We closed our North Island trip with a Haiku session summing up the themes of this excursion. Read on for some insight into the secrets of extremophilic life and other North Island phenomena.

Note that some of the contributions don’t adhere to the traditional 5/7/5 haiku format; after weeks on a bus, this is just one of the formalities that no longer seem to matter.

Catherine:

Cake
Or maybe
Death

Tim:

Not blue-green algae
Cyanobacteria
Our favorite slime

Tessa:

A fake starry night
Numerous silk filaments
Are they blue or green?

Thea:

Geothermal conservation
Corrosive vapor
Dynamic environment
Why should we bother?

Phil:

Ling
The grouse died
The heather survived
A mistake

Tim:

Heather covers the ground
Home for the gentleman’s grouse
A beetle might work

Becca:

Bad are the goldfish
For they eat the little trout
Stop Goldfish stop! Wait. . .

Thea:

Maori resource management

Stewards of the earth
Cling to romantic old ways
Cannibalism

Tim:

Trout in the river
eating the native mayflies
is fishing worth it?

Tim:

Volcanic lahar
Memories of Tangiwai
Mountain left untouched

Christina:

Microbe, where art thou!
I can’t discover thy truth
I will die, so hot

Christina:

The pH is low
Acidic and cloudy white
Let’s go swimming here

Niky (Niky Hughes is an American biologist doing a post-doc here at Victoria University; she joined us for this portion of the trip):

Kiwi blues 7/5/7
I can’t see past my own beak
My egg is a joke
Natural selection sucks

Kaisa and Naima:

Kaisa is a prawn
Crunchy, tasty, and fun fun!
I want to eat her

Kiely:

Sulphuric mud pit
Oh! How you sputter and spit
No, Nels! Don’t fall in!

Britta

Good old Shawn the Prawn
Entertaining seven wives
I would like to eat you

Niky:

Death Flight 7/5/7
Gannet face, gannet beak – fly
Fly towards Oz and die
15% not good odds

Zach:

What’s that eggy smell?
Geothermal Energy
Or Dani’s Chacos?

Logan:

I wish I could meet
A microbe’s mum; strange mother
Wrapped in foreign skin

Dani:

Poor White Island bee
No one wants to conserve thee
You are just a bug

Dani:

Polygamous prawns
Propagate prodigiously
They are hard to catch

Anne:

Hydrogen sulfide
Colored yellow, black and grey
Crater looms, waiting

Emily:

Waitomo glow worms
I could see the big dipper
Luminescent-as

Nels:

“Oh no!” said the whale
He contemplated his plight
Then said, “I’m beached as!”

Nels:

Casting down our threads
We shine into the darkness
A living night sky

Nels:

White Island
We walk on egg shells
Hoping our steps do not disturb
Rotten eggs below

Steve:

It was this big
Give me your hand a head
Invade against invasives
Dare touch God’s finger?

Micah:

So placidly poised
Overshadowed by mountains
Taupo breathes and sighs

Micah:

How to right our wrongs?
Killing for the greater good?
Caged, the hihi sings.

Robyn:

The Exemplification of Feminism by Extreme Life
Tussock in the rain
Windy mist of Alpine Fault
Fight the volcano!!


--Valeurie

North Island Tour

I noticed that after about six weeks of traveling it became hard to sustain the same level of curiosity, enthusiasm, and motivation. Micah summed it up one day about that time when he descended from the bus and announced: "That's it. I've had it. I can't take one more *&(*&*#@ beautiful thing." Another amazing geotechnic phenomenon? Who cares. More rare animals? Maybe later.

Fortunately, the itinerary is set, we are surgically attached to the group, and off we go anyway to see the next most incredible thing. And we're glad we did.

So here’s what we did on the final leg of our New Zealand experience:

March 16th we left Wellington very early in order to arrive at the Mt. Bruce Bird Sanctuary, to the north in the Wairarapa district. This is the location where takahe were bred after it was discovered in 1948 that they were not extinct after all. British naturalist and author Gerald Durrell has a great description of the challenges faced by “Operation Takahe” in his book “Two in the Bush.” Logistical hurdles of getting delicate eggs out of the extremely inaccessible reaches of Fiordland were surmounted in various creative ways and included a bantam chicken precursor to “Fear Factor.”

That evening we slept at a Maori marae, or communal meetinghouse. An elder of the tribe explained the ornamentation of the marae and the significance of each element. Ancestry and traditional stories are very important in Maori culture, and we learned some of the lore about the origins of the tribes as well as about some of the challenges facing the Maori people today as they try to hold on their culture and language.

Like many traditional cultures around the world, Maori culture has been eroding since Europeans came to New Zealand in the 1800's. Somehow it has held on, even through early 20th-century government attempts to ban use of the Maori language. Maori make up over 14% of the general NZ population. In comparison, Australian aborigines are less than 3% of Australia's population, and in the US Native Americans are less than 2% of the total population. Maori language is still hanging on and is an official language of New Zealand.

From the marae we visited the Cape Kidnappers Australasian gannet colony on Hawke’s Bay. These gannets are related to the blue-footed booby and this is the largest mainland breeding colony. For their very first flight, the chicks take off directly to Australia and don’t come back for two or three years; fewer than 25% ever make it back to breed. The colony is 5 miles down the peninsula and is only accessible when the tide is low, so we got a ride there via trailer pulled by a tractor over the beach and through the water, another one of those things like bungee jumping and zorbing that only a Kiwi would think of.

The next few days focused on geothermal sights around Lake Taupo and learning about extremophiles that thrive in very inhospitable environments, like super hot water and acid lakes. In this region of NZ the ongoing collision of the Pacific and Australian plates produce lots of unusual sights, including bubbling mud pits, geysers, multi-colored acid streams, ponds, and lakes. The ultimate was probably the visit to White Island, a very young volcanic landform off of Whakatane that is still in the process of becoming an island.

Between trips to see the effects of plate tectonics we learned more about the collision between NZ and humans. In Otorohanga we had probably our best view of kiwi and some of the other endemic birds, many of them highly endangered. Nearby we visited a commercial prawn breeding facility that doubles as tourist attraction and met Shawn the Prawn (the 19th). A few days later, we visited the trout (introduced in the late 19th century from California) breeding facility, somewhat puzzlingly run by the Department of Conservation.

With the arrival of the equinox here, we can certainly feel fall in the air, especially in the mountains as we returned to Wellington. Days here have been warm in the sun, but passing clouds or a step into the shade is a quick reminder that summer is over.

--Valeurie

On February 16th we left Wellington and ferried back across the Cook Strait for a ten-day tour back to the South Island.

The very next day we went off on a charter boat tour of the Sound, visiting rare hector's dolphins and bottlenose dolphins, a former whaling station, an abalone farm where a guy from California and his Kiwi wife are pioneering abalone aquaculture, a restored island with native plants and birds, as well as a beautiful mainland beach with chicken-like birds called weka. The water's cold, but not quite Oregon-coast cold, and it was calm the day we were there.

Since then, we've spent many hours on the bus, just as many hours in the rain, but all of it has been in good company and with gorgeous scenery. We have our trip leaders from Victoria University Tim Markwell and Ken Ryan, Victoria Univ. professors George Gibbs and Phil Garnock-Jones, chef and PhD student Catherine Duthie, assistant chef Lynn Ryan, and our excellent bus driver, PhD geologist, rowing and gymnastics coach Michelle Hawke. Our Kiwi team provides not only expertise on the flora, fauna, biogeography, and geology of New Zealand, but invaluable insight and guidance as we navigate the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of Kiwi language and culture (see previous blog entries for more of what we've learned in this area).

The West Coast of the South Island holds a good part of New Zealand's remaining 30% of native forest, in a climate that is very wet. It's also home to huge swarms of sandflies, whose bites seem to increase in itchiness every day after the initial bite for three or four days. We were very fortunate (or not) to experience the full West Coast treatment from Thursday morning until. . . well, we've crossed over the southern alps, supposedly in the rain shadow, and it's still raining. At least there don't seem to be as many sandflies so far here on the east side.

After Picton, we moved a bit south to St. Arnaud, where we visited Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes district, which sits in a "mainland island," a conservation area that, while on the mainland, strives to apply here the success NZ conservationists have had removing invasive pests and restoring native wildlife on coastal islands. Some of those pests include mammals like stoats and omnivorous Australian possums, but also European wasps that have invaded the native beech forest in this area, eating the honeydew that would normally feed native insects and birds as well as baby birds themselves. Besides that, they sting the humans, making them really unpopular. The Department of Conservation has had considerable success in removing invasives and creating an environment in which the native species have a fighting chance. While there, we also climbed Mt. Robert and came to know him and his amazing views over Lake Rotoiti quite well.

Back to the rain. It started, and it kept coming, and there was a lot of it. our first outing in the rain out from St. Arnoud was a fossil field just off the main road. There's a hillside that sloughs off rock every year, and the rocks are filled with fossils, mainly plants, that literally land at your feet. So we got back in the bus slightly damp after that outing, to stop next at a trail covered in ferns and trailing vines leading to a beach covered in smooth pebbles with waterfalls cascading over eroded cliffs at our back and a climbable rock outcrop a few feet off the beach in front of us. Think Northern California coastline on steroids, but with easily accessible beach. Another half-hour down the coast we visited the Pancake Rocks, cool and weird geologic features that look like the piles of drippy sand that we used to make on the beach when we were kids, but these tower several stories out of the ocean and don't melt away. Driving on another hour or so we arrived at the Franz Josef Glacier, where it rained and rained and where the glacier made a huge impression. I finally learned what a glacier is and how it works, and getting up close to it gave me an appreciation of how powerful water and ice are. We got wet from the rain, but also from the creeks that we forded without benefit of dry crossing so that we could get up close. We were pretty soggy and bedraggled by the time we got back to the bus, but it was worth it.

During our tour of the west side of the island, besides visiting amazing places and seeing gorgeous scenery, we learned about the geologic forces that created the landscape--the Australian and Pacific plates meet here at the Alpine Fault, creating high peaks that are home to glaciers that carve out valleys and erode down to the ocean to create vast plains on one side and sharp valleys and high cliffs on the other. The collision of the Australian and Pacific plates also causes earthquakes that rearrange the landforms every 160 years or so, and in certain places you can still see pieces of Gondwana, the ancient landmass that broke apart to form New Zealand, Australia, South America, southern Africa, and the Antarctic.

There are a few days left on our South Island tour, and then we go our separate ways for spring break (that would be fall break here, you know).

--Valeurie

Rugby se7ens

Rugby. What better way to spend the weekend than to watch 14 burly men wrestle for that 'ol pigskin ball.

Here's the seven's game: 7 men per side, 14 minutes to get as many 'tries' (touchdowns) as possible. After scoring the 5pt try, they can kick for a 2pt 'conversion' (field goal). (There are a few other nuances that Kylie might have covered.)

I've never seen this pace of action. The tournament featured 16 international finalist teams that played back to back. The field was empty for no more than ~30 mins from 1pm-10pm for non-stop rugby. During said hiatuses, shameless half-time shows featuring Austin Power look alikes, NZ idol finalists, The Village-people dancers and dodgeball contests kept the party going. And by 'party' I mean people dancing in their seats and metabolizing 11 litres of alcohol a minute. For us, the audience was just as entertaining as the game.

Aside from the game, the entire city of Wellington celebrated the event in costume. At any given street corner one could find a dozen Fred Flintstones, the Justice League, Smurfs...And yes, we found Waldo, all 30 of them. We joined in on the fun with our inexpensive impromptu costumes which included bedsheets, face-paint and feather's plucked from the nearest Kakehe and kiwis. We paraded the city as Ceasar, various unknown superheroes, fairies, cross-dressers and parrots. With these costumes it's funny to see what American pop-culture is to the rest of the world.

Look forward to finding some Sevens coming to America.

happy valentines day,
zach and asa

Rugby: The Definition of 'Hardcore'

Our month in Wellington is coming to a close and -- for me at least -- the feeling is bitter sweet. I have really enjoyed the time we have spent here; going to a true Victoria University lecture with other kiwi students, living in the dorms on campus and staying long enough in one place to really feel like I'm getting to understand the ebb and flow of the city. But I am also getting pretty antsy to leave. We're headed out on our South Island tour on Monday, heading for the ferry to cross the Cook's Straight at 6:30am.

On our last weekend in the city, Ken and Tim have arranged for us to watch the Wellington based rugby team the Hurricanes. The game's tonight and I am TOTALLY stoked for it! But in order to insure we understood the ins and outs of the sport, yesterday they asked a couple of Ken's students to teach 22 American kids how to play rugby. I'm really glad they did it -- I mean, I know we have a decently sized rugby team at LC, but I had never taken the time to understand it before. All I could compare rugby to was American football without pads... but oh, it is so much more than that...

We started with a short description of the game and staged a scrum (a well staged huddle in which both teams try to kick the ball out to their respective teammates) and went over the rules in brief, the most important of which being that you can't pass the ball forward. A player can only advance the ball if they are running or kicking it. This requires a lot of communication between teammates for you to know where your other players are at all times. Second most important, I would say, would be that you cannot play the ball while you're on the ground. If you are on your knees you are unable to hold on to or otherwise touch the ball. This results in the downed player being essentially straddled by their teammates to create a protective space for the ball to rest on the ground. Thirdly, on defense you are unable to touch anyone on the opposing team that does not have the ball. Similarly, if you're on offence and are not in possession of the ball you cannot touch an apposing player -- aka, no blocking for your teammates.

If we had more instruction, I don't remember it. We divided up into two teams (including Tim and Valeurie, who were both totally fierce in competition), kicked off the ball and began to pummel each other. Even standing on the field, I realized how disorganized and ridiculous we looked running around dog-piling each other every chance we got. I'm probably sorer now from laughing rather than actually playing the game.

It took us a while to get into the flow of the game and even by the end of it I still didn't understand all of the rules and penalties. But we all had a blast -- even those of us who ended up hobbling off the field with our various injuries!

Hello! Our group has spent the last two weeks in Wellington studying at Victoria University. Our classes are in intensive chunks, so we just wrapped up our biogeography/NZ flora and fauna class. We discussed the tectonic movement of New Zealand and how that affects what plants and animals are or are not here. We were in class and lab for about six hours a day and took two field trips, one to Kaitoki Forest Reserve, and one to Matiu-Somes Island. Here we worked on identifying native flora and got to see wetas (which are like giant crickets), geckos, and NZ parrots called kakariki. We worked hard, but fortunately we had our evenings open so we have plenty of time to enjoy the city, play ultimate frisbee, climb trees, and go to the beach and concerts in the Botanical Gardens. Anyway, we are now starting our Conservation Biology and Cultural Heritage classes. And, in the interest of culture, I thought I'd give you all an amusing insight into New Zealand slang. Hope you enjoy!

sweet-as=cool, awesome
good on ya=good for you, ok, sure, right on, cool
bush=forest, outback
puffed=out of breath
torch=flashlight
rattle your dags!=a country expression for hurry up, originating from the dreadlocks (dags) that develop in sheeps' wool. We picked that one up on the sheep farm.
scroggin=trail mix
tramping=hiking
full on=intense
boot=trunk of car

So conceivably, you could have a converstation that goes something like this:
"Hey I put the scroggin and torch in the boot for when we go tramping in the bush tomorrow." "Oh, good on ya man, it's gonna be sweet-as, but we better rattle our dags in the morning cause it's gonna be full on."
"Oh yeah, we're gonna be puffed!"
--And that would still be English. :)

So something does happen in Invercargill after all...

Some news from Henry at Southland Museum.