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Trip Report New Zealand 2004 Simon Plat, Maaike Poppinga |
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This is the short version of our itinerary. We also wrote an extensive trip log during the trip. To read that report go to Downside Up. Book 1 (seven chapters) is about New Zealand.
23-11-2004: Finally, after a trip of
over 30 hours we arrived at Auckland International Airport. It took a while
before we collected our rental car (Britz) but around 3 p.m we were on the road.
Weather was quite nice but chilly. A first stop close to the airport gave us
our first impression of the abundance of introduced birds. Apart from House
Sparrow (Passer domesticus, Huismus) and Common Starling
(Sturnus vulgaris, Spreeuw) -species that have become common
in more parts of the world- a whole bunch of other Europeans showed up: European
Greenfinch (Carduelis 
chloris,
Groenling), European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis,
Putter), Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella, Geelgors),
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos, Zanglijster) and Eurasian
Skylark (Alauda arvensis, Veldleeuwerik). Among them were
our first natives: White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae,
Witwangreiger), Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus, Kelpmeeuw)
and Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena, Welkomzwaluw).
We drove directly to Miranda where we had arranged an overnight stay at the Miranda Shorebird centre (NZ $ 50,-). Met with Keith Woodley, the manager of the centre, who checked us in and explained the area to us. Weather started to change and during the first serious birding attempts it started to rain. Nevertheless I found the first targets, including a flock of about 40 Wrybills (Anarhynchus frontalis, Scheefsnavelplevier) and two New Zealand Dotterels (Charadrius obscurus, Rosse Plevier), and met the first fellow birders, all from overseas.
24-11-2004: Morning is early this time of year. No time for jetlags. Around 5:30 I got up and checked the same area as the day before: The Hide, The Stilt Pond and Taramaire River Mouth. Sky was clear and despite the fact that species were the same, the sightings were much better. Good numbers of Wrybills, a few New Zealand Dotterels and lots of noisy White-fronted Tern (Sterna striata, Tara-stern) and Black-billed Gull (Larus bulleri, Zwartsnavelmeeuw). Both oystercatcher species were present and my first endemic warbler Grey Gerygone (Gerygone igata, Maori-mangrovezanger) showed. There were also two Parasitic Jaegers (Stercorarius parasiticus, Kleine Jager) chasing terns.
Just before noon we departed the centre and took the scenic coastal road to Auckland. We found yet another New Zealand Dotterel and a few new species for the trip including Sacred Kingfisher (Todirhamphus sanctus, Heilige IJsvogel), Purple Swamphen/Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio, Purperkoet) and the first New Zealand Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae, Nieuwzeelandse Duif). We skipped Auckland and drove on to Orewa where we had our second stay at the Tui Song homestay of Stuart en Allison Chambers (previously arranged, NZ $ 75,- for an extremely comfortable en-suite room). After checking in Stuart was kind enough to show us around his area. This produced my only New Zealand Grebes (Poliocephalus rufopectus, Nieuwzeelandfuut), two couples at Strakers pond near Waiwera. Also present were New Zealand Scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae, Nieuwzeelandse Toppereend) and Grey Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa, Grijze Waaierstaart). Tuis (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, Toei) were common, including in the garden of Stuart and Allison.
25-11-2004: Our Tiritiri Matangi day started with bright sunny
weather! We booked the ferry and the overnight stay prior to our trip. 
Ferries
are run by Kawau Kat Cruises
and start in Auckland and Gulf Harbor, Manly (about 1 hour north of Auckland).
From Manly the ferry ride is NZ $ 80,- two way for two persons. The bunkhouse
can be booked by e-mail and
phone (+64-9-476 0010, see also the Tiritiri
Matangi website NZ $ 40,- for two dorm beds). On the boat we met the Finnish
birder Antti Karppi again (met him before in Miranda) and we exchanged first
experiences. The first new species was a fact before we set foot on the island:
a Saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus, Zadelrugspreeuw)
loudly welcomed us. During the introduction speech the abundance of birds distracted
us quite a bit and after leaving our luggage at the bunkhouse we were on our
way. Started to walk the Ridge Road Track to the north side of the island and
walked the East Coast Track back, the latter being a wonderful scenic stroll.
After that we learned the Wattle Track was actually the best track for birding
but nevertheless we easily found most of the targets: Stitchbird
(Notiomystis cincta, Geelbandhoningeter), Takahe (Porphyrio
mantelli, Takahe), New Zealand Robin (Petroica australis
longipes, Nieuwzeelandvliegenvanger) etc. New Zealand Bellbird
(Anthornis melanura, Maori-belhoningvogel), Red-fronted
Parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae, Roodvoorhoofdkarakiri)
and Whitehead (Mohoua albicilla, Popokatea) all proved
common. After a bit of waiting the resident Spotless Crake (Porzana
tabuensis, Pacifisch Porseleinhoen) and two Brown Teals (Anas
aucklandica, Aucklandtaling) showed at the small pond beside the Wharf
road.
The late afternoon produced Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor, Dwergpinguïn) in their nest boxes north of the wharf. Some Fluttering Shearwaters (Puffinus gavia, Vlinderpijlstormvogel) showed close enough to shore for identification. The evening excursion for Little Spotted Kiwi (Apteryx owenii, Kleine Grijze Kiwi) resulted in a few calling birds (both male and female) and a foraging Brown Teal that scared the hell out of me, but no kiwi visual.
26-11-2004: An early morning try for Kokako
(Callaeas cinerea, Kokako) at the Wattle Track (where the track crosses
the Wharf road) only 
resulted
in one skulking bird after 1,5 hours of searching, pointed out to me by my wife
(I was looking in the wrong direction). Upon arrival at the bunk house rumours
spread that the boat was not coming today due to the windy conditions. And indeed
we were stuck for another day. Weather was bad with strong winds indeed and
heavy showers including hale! Every once in a while we tried to bird a bit.
To kill time I joined a Dutch student ringing a young Robin. In the afternoon
I spent my time seawatching. My first experience was impressive indeed, hundreds
of Fluttering Shearwaters, twice as much Australian
Gannets (Morus serrator, Pacifische Jan-van-gent), over 12
Buller's Shearwater (Puffinus bulleri, Bullers Pijlstormvogel)
counted, (at least) 2 Common Diving-Petrels (Pelecanoides
urinatrix, Alkstormvogeltje) and my first Flesh-footed Shearwater
(Puffinus carneipes, Australische Grote Pijlstormvogel), great!
In the evening again a few calling Little Spotted Kiwis but
nothing to see. The second night was free of charge since we were not able to
leave the island but we compensated that with an extra gift to the volunteers
of the island.
27-11-2004: We were very happy to hear that the boat was coming today! The next day (28-11) we had an appointment with two American birders to go on a pelagic from Whitianga so time was running out. Our plans to go to Trounson Park for Brown Kiwi were ruined by the extra day on Tiritiri. Fortunately we were able to get the morning boat back to Gulf Harbour (after dropping over 90 new visitors - best not plan your trip in the weekend, it can get crowded) so we set foot on solid ground just after 11:00 o'clock. We immediately drove to Whitianga in the Coromandel Peninsula, with a bit of birding underway, but not much special. In Whitianga it was extremely difficult to find accommodation, apparently due to the fact that 3 couples were getting married the next day! We finally found the last free cabin in town at Mercury Bay Motor Camp (NZ $ 45,-).
28-11-2004: In the morning weather looked well apart from some dark clouds that never reached us. We walked to Shakespeare's Lookout. Around the time we should board the boat for the pelagic to Red Mercury Island we met the American couple Michael and Merce who arranged the trip. But bad news, the captain considered the weather to be too rough to go out. It didn't seem that bad so we decided to find ourselves another boat. Luckily there are enough sport fishing boats around Whitianga and with the help of the Information officer we quickly found another boat for NZ $ 400,-. We quickly bought some fish oil and fish parts and with an hour delay we departed, unfortunately with an inexperienced crew in terms of birding pelagics.
Within half an hour the first Fluttering Shearwaters started to turn up in numbers. I was extremely lucky to find a Hammerhead shark swimming right under our boat. The captain led us to a spot with not much birding activity around and after a bit of discussion we decided to go on to the 100 meter (depth?) mark but that cost us another NZ $ 240,- in total. It was only at that 100 meter mark that the birds started to come. First to arrive and very numerous were White-faced Storm-Petrels (Pelagodroma marina, Bont Stormvogeltje) and Common Diving-Petrels. The rough sea (the first captain was right after all but it was not that bad, nobody got sick anyway) and the fact that none of us had much experience made it impossible to put names to all the birds. We birded at three spots around the 100 meter mark and close to Red Mercury Island until about 19:00 hours. We finally found a few Black Petrels (Procellaria parkinsoni, Zwarte Stormvogel), several Great-winged/Grey-faced Petrels (Pterodroma macroptera, Langvleugelstormvogel), one Black-winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis, Zwartvleugelstormvogel), three Little Shearwater (Puffinus assimilis haurakiensis), Kleine Pijlstormvogel), good numbers of Buller's Shearwater and Flesh-footed Shearwater and several Pycroft/Cooks Petrels, based on the location most probably Pycroft's Petrel (Pterodroma pycrofti, Pycrofts Stormvogel), but what a drag to identify those to the species level! Around 20:00 o'clock we were back in the harbour again, tired but satisfied.
29-11-2004: We started early with the drive to Rotorua. Arrived there in the end of the morning and booked a cabin at the All Seasons holiday Park (NZ $ 48,- for a spacious cabin). The rest of the day was spent on sightseeing and visiting the impressive Wai-O-Tapu. The only interesting bird was a (North Island) Tomtit (Petroica macrocephala toitoi, Maori-vliegenvanger) at Wai-O-Tapu. It took me hours of mind-bending deciding on a route to see Pureora NP, have a fair chance to find Blue Duck and ending in Taupo all in one day!
30-11-2004: Started the day extremely early, 5:00 o'clock,
to arrive at Pureora NP around daybreak (1,5 hour drive from Rotorua). Kaka
(Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis, Kaka) was common and noisy around
the watchtower and a Long-tailed Koel (Eudynamys taitensis,
Langstaartkoël) was calling close to the tower but wouldn't show. A Rifleman
(Acanthisitta chloris granti, Geweervogel) showed and New Zealand
Robin and Whitehead were common. Best bird by far
was a New Zealand Falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae, Nieuwzeelandse
Valk) first flying by and later perched in a tree. For the sake of time we decided
to leave the place around 9:00 o'clock without Yellow-fronted Parakeet to have
enough time to drive to the best Blue Duck spot: Ruatiti. We were happily surprised
that the drive from Pureora to Ruatiti was only 2 hours. 
At exact the 17 km spot (see Central North Island for details on this spot) we found the family Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchus, Blauwe Eend) with 2 chicks. Eventually it was only 1:30 pm when we were on our way back to Taupo. We drove past Tongariro NP, great area but lots of clouds and rain made it all a bit sad and the mountain didn't show. A try for Fernbird at the southern end of Lake Taupo failed, probably due to the strong winds. We checked in at Great Lake holiday park (NZ $ 40,- for a shared facility cabin) and called it a day.
1-12-2004: the day started sad with showers. No need to try for Fernbird in this weather. Two rainy visits to Hukka Falls and Craters of the Moon (nice!) and we were off to Napier, not for birds but for the town. Fortunately the weather improved significantly during the travel and in Napier it was a 25 °C again. A bird free afternoon in town. We slept at Kennedy Top 10 holiday Park (NZ $ 38,- for a cabin with shared facilities).
2-12-2004: We spent most of the morning driving from Napier (nice weather) to Wellington (rain, gale force winds). The rest of the day was used to see Wellington and to visit the National Museum Te Papa. After that we met the New Zealand based Canadian birder John Geale in his new house in the suburbs of Wellington. John generously offered us a diner and a place to sleep. At night a Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae, Boeboekuil) was calling in the garden.
3-12-2004: Time to make the step to South Island. The weather luckily was a lot better than yesterday with blue skies and only a fair bit of wind. We boarded the Wellington Picton Ferry Interislander (NZ $ 280,- for the car and two adults, should be booked in advance, see the Interislander site). This ferry is a great opportunity to see seabirds. The harbour offered a few Spotted Shags (Phalacrocorax punctatus, Gevlekte Aalscholver). It took a while before the seabirds started to come. My first life albatross flew passed the boat.... unidentified. Luckily I found about 10 albatrosses of the Shy type, of which I could identify 4 as New Zealand White-capped Albatross (Thalassarche cauta, Witkapalbatros) and 1 Salvin's Albatross (Thalassarche salvini). At least 5 Westland Petrels (Procellaria westlandica, Westlandstormvogel) were close enough for identification. But the most impressive were not the Albatrosses but the huge numbers of prions in the Cook Strait. There must have been hundreds. Sometimes I counted 30 birds in one binoc sight. Some followed the boat pretty close. With my lack of experience I could only identify Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur, Duifprion) with certainty.
In Picton we had only just over an hour to get some food before boarding the boat for a Queen Charlotte Sound Trip. We went with Dolphin Watch Ecotours, with a friendly, knowledgeable and fanatic crew. Even at the afternoon trip -where they don't visit the Rough-faced/King Shag colony- they can nearly guarantee one of these very rare shags. On board we met Brent Stephenson from Wrybill Tours with his two clients Ron Hoff and Dollyann Myers. The first Rough-faced Shag (Phalacrocorax carunculatus, Wrattenaalscholver) was found by the crew and that bird showed very well. We were treated with great views of 4 Hector's Dolpin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) and a bunch of Dusky Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus). This all in the best weather man can wish.
After that we drove on to Kaikoura (2 hours from Picton) where we checked in at the Dolphin Backpackers around 20:00 o'clock (NZ $ 48,- for a double but not much fun).
4-12-2004: We booked an Albatross encounter with... Oceanwings Albatross Encounter (NZ $ 60 p.p.). It was crowded at the centre but soon everyone went swimming with dolphins leaving only 4 participants to watch albatrosses. We boarded the ship and only after 10 minutes the first Cape Petrels (Daption capense, Kaapse Stormvogel) started following the boat. Hutton's Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni, Huttons Pijlstormvogel) was common close to shore. I was thrilled when the first albatross arrived, much closer than from the Wellington-Picton ferry! Then a second, third and within minutes we were followed by 10 albatrosses, all Salvin's, and the skipper just kept on going. At the first chumming spot we were surrounded by albatrosses, Cape Petrels and Westland Petrels. What a sight when the first 'big ones' started to arrive! At a certain time there were at least 5 Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans, Grote Albatross) and two Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi, Noordelijke Koningsalbatross) among the common Salvin's and New Zealand White-capped Albatross (Thalassarche cauta, Witkapalbatros). Unforgettable. Of course Northern Giant-Petrel (Macronectes halli, Noordelijke Reuzenstormvogel) was around too.
After this 2,5 hour trip we had a good lunch and decided to depart without a Whale excursion. We drove all the way to Fairlie, south of Christchurch. In Farlie it rained like hell and it didn't stop during the night. We slept at Fairly Top Ten holiday Park (NZ $ 40,- good value but a bit chilly, unseasonably chilly to tell the truth!).
5-12-2004: Still raining in the morning. We departed to Lake
Tekapo and we were quite surprised coming across a car with a thick layer of
snow on the roof. Only a few kilometres further on up the road we were driving
in a snow storm ourselves! The Church of the good 
Shepherd
was somewhat different from the pictures we saw in the brochures! It snowed
like crazy and the lake was hardly visible. My first try for Black Stilt was
near Lake Alexandrina but without success, partly because of the snow storm.
Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus, Dubbelbandplevier)
was common. The second try was north of Lake Pukaki, behind the airstrip. It
was not snowing but raining (probably a bit lower in altitude) making the visibility
a bit better. The first Black Stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae,
Zwarte Steltkluut) was a juvenile (after a few obvious hybrids) and showed well
from close quarters. There was another juvenile close by. Both birds were ringed.
At least four adults were present much further up the river mouth with White-headed
Stilts (Himantopus leucocephalus, Steltkluut) and some probable
hybrids. Also present at this spot were Black-fronted Tern(Sterna
albostriata, Nieuwzeelandse Stern), Double-banded Plover
and Wrybill. Nice spot but the rain kind of ruined the fun
to explore more of the area so we decided to leave directly.
We drove on to Omarama where we had a short (dry) stop at the bridge over the
river with Black-fronted Tern obvious. After that we spent
the best part of the morning driving to Oamaru at the coast south of Timaru.
We found a nice cabin in Oamaru Top 10 holiday Park (NZ $ 40,-) and spent the
afternoon walking on the beach. Here I found my first Yellow-eyed Penguin
(Megadyptes antipodes, Geeloogpinguïn), a juvenile bird
that sat just above the public beach and looked deserted by its parent. Stewart
Island Shag (Phalacrocorax chalconotus, Stewart Island Aalscholver)
flew by. I followed the trail along the cliffs to the Yellow-eyed Penguin reservation
just south of Oamaru and was surprised about its bad state - later I found out
that this trail was closed for a while due to its bad and hazardous condition!
While waiting for the penguins to arrive the seawatching was nice with lots
of birds close to shore, including over 15 Shy Albatrosses
spec. and a Northern Giant Petrel. Only one adult Yellow-eyed
Penguin arrived before I gave up and headed back to the camping.
6-12-2004: In the morning we visited the Mouraki Boulders and drove on to Dunedin. First we checked in at Dunedin holiday Park (NZ $ 37,- for a cabin) and in the afternoon we visited the Royal Albatross colony at the Otago Peninsula. And indeed Northern Royal Albatross was present. We were treated with a show of a young bird arriving from sea and trying to land. It took him 5 tries before a final touch down; great to see from up close.
7-12-2004: In the morning we visited the chocolate factory in Dunedin (quite nice) and after that we hit the road again to the south. We drove straight to Bluff, not stopping in Invercargill, partly because the town was loaded with people because of a cattle show. Near Bluff we tried to find a good birding spot at the Awaroa Wetlands but the area was not as swampy as we expected it to be. Actually it looked quite ruined and except for the bay there was not much birding fun. Yet I had my first glimpse of a Fernbird (Megalurus punctatus, Varengrasvogel) at the far end of the road along the Awarua Bay. We found a peculiar and rather worn down hotel in Bluff, Bay View Hotel (NZ$ 60,- including breakfast - being nothing at all), with a room directly above the noisy bar, but the hotel was practically situated directly opposite the ferry terminal.
8-12-2004: While boarding the ferry we met the German birder Christian Dieter and his girlfriend. Together we tried to make something out of the rough weather while going to Stewart Island. And rough it was, half the boat was sick and it didn't result in spectacular seabirds. We arrived in Oban just before noon where we first checked in at the (prior arranged) Shearwater Inn/Stewart Island Backpackers (NZ $ 60,- a night for a small room) and after that we contacted Phillip Smith (phone: 03 2191144) for the Kiwi excursion. But Phillip had bad news: slim chance that the excursion could go on because the gale force winds wouldn't allow for a drop off at the beach on the other side of the island. After this deception Christian and I decided to ignore the bad weather and pay a visit to Ulva Island, the major bird attraction of Stewart Island. The strong wind topped off most bird activity but we found some good ones anyway: Weka (Gallirallus australis scotti, Weka), Pipipi/Brown Warbler (Mohoua novaeseelandiae, Finschia) and Yellowhead (Mohoua ochrocephala, Mohua) and we even were able to keep it dry.
In the evening we had the final word on the Kiwi excursion: it was a no-go.
To make some use of our time we walked up to Ackers Point (about 4 km walk from
Oban) and watched the seabirds while waiting for the dark to have a change for
Kiwi that has been reported around Ackers Point. Great to see was the only Buller's
Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri, Bullers Albatross) of the
trip 
among
the more common NZ Shy and Salvins Albatrosses.
At night the spooky sound of the Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus
griseus, Grauwe Pijlstormvogel) arriving at their breeding sites around
the Point was nice but not a single Kiwi to be heard, let alone see. And of
course it rained and we got wet but what else is new...
9-12-2004: In the morning we visited Ulva Island again, the same birds but a bit more activity. The skipper of the water taxi told us that a new low with gale force winds was coming to Stewart Island. We called Phillip again and again the chances were not good. With the chance of being stuck on an island all over again we decided to pack and leave the island while we still could. We took the afternoon boat back to the mainland.
The weather on the mainland was even worse than on Stewart Island with showers during the whole trip to Te Anau, Fjordlands. We arrived in Te Anau around 18:00 o'clock and checked in at Fjordlands holiday Park (NZ 40,- for a cabin). The weather was good in Te Anau and we heard that it had been good for an exceptional 4 days in a row (until we arrived...).
10-12-2004: We had already arranged a Doubtful Sound excursion
for the 11th so this day was spent near Milford Sound. We first drove up to
Milford Sound where we saw our first Kea (Nestor notabilis,
Kea). After that we drove back to the Homer Pass for Rock Wren. It was raining
again but better weather seemed underway. It took Maaike only one stroll to
locate the first Rock Wren but where was I? Back at the car dipping it... We
went back to the spot together confident in finding it back easily. But after
half an hour I started to doubt that confidence and after one hour I stood alone
in the rain doubting the chance of seeing one at all. After about two hours
a large group of 
Birdquest
birders arrived guided by a local forester who had a trick or two to lure the
bird in. I took the liberty of looking over the shoulders of these paying costumers
and witnessed the success of the guide's polystyrene-and-bottle trick: a Rock
Wren (Xenicus gilviventris, Rotswinterkoning) came flying
towards the group and showed very well to all the birders, including me, pfff
they really saved my holiday. That took most of the morning and we did another
small bit of birding and sightseeing before we headed back to the cabin.
11-12-2004: This day was completely arranged for us by Real Journeys (NZ $ 410,- for two persons) so we only had to turn up at the right spot and let us float. The first part of the trip was nothing in terms of birds, it started at the Doubtful Sound with the first pair of Fjordland Crested Penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus, Fjordland Kuifpinguin) already before I had my binocs ready. Later on I found another two swimming and the skipper found two nice ones sitting on a rock near the entrance to sea. Nice also were the huge group of over 60 Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) including young.
12-12-2004: We had an early start from Te Anau to arrive before 9:00 o'clock in Glenorchie, north of Queenstown. Maaike did a horseback ride and I had a last chance to find Yellow-fronted Parakeet. I went to Lake Sylvan where I found Yellow-fronted Parakeet (Cyanoramphus auriceps, Geelvoorhoordkarakiri) relatively easy close to the Lake Sylvan trail turn of from the Rootburn trail road. I walked the Lake Sylvan trail for a moment but no Yellowheads around. Pipipi and New Zealand (South Island) Robin were common and I found one Rifleman.
After lunch we went on to drive the first part to the north. The drive up to Haast took us the whole afternoon and in the evening we checked in at Wilderness Backpackers in Haast (NZ $ 55,- for a room). Keas flew over in the evening.
13-12-2004: From Haast we drove up the very scenic west coast to Fox Glacier where we had a moment to check out the glacier. The clouds didn't allow us to see the mountains so Lake Matheson was no good at all in reflecting Mount Cook. We skipped the Franz Josef Glacier and drove on to Greymouth and further on to Punakaiki. We paid the Pancake Rocks a quick visit and found a nicely situated guesthouse (Te Nikau Retreat, NZ $ 55,-, 3 km north of Punakaiki town).
The night was spent at Bullock's Creek, a known spot for Great Spotted Kiwi. Unfortunately it started raining again but I tried anyway, hoping that the water in the creek wouldn't rise too fast floating the only road out of the area. I eventually heard both male and female Great Spotted Kiwi (Apteryx haastii, Grote Grijze Kiwi) but they called from within the woods and it is impossible to get into there since the area is filled with potholes. Actually the chances of seeing a Kiwi here are slim as most of the trails are noisy and penetrating the forest is no option.
14-12-2004: After a second visit to Bullock's creek to see
the area during daylight, we hit the road again, back to Kaikoura for a second
albatross experience. The drive took us most of the day with no relevant birds.
In Kaikoura we checked in for an Albatross encounter in the morning and a whale
watch trip around noon. 
15-12-2004: This morning albatross excursion was just as impressive as the first and it also resulted in new species: a Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris, Wenkbrouwalbatross) passing by, a White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis, Witkinstormvogel) and a Southern Giant-Petrel (Macronectes giganteus, Zuidelijke Reuzenstormvogel) fighting for food with Northerns.
Almost immediately after this trip we went on the whale watch excursion. Quite nice but also a lot ado about a few whales. They can pretty much guarantee whales which is good but the show around it was not my thing. The rest of the day we spent reading and doing nothing which is a good thing to do after using Sealegs.
16-12-2004: Things are getting to an end in New Zealand. We drove from Kaikoura to Christchurch with a short stop at St Anna's Lagoon, producing the common duck species and two Cape Barren Geese (Cereopsis novaehollandiae, Hoendergans) that are apparently introduced in New Zealand.
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