Learning and Discovery!

It will be a long bus ride to our next destination, Hokitika, on the wild west coast, so our new guide, Phil, has time for teaching, and we are willing pupils.

When this country was discovered, over 80% of the land was covered in fabulous dense hardwood forests with trees not reaching maturity until they were 200-500 years old.  This was the first product exported, and in fact, ships off the coast would see plumes of smoke and think the town was on fire.  It was only the Europeans burning the native forests to clear the land after cutting the trees.  The early settlers planted a lot of non-native trees such as pines which matured here in 20-25 years; whereas, it might take 50-60 years in England.  These pines now make up 90% of the forests in New Zealand.

There were no land mammals originally in New Zealand except for two bats, but there were plenty of sea life along with birds.  Any mammal with four legs has been brought to the island.

Since the birds had no predators, they did not have to fly, and New Zealand has the largest number of flightless birds in the world.  The moa, a flightless bird larger than an ostrich and the world’s largest, had an unusual defense mechanism.  Whenever it was threatened, it would stand still!  The Māori with no other land animals to eat hunted birds, and the mao became extinct about two hundred years ago since it never learned to fly, run, nor hide.

The Māori introduced dogs and probably inadvertently, rats, to the islands, and the Europeans brought cows, sheep, horses, and pigs.  Settlers also brought rabbits as a food source, but without any predators, they multiplied profusely and destroyed farmland.  Europeans also brought the Australian opossum, a big bushy tailed animal, as a food source, but again there were no predators.  Opossums now eat 22,000 tons of native trees every night destroying the forests.  To combat the lack of predators, Europeans brought stoats, ferrets, and weasels to eat the rabbits.  However, they found it much easier to attack and prey on the flightless birds!  Somehow, hedgehogs were also introduced, and New Zealand now has the largest population in the world!

Beekeeping and bee products such as honey are a very contentious topic.  Customs asked me twice if I had any honey.  They are concerned with the Varroa mite which lives on and needs honeybees for their entire life cycle ultimately killing the bee and can destroy an entire hive.  Until 15-20 years ago, all New Zealand honey was free of Varroa mites, but now they are also a pest here.

All of these introduced species created havoc on the delicate island environment.  In 200 years, 55 species of native birds were extinct.  To try and control the rampant destruction of plant and animal life, the government approved the use of a poison known as 1080, but this lead to the deaths of game such as deer resulting in hunters being upset.  It is currently a very controversial topic in New Zealand, but what a mess man has made of this pristine oasis!

There is only one windy road between Christchurch and Hokitika crossing the South Island with one-lane bridges, and we are on a large tour bus.  When the bridges were built years ago, traffic was infrequent and the community felt one lane would be sufficient.  Now there are no funds to add an additional lane.  Very little freight is moved by rail or trucking.  Petrol is about $9.00/gallon (after converting from liters), but it has been as high as $14/gallon with 75-85% of each gallon tax.

A yellow flowering green shrub is very evident along the road edges and fallow fields.  This is “grose”, another introduced plant which grows prolifically in the rich fertile soil but is a nuisance to farmers and livestock since it is prickly and spiky.  Another example of man making a mess!

There are 100 native ferns, and the silver fern is the national symbol.  Whenever a citizen represents New Zealand, they wear a patch or symbol with the silver fern on it which is a national honor.  

In the 1990’s, sheep were dominant on the South Island…90%…while cows were more prevalent on the North Island.  Sheep only use one-tenth of the water resources as cattle and the South Island is drier than the North.   Sheep farming is actually declining from 70-80 million animals to the current population of 20-25 million.  We are visiting a sheep farm today, Rubicon Valley, to learn about sheep, sheep herding, shearing, and more information than I can possibly remember!

Chris, the owner of Rubicon Valley, welcomes us to his 2,000 acre ecotourism farm.  His neighbor’s farm is 9,000 acres and another neighbor’s is 18,000 acres.  Chris doesn’t have any sheep but borrows his neighbor’s to demonstrate herding and shearing for us.  He trains his dogs himself which usually takes two years, and he sends Flynn out to round up a half-dozen sheep relaxing in the shade.  He can control Flynn by his voice commands to go right and left, along with another dog, Dee, who is responsible for moving the sheep along by barking.  Flynn is amazing steadily creeping up on the sheep, not scaring them, but he controls them and heads them in the direction of a pen.

Like all farming, sheep involves hard work year round.  Once in a pen or chute, sheep can be separated whether it’s for medical inoculations or exams, worming, a drench for external parasites, or shearing.  A wild sheep’s wool is short and falls out naturally, but a domesticated sheep has been bred to produce long, thick, and tightly woven wool.  If it is not removed manually, the sheep will develop skin infections and other illnesses.  Shearing is really for the health of the sheep.

It doesn’t hurt the sheep to be sheared, but they have to be man-handled, and the task is accomplished with either manual clippers or electric ones.  These are Romney sheep whose wool is carpet grade and are sheared two times a year.  Most sheep can be sheared in just a few minutes, but the world’s record is less than a minute.  Professional shearers often travel from farm to farm working in a shearing shed, bringing their own tools, and then moving on to the next farm.  They get paid per sheep about $3.00, and can shear usually 30 sheep an hour.  Depending on the size of the farm and the number of sheep, ten people might be working at one time.

We learn about sorting the wool fleeces and grading them for sale…Grades 1, 2, 3…with grade 1 the most profitable.  Chris brings a sheep in and demonstrates shearing, and then let’s us try it with the manual clippers.  The wool is dense, and I can feel the lanolin.  This is back breaking work!

From 0-10 months, a baby is a lamb, and a hogget from 10-12 months.  They have eight baby teeth at birth which fall out when the adult teeth grow in 2 each year until they are four years old with eight teeth.  Males and females are separated at 10 months, have their tails banded to fall off for cleanliness, and the male testicles are also banded to wither.  

Female sheep, ewes, can be bred 2x/year when a ram, a male sheep, is turned into a pen for six weeks with 75 females. About 10-12 weeks after this, the ewes are ultra-sounded to determine pregnancy and multiple births.  Twins are desired and 80% of births are twins; although, triplets can also occur.  Non-pregnant females are returned to the general herd while the single and multiple pregnancies are put into separate pens to keep an eye on each one.

While wool only sells for about $1.00/kilo (about $3.00/fleece), a lamb sells for $150 so the profit is definite in the lambs.  Productive ewes and rams are kept for five years by which time their teeth are almost chewed to the bone, and they are unable to feed themselves.  

Many grassy paddocks have one or more raised rounded areas which give the sheep the ability to keep their feet dry on higher ground.  Cattle don’t seem to mine the soggy ground so much.   Farmers also keep their livestock in small areas to graze, fertilizing the ground naturally, and then moving to another paddock.  It’s amazing how green the grass is!

It is another “Oh my gosh!” moment driving through the southern alps on the way to Hokitika.  Snow covered mountains surround us as we drive deeper into a gorge with waterfalls and glacier fed rushing streams.  Gravel and rock filled shallow rivers with slower moving waters mirror the roadway and these are much wider than deep and mostly empty now, but banks along the sides have been washed out by the force of water.  Initially, the mountains were in the distance and fog covered them but lifted to revel their majesty.  Now we are in the midst of these granite spires!  I would not want to be here if an earthquake struck!

The west coast is the wettest area in New Zealand due to, “Those blanking Aussies sending clouds over here with water!”, and the rivalry continues!

New Zealand has a very high grade of coal in the mountains which they once mined.  Mining is now frowned upon along with oil exploration on the west coast of the North Island.  However, there is not enough coal mined now to provide power for the country so they purchase a lower grade of coal from Indonesia.  Most power is hydroelectric and wind power is being explored, but there is no nuclear power.

“Kiwi” refers to three different items….the flightless bird, the fruit, and the New Zealand people.  The fruit initially was called a Chinese gooseberry, but in 1980 its name was changed to improve sales in America.  It worked!  During 

WWII, New Zealanders were known for a very popular brand of shoe polish, Kiwi, which soldiers from other countries would seek out.  “Where are those Kiwis”, and the name stuck to now refer to the entire population of this country.

It is currently “tuna” season in New Zealand, but this is unlike any fish you have ever seen.  The Māori and the Kiwi’s call fresh water giant eels, the largest in the world, tuna!  These eels live in the rivers and streams and the white meat is considered a delicacy.  In fact, restaurants call it “white meat” on their menus which is usually fried rather than tuna or eel!  

We visited a museum today with eels and had the chance to feed them.  They were enormously long… three feet and longer, and have a wonderful sense of smell but terrible eyesight.  Thin strips of meat were picked up by long tweezers, and placed in the open mouth of one of the eels.  I had to make sure not to fall in the large tank and become eel food myself!

After the eels were fed, we had a chance to pet them!  Making sure to stay away from their needle sharp teeth and other eels both of whom might mistake my fingers for lunch, I stroked their backs and long dorsal fin.  Their skin feels very soft with a slight mucous coating.  I never imagined I would be feeding an eel and then giving it a back massage!

These eels are probably 50-80 years old!  Female eels only lay eggs once between 80-100 years of age and males only fertilize eggs once between 47-80, and then they both die.  When they develop the urge to procreate, the eels leave their fresh water homes and return to the salt water of the ocean.  The guide at the museum said the eels will jump out of the tank, and they will find them on the floor sometimes in reception!  With this clue that they are ready to mate, the eels are taken outside to the water never to return.

We stop at rest stops to see the vistas such as Arthur’s Pass National Park which are gorgeous with snow on the mountain tops.  We also look for the green feathered keas, the world’s largest mountain parrot, which we are lucky to see in the parking lot.  

Hokitika with a population of 3,000, is a “real” Kiwi town, off the beaten path for most tourists, with an iconic driftwood sign on the beach spelling the town’s name.  In 1937, the Westfall Dairy Factory was a local cooperative processing farmers’ milk into a variety of products.  It was the town’s largest employer giving 500 people jobs, but the business struggled, and the Chinese bought it in 2019.  Now the locals love their new employers since the business is once again profitable and providing jobs to the economy.

Green stone, also known as pounamu, is found locally often as a byproduct of gold mining.  The Māori used it for weapons and tools since it is very hard and for trading.  Later we tour a local company which turns green stone or what we would call jade into beautiful jewelry.          

Christchurch is home to the largest Māori tribe known for being very aggressive.  They planned to invade the Māori in Hokitika so they would control possession of the pounamu, but were infiltrated by a spy who put a curse on the Christchurch warriors.  When they were crossing the river, three wacas collapsed drowning their three chiefs, and the rest of them returned home in disgrace.  Hokitika became known as “the place of no return”.

One Christchurch warrior wanted to return to get his chiefs’ “respect” back which he accomplished by cutting off their heads, returning them to Christchurch for burial.  The best part is this is a true story!

Gold was discovered in Hokitika in 1864 and the population boomed into 30,000 with 100 pubs.  It became New Zealand’s largest port, but also a dangerous one with 27 vessels sunk.  When the gold rush was over two years later, the population quickly returned to normal and has remained stable at around 3,000.

Interesting facts of Hokitika and surrounding areas….The largest gold nugget of 100 oz was found in the nearby small town of Ross.  In February or March, the Wild Food Fest takes place in Hokitika each year, offering every unusual food imaginable…chocolate covered insects, hedgehog ears, opossum parts, grubs….anything that moves and looks like food is included.  This fest has become a New Zealand institution!

New Zealanders invented a number of items including instant coffee, the jet boat, and the electric fence.  Years ago it took three months for supplies to arrive on the island so many people found another solution to their problems.

Camping is very popular in New Zealand, but it is regulated with designated campgrounds.  To be a “Freedom Camper”, you must have a special toilet signified by a government sticker on your vehicle.  With a camper and a toilet, you can camp anywhere.

We walk through the Hokitika Gorge, a lush native rainforest with palm-tree like ferns, and water rushing through the rocks below a plank suspension bridge.  Turquoise glacier fed pools of water surrounded by boulders and trees are picture perfect, and I take lots of pictures!

Later we see wekas, round brown fleet-footed birds which we thought were the elusive kiwis.  They, however, are larger, the size of a chicken, with longer bills, nocturnal, very shy, and only 500 exist in the world!  Most adult kiwis are killed by dogs; being flightless their chest muscles are very weak and can be crushed with a bump or an inquisitive animal.  Only 5% of kiwis survive from birth to adulthood.

It has been a busy couple of days, but a final visit to the Possum People store where beautiful pelts are turned into coats, pillows, hats, and other products.  Possum fur, which is extremely fine and warm, is mixed with merino wool for hats, gloves, scarves, socks, and a multitude of other luxurious items.  The owner, Carol, talks with us for over an hour about the controversy of the 1080 poison.

She believes it kills other animals needlessly along with the possums, is a slow painful inhumane death, infiltrates the water supply, and stays in the soil for years.  She is a strong opponent of the government’s policy.  

Wow!  This might be my longest post yet!  The tour company, OAT, believes in learning and discovery.  I think I’ve learned and discovered enough and need some sleep!