore we were also given another distinctive dance and singing (I'm seeing a trend here), complete with costumes and flowers. However, rather than being same same but different (don't get me started on string bands), the singing was absolutely beautiful and unique to what I'd heard before.

Yet it wasn't the waterfalls or the dancing that really struck me about this place. There was two things I really remember.

1. The image of a very small child taking a pet parrot around with him on a stick.  Cute at first sight before realising the parrots wings were badly mutilated and therefore could not fly. I like to think this wasn't done by humans and the child had rescued his new found friend from an accident.

2. One boy using his out rigger - pictured below - to catch the waves and surf them. Legend.

Twin Waterfalls - Another great location brought to you by Vanuatu and The Soren Larsen.