Penguins and dolphins and moorings, oh my

Another Holiday, another charter. Our lives here are tough. This time we took along some friends, Euan and Carolyn and their two children Katherine and Annie. Even trapped on a small (35 feet is small for seven people) boat, it was a great adventure.

The first day was windy and gusty, as I've heard it often is in Queen Charlotte Sound. We put up the main with one reef in, and rolled the Genoa to about a jib, and still had to fight to keep from rounding up when the wind channeled through the bays. Tiller on a 35 footer still seems like torture to me.

We spent the night at the same mooring in Double Bay as we had our first charter. This charter was also for 3 days, and the boat had the same peculiar electric macerating toilet and 6 liter holding tank as our first charter. This time we were on Syrena, a Lotus 10.6.
We had a beautiful sunset, after we'd chased some interlopers off the Charterlink mooring, and had Euan serenade the sun down. Then Bob and I got Astronomy 101 as Euan told us about the southern skies and all the things we could see if one of the next two nights were clear enough to take the telescope to shore.

Next day dawned gloomy, but it really wasn't cold. It was still windy and gusty, and we sailed at hull speed with just the genny partly furled. No dolphins through Patten Passage, and we were somewhat disappointed. We saw Australasian Gannets, shags of several kinds, and we argued about whether we had seen blue penguins or shags swimming nearby.

Back again to Motuara Island (Bird Island) for the trip to the lookout over Cook Straits. It was really windy, and took us two tries to get anchored. Bob was worried enough about it holding that he stayed on the boat and got some alone time without having to get into the dinghy.

The rest of us ferried over to the dock in the teeny tiny 2.2 person dinghy. I did most of the rowing (thanks to the MSS Topeka for that obscure skill), taking Kat over, then two littlest ones together, then Carolyn and then let Euan row both of us (and his camera and binocs) on the last trip.

We saw a penguin in the nest box right off the dock, and then got to see bellbirds and fantails and the rare southern saddleback. The movie below doesn't show much, but is a recording of bellbirds in the forest. You can also hear the wind howling...

We re-did the ferry thing on the return to the boat, then took off under power (directly into the wind) toward Endeavor Inlet. We moored again in Tawa Bay, but this time we stayed at the charterlink mooring. The club mooring we had stayed at last time was...gone.

The girls did some exploring, but mostly we just hung out on the boat, had a great vegetarian lasagna dinner, and helped Annie make out her Easter Checklist. It was not clear if the list for the bunny, or the girls, or the parents. (Annie knows who the easter bunny is.) First on the list was Hide Easter Eggs, followed by Get Excited, then Make Brownies, and some others I can't remember. This was not just a list, this list was used, and as we completed each item, she checked it off! Annie is such a remarkable conversationalist it was hard to remember she was only SIX.

All the girls watched Ratatouille that night. I don't know what the boys did. They were clearly outnumbered.

It was a long and noisy night. The wind was not blowing directly up the bay, so when we moored and for a while afterward, we were protected and it was fairly calm. But then the wind picked up, or shifted more southerly, or both, and we periodically got gusts that would shiver the boat and rigging and turn us sideways to the mooring. And then the noise really began.

As instructed by the charterer, we had used a mooring pennant about 15 feet long to run through the eye splice in the top of the mooring can. One side was cleated to each bow cleat. And as the boat was pushed sideways the pennant would slide through the eye. When the gust died down, the boat wanted to return to center on the pennant, and it did. One squeaky bit at a time. It was horribly noisy. Just after daylight, Bob got up and took the anchor off the roller and ran the pennant over the anchor roller, then recleated to the line to both bow cleats. and there was...not silence, but at least a tolerable quiet. It is not clear what the 'correct' means of mooring is, but the next night we noticed that most boats used the anchor roller.

Bob and I went exploring, hoping to find a trail from Tawa Bay to the Queen Charlotte Track, a famous NZ track that had luxury resorts, some accessible only by trail or water, scattered a day apart. We didn't find any trails, so we headed to Furneaux Lodge to start our hike from that end.

In the middle of Endeavor Inlet, we found the dolphins. And the penguins. There were dolphins everywhere. Jumping, swimming at us, behind us, under us, with us. We think they were bottlenose dolphins (like Flipper). Annie was convinced that her dolphin call (a loud undulating scream of sorts) was what kept the dolphins with us for so long.
And we found out the penguin sighting from the day before was likely real. And we saw lots more penguins, usually in groups of 2 or 3, just swiming around, looking a bit like ducks in the water.

We picked up a mooring at Furneaux, and called for the water taxi service. It was cool. The lodge is beautiful, and the bush surrounding it is old growth and also beautiful. A walk to a waterfall, a beer on the veranda of the restaurant, and some time for the kids to play at the beach.

After another great dinner, Euan, Bob and I took the water taxi, and Euan's telescope to the beach to look at the skies while the rest continued the Disney marathon by watching Meet the Robinsons.

We saw H2 in orions belt (orion is 'upside down' in the southern hemisphere--if rome and greece had been in the southern hemisphere orion would be called...something else), a red dwarf, the Jewel Box, Alpha Centauri, and learned how to find the south celestial pole using the southern cross, Alpha and Beta Centauri and a star that starts with an A, but I forgot the name. The best thing, though, was getting to see the rings of saturn! Euan is an accomplished amateur astronomer and photographer. His photo of the Comet McNaught was published in National Geographic and Nature. You can see the photo here.

It's hard to make the adjustment to the southern hemisphere. After all, north really isn't UP, that's just the way we in the northern hemi draw it. So, if there isn't an UP, then being upside down can't be...egad, I'm confused.

Our last day was beautiful. Not much wind, but we easily motored over to feed the tame fish/ducks/seagulls. Got back to the dock a little early, and Bob masterfully backed the boat into the slip. We dropped the boat hook overboard, but someone in a power boat picked it up for us.

We left the Masons at the marina, they were off to see relatives in Havelock and we were headed home.

Otago eco-tourism plus castle

We decided to return to Dunedin and see some local fauna. Last time we saw the Cadbury Chocolate Factory and the tallest chocolate “waterfall” in the southern hemisphere. Since then we learned that the only mainland nesting area of the albatross and a colony of the rare yellow-eyed penguin could be seen on the Otago Peninsula which is a former island overlooking Dunedin. We haven’t taken a weekend trip in while so we did a two day trip last weekend (March 8-9). You’ll note the continued fixation on the cost of things in this story, e.g. with NZ$ now at record levels = US$.82, gas is now NZ$6.81 per gallon.

We arrived in Dunedin around noon and stopped by the waterfront to find a restaurant. We found a nice restaurant at the old Customs House. We also saw the French trimaran Groupama 3 (or what was left of it) tied up next to the dock. You may have heard about this yacht on the news, it’s a French racer that was out to break lots of records including the fastest time in the Jules Verne round-the-world sailing race. Trimarans are super fast, they have small hulls with outriggers that keep the boat upright. Less boat in the water and sails pointed straight up means fast. If you want to see amazing video of sailboarders and kite sailors versus mega trimarans like Groupama 3, click here.


While catamarans and trimarans are faster than monohulls, monohull sailors (like us) like to point out that they sail in their second most stable position. When one of these boats does go over, it stays in its most stable position which unfortunately is upside down. Groupama 3 lost one of its pontoons and went over about 150 miles offshore from Dunedin. You can see pictures and videos of the boat in its most stable position being towed into Dunedin – click on the media link at this website. After a lunch of bangers and mash we went over to look at Groupama 3. Very impressive. By the way I think Groupama 1 and 2 also capsized.

This sailing accident also had an enormous impact on world geography. According to the French publicists for Groupama3, this boat capsized in the Indian Ocean, just off the coast of Dunedin. People here are still struggling to accept that they have been relocated from their comfortable niche between the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea, just north of the Southern Ocean. The Indian Ocean used to be a continent away.

After leaving the waterfront we visited New Zealand’s only castle, the Larnach Castle. A beautiful setting but all-in-all only a so-so castle for an $80 entry fee. The family history was more interesting than the architecture. This fellow was the investor behind the first ship (sailing ship) with a refrigeration system that successfully got New Zealand sheep to England in an edible state. To understand the importance of this, remember that selling sheep to England was New Zealand’s largest export market from the 1800’s until Great Britain joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Turns out the main problem was the sparks from the coal-fired refrigeration system played havoc with the sails. Larnarch built the castle for his wife. As his finances failed, he transferred ownership of his assets to his wife to insulate them from bankruptcy court. When she died he married her half-sister with the same arrangement except that her will left the proceeds to his children. When she quickly died his children controlled his assets and he apparently deceived them into signing them back over to him. He married a much younger woman and as his financial empire crumbled he heard the rumors that his wife was having an affair with his favorite son. Suicide in parliament ended his tragic life. His castle wasn’t all that pretty either.

Next stop- the motel and then Penguin Place (near the north end of the peninsula on the map). This is an example of privately owned eco-tourism. A sheep farmer has two colonies of the rare yellow-eyed penguin on his property. According to a Canadian couple that we had breakfast with, he used to charge $4 per head to pile folks on a wagon and pull them with his tractor down to the coast to see the penguins. Now he’s dug trenches with camouflage covering them so you can sneak up to the penguin nest boxes he’s built. You travel by bus and the guides keep their tours out of each other’s way with two-way radios, entry fee = $80. We got to see a penguin come ashore and then we went though the trenches to see three more at their nesting sites. The one in the picture is moulting. Interesting facts: only 4000 left, second or third largest penguin, likes nesting in the forest.




That evening had a nice $109 meal at the local restaurant. I had venison and mashed kumera (local potato) which was very good. We also had a plate of local Otago cheeses which were excellent. Next morning had breakfast with a Canadian couple who had visited New Zealand several times over the last 15 years. They were complaining about the cost of things which of course was a bonding and validating opportunity for us. I'm not sure why but it did feel a little like two old tourist couples from America complaining about how things were better back home.
We were then off to the Royal Albatross Colony at the very end of the peninsula. This is a public enterprise done very well, where observation rooms replace the trenches (cost $80). This was handy since the winds were blowing about 60mph that day. While converting the forest to sheep pasture was bad for the penguins, albatrosses need bare land to have room to take off. We were lucky to see chicks on the nest and two adults flying in. These are beautiful and impressive birds with a 9 foot wingspan. You can see a chick on the nest using the websites webcam – click here. On the way home we stopped by the Moeraki Boulders. It’s one of those postcard picture opportunities that was well worth the stop (cost $0). For more information about them – click here.


We’ve got a return sailing trip to Marlborough Sound scheduled over Easter. Hopefully we can do better on blog updates. Cheers - Bob

What not to invest in

In a not so subtle attempt to compete with Trini and Susannah, we are thinking of starting our own version of "What not to wear", only we're giving (probably bad) advice on "What not to invest in". And really, this just applies to New Zealand.

This post advises not to invest in window screens.

Given that most of the windows in NZ are casement windows, opening from the bottom, screens would be hard to fit on the windows here. At first we thought it was just that we were living in older homes, but no, these windows are in Brand New Homes too. This may partly explain why this business will not thrive.

Everyone seems to have these windows. No one has window screens. Everyone has flies in their house. Or do they?

We wonder if maybe we aren't just the odd ones in the neighborhood. Maybe Americans attract flies? Maybe Abby is breeding flies in the yard? Maybe we don't know the tricks? In pursuit of the tricks, I've asked around and the two solutions I've been offered are (1) fly swats (these are the same thing as what we call fly swatTERS) and (2) Robocans (3) residual sprays.

Robocans, now there's a product with investment potential. But, in keeping with NZ's 'clean and green' theme, remember that these are natural pyrethrins.

"The type I pyrethroids /including pyrethrin I/ produce the simplest poisoning syndrome and produce sodium tail currents with relatively short time constants. Poisoning closely resembles that produced by DDT and involves a progressive development of fine whole-body tremor, exaggerated startle response, incoordinated twitching of the dorsal muscles, hyperexcitability, and death. The tremor is associated with a large increase in metabolic rate and leads to hyperthermia, which, with metabolic exhaustion, is the usual cause of death. Respiration and blood pressure are well sustained but plasma noradrenaline, lactate, and to a lesser extent adrenaline are greatly increased. [Hayes, W.J.,
Jr., E.R. Laws, Jr., (eds.). Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology. Volume 2. Classes
of Pesticides. New York, NY: Academic Press, Inc., 1991., p. 589]"

Bring on the Robocan!

For more like this, check out the NIH Hazardous Substances Data Bank . Of course, this only applies if you are poisoned, but according to the rest of the info in the data bank it can happen.

Robocans work by periodically emitting a spray of natural pyrethrins into the air. You mount the gizmo high in a room, add a replaceable aerosol can, and you can get poison sprayed on you and yours automatically, at whatever intensity level makes you happy.

I'd like to be called green, and say that we didn't buy a Robocan because we didn't want to poison ourselves and add another aerosol can to the landfill. But it isn't true. We didn't buy the Robocan because it was $70! So we are now saving money and being healthy, and maybe being a little green by mistake.

Except that, the other day we saw a group of Greens on TV protesting something or other at Parliament. They were wearing frog costumes and hopping around the steps. These were not children, they were adults. So, in an attempt to maintain a little self respect, we don't want to be TOO green.

Thus, we opted to only save money. We've got the fly swat, and I'm getting pretty good at getting them on the fly (!). And we've got the regular, not Robo, can for when things get out of control.

We have not had a problem with any mosquitoes, which is wonderful. We had some insect issues when we were on vacationing on the wetter coasts (west and north), getting bit by sand flies (black flies). And the only place that had even a few magnetic screens was the cottage at the farmstay, which had a huge blowfly problem. One afternoon, we left the door open and of course, we were inundated. It was so loud inside, that Bob had to go on a fly-swatting rampage before we could go to sleep.

But those little old house flies are what's driving me berserk. We have a security screen on one of the sliding doors, and if we can take the heat, that is the only door or window we open. If it gets hotter, we open the windows that have lace curtains on them, in the hope that the flies won't recognize the glass is missing and will stay OUTSIDE. It helps. But oh, even one fly buzzing around my head can lead to ARRGGGHHH! And if there are 2 or 3? Well, I'm clearly headed for the straightjacket.

Idea number (3), from EmigrateNZ
A lot of folks get really annoyed with the houseflies, which we do have plenty of, and expecially in the summer months the darn blue-bottles and paspalu flies. To keep these out, especiallyin rural areas where they are especially prevalent, most folks get their houses sprayed once a year with an industrial strength residual pesticide (eg:Ripcord) There are no human complaint, but it keeps flies etc that get in to the house dying for about 6 months, as soon as they land on a windowsill or whatever, they kark it."

Well, maybe so, but if they 'kark it', what will it do to me? Ripcord contains an artificial pyrethrin, designed to last longer in the environment. It is highly toxic to bees, water insects, and fish. So don't pour it in your stream. Apparently, however, it's OK to spray it up your nose (NOT).

Why, then, do Kiwis not use window screens? Because they LIKE natural pyrethrins? Because they are SO GOOD with the fly swat that flies avoid their houses? Because summer is SO SHORT that they can live with the inconvenience for a few weeks (it's been 8 long weeks I've been battling flies. Eight Long Weeks!) Or maybe the flies just don't bother everyone like they bother me.