“Maungatautari is an exciting place to visit – with 47kms of predator proof fence enclosing 3400 hectares in a sea of pastureland, it is the largest ecological island on mainland New Zealand.                                 With the eradication of mammalian predators largely complete, native bird populations are being re-introduced and trees and ferns are able to grow uninhibited.   This provides for a surprising new environment as the balance of species develops.                                  We invite you to experience the "last place on earth..."” http://netlist.co.nz/communities/MaungaTrust/Index.cfm                                            Where did the time go?  I am sitting in the Auckland International Airport Lounge getting ready to write about my last experience of my journey.   Even though it may be one of my last blog entries, my journey is far from over as I begin to share my experiences with students and those who are interested.                          The last full day in Rotorua called for rain with heavy downpours, with a higher percentage chance in the afternoon.  Therefore, I left right after breakfast to drive the 100 kilometers to a conservation area called Maungatautari.    The drive was uneventful (thankfully) but I did feel as though I was driving into the middle of nowhere.   When I finally reached the end of the road, the visitors area was deserted, not a soul to be found anywhere.  Fortunately there were large signs with the rules and regulations clearly posted along with a map of the trails.  The one warning that I could not heed was “Be certain someone knows that you are here, and that they know the trails you will be hiking.”   Even though I had some concern about entering this huge area alone, I knew that I had one more adventure on my list before leaving New Zealand.  So, I headed to the locked entrance feeling a little bit uneasy that I could be the only person on the entire preserve, with no one knowing that I am there.                                                     

The secure fence.  Note how steep it is as it encompasses the mounain.

        The fencing alone is a masterpiece. The entire area is enclosed so that non-native/invasive species of the four legged type are kept out of the area.  New Zealand did not have any native mammalian predators before man introduced them, so this preserve has been established to ensure the survival of native birds that did not adapt survival methods to four legged predators.   The fence has been constructed so that an extension is buried underground to prohibit animals from burrowing into the preserve.  There is an electric fence that runs along the top so that any breach is quickly monitored and volunteers can respond with an hour to repair damage or check for any intruders.  The gate system for people to enter is a double gate where you press a button to open the first door, it closes before you can walk to the second door to enter the grounds.  All visitors are cautioned and asked to check any packs for stowaways, such as mice.     

The double locking people entrance gate.

                       After the fence was completed, volunteers were successful in the eradication of rats, possums, hares, rabbits, feral cats, deer, goats, and all other four legged animals that would be harmful to the native birds and wildlife.  The area has had a small re-infestation of rabbits which is currently under control.  Mice have not been completely eradicated so they have revised their plan from a total eradication to a controlled population.  Before certain species of birds can be re-introduced, the predators must be eliminated or controlled.                                                   The methods used to eradicate the pests include trapping as well as aerial dropping of poison bait packets.  They also use specialized dogs that sniff out predators so volunteers can place traps or bait in appropriate areas.  Pet dogs are not allowed in the area as they can chase, injure, or kill resident birds such as the kiwi.  The Maungatautari Project survives with the support of hundreds of volunteers that not only work on the continuation of pest eradication, but also monitor and repair the fence, as well as work on the re-introduction of native birds and trees.                            Once inside, I decided to hike the Southern Rata Track.  This would take me to the Canopy Observation Tower, the Aviary, and the “Clearing”.  The track was well laid out, but extremely steep.   I reached the platform as it started raining and so I quickly climbed to the top to see the canopy and observe birds at the top.  I then hiked to the aviary, but it did not have any bird residents at the time as no birds were being acclimatized to be released into the wild.   I decided to check out the “clearing”, which is an area used for bird feeding platforms.  Ornithologists have found that by providing a limited amount of food for re-introduced species, it assists in keeping the birds from leaving the area to find food outside the preserve.                                                     When I walked into the clearing, the birds scattered.  I quickly grabbed a seat and set up my camera, hoping the birds would come back.   

Obviously, named "Silver Eyes"



Black Bird



 Silver eyes, black birds, and robins made a quick re-entry.  Then, off in the distance, I could see something peering at me from the back of a tree.  The Kaka moved cautiously toward the feeder, eyeing me the whole time.  Another followed and they began chattering.  I tried imitating their call and must have been fairly accurate because I soon had six Kakas flying around the feeding stations and I was smack dab in the middle of their flight pattern.  They are not bashful so as long as I remained fairly still, they were comfortable.   

Kaka checking me out.

They even seemed to like posing for some of the pictures, showing their ‘cheeky” personalities.   I was mesmerized by the antics of the Kakas and luckily captured many pictures of these amazing birds.  I would have stayed much longer, but the light rain turned into a heavy downpour and the feeding stations are obviously in a “clearing” so I grabbed my rain jacket and faithful back pack to begin the steep trek back to the car park.  Amazingly, once back under the canopy of the trees, the trees acted like a natural umbrella and the downpour was blocked by the overhead canopy.                                        My time in the preserve, alone on almost 3,400 hectares was a wonderful time to reflect on all the wonderful adventures in New Zealand.  The rainy drive back to Rotorua was bittersweet as this was ending my incredible journey to the “Land of the Long White Cloud”. 

A fern frond unfurling.                                          



Lush ferns and floor growth everywhere

 

Perspective on size of ferns!  I was still alone.  Thanks to timed shutter release
and a granola bar to rest camera lens on for proper alignment.

Feeding station visitors before being run off by the Kaka


More Pictures of the "Cheeky Kaka"...



Rotorua Stinks!

  



  

Ozzie, named for Ozzie Osbourne because when he arrived,
 he was very unruly and had a major attitude.

 Every time I say the town name of Rotorua, it reminds me of “Roto-rooter” and is quite appropriate because the town smells like sulfur and stinks.  But, after you adjust to the smell, the town has lots to offer for visitors.             My first activity was to attend a show at Wingspan, which is a center devoted to the rehabilitation of raptors.  The show coincides with the daily training time for the raptors so they include talks on training, rehabilitation, re-introduction into the wild, and the preservation of raptors in NZ.            The day I was in attendance, the trainers were working with Karearea Falcons, more commonly known as the NZ Falcon.  The Karearea Falcon has many traits similar to our Peregrine Falcon and one in particular is that it can fly at speeds over 200 mph and kills its prey through the force of the attack.  The falcons are an endangered species in NZ and methods are in place to re-introduce the falcon to areas where it no longer resides.      

Trained to fly after a decoy with food, it is snapped away from them
so they practice flying to stay in shape.

  

Showing how acrobatic he is, Ozzie  tried to strike the decoy, missed and flew straight up to dive again at speeds of over 200 mph.  And, that is why my pictures are not very good as he was a very fast moving target.

  In 2005 funding was given by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry towards a program that uses the falcons to control birds that damage grapes and act as pests in vineyards as well as monitoring the birds and establishing a breeding population in the vicinity of the Marlborough wine region.

I suddenly realized that I was in the flight path between the trainer and
the high perch that Ozzie liked.  He swooped over me several times and is such a silent flyer
that I did not hear him until he was right by my head.

  Initially, four falcons were relocated to the vineyards from the surrounding hills. After the release of a further 15 birds, breeding began to occur - the first time it is thought to have happened since land clearance 150 years ago. A major ongoing threat to the birds is electrocution on electricity distribution transformers with a fifth of the birds killed in this manner.         One falcon that was released to a vineyard was from a brood of three eggs that were taken into the center for hatching and re-introduction purposes.  One of the eggs was not viable, one was classified as weak, and the third was the only real possibility of a successful hatching in captivity.   

Checking the adjacent field for a tasty mouse or small bird.  They are
free to fly about for food.

The chick that hatched successfully was prepared for release and was given her freedom at a vineyard to control smaller birds that are vineyard pests.  

Before flight, they puff out feathers to get them properly aligned.

 She had a successful introduction and has even been reported to have a “wild boyfriend” so that there is hope she will breed successfully in the wild.                   I had an opportunity to talk to Andrew, who is one of the trainers.  He and I talked about the work with the Peregrine Falcon in downtown Richmond and how Wingspan is interested in how the program works for the protection of the chicks.  We will share information on the programs in place to benefit falcons in both regions.

I put the glove on to feed Ozzie.  You cannot feel them land as they are so very light.   I have had this experience with a Red Tail Hawk at the Greenbrier in West Virginia.  Such amazing creatures to get a close up view.

                   The next stop in Rotorua was to the local museum.  This is the National Museum for the native Maori as well as an historical facility that used mineral baths to cure all kinds of disease (although not proven to work).   The docent was magnificent and toured our group of three for over two hours.   He provided an in-depth understanding of the importance of the Maori culture, the myths and legends, and current day influences of the native tribe in NZ.    We also were taken on a tour of the basement where mud baths and mineral baths were administered, some with electrical shock therapy.   Everyone knows water and electricity do not mix so not sure I would have trusted those doctors.          

New Zealand's Hot Spots

At any turn in the road, you see steaming fields and hills

 The path from Whakatane and White Island to Taupo follows the surface line of the collision of the Pacific and Australian plates under the North Island.  Volcanoes, both active and dormant, dot the countryside for the 100 km drive.  Route 5 winds in between mountains, dips in the valleys and becomes the Thermal Highway once you pass Rotorua.  Evidence of geothermal activity is abundant.  Steam rises from the hillsides, flower beds hiss, and roadway drains gurgle.            Upon arriving in Kinloch, a town on Lake Taupo, I was greeted by Elizabeth and Paul, along with Saxon their nationally ranked German shepherd and Bridgette, the cat.  A warm welcome had me realizing that once again, I had picked great accommodations with wonderful people.  Elizabeth just happens to be a geothermal expert as she worked for the energy company for 20 years and she graciously offered to take me on a tour of the geothermal area.           New Zealand produces about 9% of their total power from geothermal plants currently.  They are increasing the total number of plants and within a couple of year will have the capacity to produce up to 15% of their energy needs.  They are heavily reliant on hydro power with their many rivers.  They do NOT use nuclear power as it is banned in NZ.         The Wairakei Power Station, which is a geothermal power station near the Wairakei Geothermal Field.  Wairakei lies in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. The power station was built in 1958, the first of its type (wet steam) in the world, and it is currently owned and operated by Contact Energy. A binary cycle power plant was constructed in 2005 to use lower-temperature steam that had already gone through the main plant. This increased the total capacity of the power station.   

Centrifuge to separate moisture from steam

  When harvesting geothermal energy, you can harvest wet steam or dry steam.  Since Wairakei harvests wet steam, the process to make energy is much more complicated as the pipes can only carry dry steam to the plant.  Any moisture in the steam can cause the turbines to pit since the steam is carried at such a high rate of speed. 

Pipes are not attached to support to allow for expansion and contraction due to changes of outside temperatures

 Therefore, the pipes are built with safety valves and bends to extract any moisture that could have entered the system through condensation due to temperature changes on the outside of the pipes.  One question I had was why the steam did not cool as it was traveling 2.3 to 5.0 kilometers and the answer is that it moves too fast to cool down.    

Drilling additional wells

  When the water is extracted from the geothermal field, it is over 400 degrees but is not boiling due to the extreme pressure it is under.   It is pumped into a centrifuge tank that spins the water to the bottom and the dry steam rises to the top to be siphoned off and piped to the plant.             

Power Station



  
Once the steam reaches the plant, it boils water that is used to spin the turbines to make energy.  The steam is then reused but since the temperature has been lowered greatly, it is used to boil a chemical that has a lower boiling point so that the energy is maxed out.        The water that is pumped out of the ground is full of minerals and rock so it has to be processed before it can be returned back into the ground, this is called re-injection.  Before using this process, the removal of the geothermal waters without replacing them was causing an imbalance in the underground system.  

Water is diverted back to river 3 times a day, after cooling to keep ecosystem in tack

 The processing of the water allows the super-heated water to travel down gullies that performs two processes, cooling and the minerals and rock settle down on the concrete surface.  The water alternates between two culverts so that the minerals can be scraped off due to huge amounts of buildup.   

Above ground pipes very visible everywhere with warning signs that they dangerous and will burn

 If you would like to read more about the Wairakei Geothermal Plant, here is a link to their site. http://www.nzgeothermal.org.nz/index.html        


A visit to the Volcanic Center was very educational, along with
sitting in the earthquake simulator, I know I do NOT want to experience one in real life.

Walked through "Craters of the Moon", a very active geothermal field with sites to see.

Craters of the Moon, so appropriately named

Staying on the walkway is a good idea!

Boiling mud pots

Some plants like the hostile environment



From the look out at the top of the hill



White Island Adventure - An Active Volcano

Heading into the harbor to disembark



It was another departure in the rainy dark of morning.   The two hour drive to Whakatane was better once I left the main road and hugged the beautiful shoreline of the bay.  After wandering the city streets, I found PeeJay’a Boat tours with the good news that the conditions were favorable for the trip to White Island which sits 49 kilometers off shore. 

White Island was at a Level Two on the day I went.  "Onset of eruptive activity
 accompanied by changes to monitored indicators."

 About 30 minutes into the ride, I spotted White Island way  in the distance but it was looking very ominous with billowy black clouds dumping torrents of rain.  But, as I have learned during the entire trip, wait five minutes and the weather will change. And, change it did to blue skies and billowy white clouds.                            While on the boat, we were handed our safety equipment which consisted of a hard hat and a gas mask.  I naively thought to myself that maybe this was overkill (let me just say haha to that!).  The first mate had us scramble into the raft to motor to the structure somewhat like a dock but very unstable, narrow, and no hand rails.  A safety briefing was given on how to use the gas mask and that the hard hats needed to stay on the entire time.  Since the activity level was a two, we were given very specific instructions as to where to go in the event that the volcano starting “burping” and spewing ash or rock.  We were certainly relieved to hear that these episodes would only last for about 90 seconds and that then they would look around for survivors.  Still love the Kiwi senses of humor J                  When we passed the old factory, we could certainly see lots of steam rising from the crater as well as fumeroles (fissures in the hot rock).  At this point, everything was still very comfortable.   Our guide took us on a path towards the crater but we had to wait for the all clear from the other guide if it was safe.      Stopping to see a fumerole which releases mostly steam with any of the following gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen gas (H2), NH3, methane (CH4), and SiF4, it had formed a crusty surface over a molten inside.  Matt, our guide, compared it to a blister on your foot; a tough outer surface with liquid underneath.  If you stepped on one, you would go through the crust and fall into molten rock.  We were all very careful to follow our guides!      Matt received the all clear that we could head to the crater.  By this time, we were all wearing the gas masks as the sulfur dioxide was very choking to inhale and would cause you to cough and have your eyes water.  They handed out hard candy which helped with the coughing if you were not wearing your gas mask.         The winds had shifted so we could see the bottom of the crater.  Today, it was green but it changes color frequently depending on what rock is molten and if any bacteria are present.  The guides pointed out that a new cone had formed in just the last week.  With the possibility of instability, the guides only allowed us to linger for about two minutes at the crater’s edge.  

Looking into the crater



  Mud pots were next on the agenda.  The two types were pointed out and explained.   

Mud pots

 The landscape was continually being blocked by the steam and gases so we kept moving.  Pointing out another point of entry from the boat showed us  that we were glad the main point of entry was available since the sea was not too rough.  Matt concluded with a brief history of the mining operations and some tragic stories of lives lost on the island during the days it was a profitable mining center for sulfur.        We were allowed to wander through the ruins before getting back on the boat for lunch and the return trip.  The captain toured us around the side of the volcano for a different vantage point, then by a couple of islands to see the sea lions basking in the sun.         Another amazing adventure.