We woke this morning at 7 to clouds and rain, but by the time we had showered, packed and breakfasted the weather had cleared, there was bright sunlight and it was hot again. This was not to last, and we headed south towards a bank of thick clouds.
Not far outside Hokitika, we passed a place where gold was still being mined. This is opencast mining, and it really makes a mess of the landscape.
We drove past rivers
and lakes and there were few settlements. We passed through an alluvial plain with glacial moraines at the sides. Notice the weather is not so sunny!
The slopes were thickly forested, and much of the forest has two canopies. The lower canopy is dense, with ferns, shrubs and lower trees. Some tall trees have managed to grow through the lower canopy and they have established a somewhat ragged upper canopy.
We arrived at Franz Joseph around 11. Some of our group chose to go on a scenic helicopter flight over the glacier, but we decided we had seen and walked on enough glaciers in Norway, and didn't need to do it again. The rest of the group went for a walk to a lookout called Sentinel Rock, from which you can see the glacier. There is a much longer walk right up to the edge of the glacier, which a couple of our group did by mistake, being at the very back and taking a wrong turning.
The moving edge of the glacier is a sort of dirty grey colour, and there seems to be a huge medial moraine. Up above that, you can see the fresh white part.
It was still quite warm and sunny from time to time, so coats were not needed, but hats, sunglasses and suncream were very necessary.
We returned to Franz Joseph for lunch, and to check in to the hotel. Some people went heli-hiking, but we decided to try other things. We had intended to walk, but rain started, so we went instead to a wildlife centre just near our hotel to see real live kiwis.
This area of South Island has a very rare species of Kiwi, called the Rowi Kiwi. It was only recognised in 1994 that this kiwi was not just an ordinary brown kiwi but a separate species. Because there are only about 300 of them left, the Department of Conservation uses Operation Nest Egg to Help conserve the species. Eggs are removed from the wild, incubated, and kept until big enough to be released into a predator-free environment. Once they weigh over a kilo and can take care of themselves, they can leave this creche area and go back into the forest. There is a nocturnal house at the wildlife centre where, for a fee, you can creep in and watch the chicks, so this is what we did. No photographs are allowed, so I have no photos. We quickly realised that we our chances of seeing a real wild kiwi were zero - it was difficult enough to see them in the nocturnal house. They were small and brown, about the size of a small cantaloup melon, but more egg-shaped. The two we saw first were playing, jumping at one another and squeaking in excitement. Then they started to try to dig their way out of their enclosure. They are about 18 days old, and on the verge of being released into the creche area.
The centre had other things to look at, wildlife videos and lots of glacier facts, and after looking at all that, we went back for another look at the little kiwis. This time, we saw one of a smaller, younger pair. It was poking about with its long beak in the earth, but after a short while it seemed to become aware of the number of people watching it, started to look embarrassed, and decided to join its sibling in the little artificial burrow.
During the time we were kiwi watching, the rain fell in torrents. It was very loud, drumming on the roof of the centre. I was hoping to visit the hot pools, but that depends on it not being quite so freezing (the temperature has dropped very suddenly) and on others of our group also wanting to go - Paul is not at all interested.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment