Sunday 20th March 2011
Greetings from a slightly larger Island this time. The South Island of New Zealand.
I have been in New Zealand for just over a week now and am loving it. Tab and Si, the tremendous two, picked me up from the airport and took me back to where they were staying and fed and watered me so that I didn't have to worry about a thing.
They were actually housesitting for the Drapernator and I have to say, it was a bit of a surreal experience to get out the shower and see a photo on the wall of my old lecturer and his kids in a bath! Felt a couple of aftershocks that night, but nothing to write home about.
The following day, after coffee (flat white) and an extortionately priced slab of muchos-tasty carrot cake (though I did get a free re-usable pot to carry the rest home) at raspberry café with the duo, I met up with Maz at Christchurch airport as she had to escape Oz due to visa expiry. We spent the night at an overpriced 'top 10' campsite and tried to plan the next few days before my placement.
To cut a long story short, plans went to pot and so Maz headed toward Mt Cook, and I was rescued by the amazing Tab and Si where they whisked me back to their pad in Sumner and then to a friend's BBQ, where I was again fed and watered and spent the evening in super-good company.
So the next day it was time to head to Akaroa and so AGAIN Tab and Si went out of their way to drop me off at the bus stop. I'm not sure how I will repay them, but I'll try!
Akaroa is a wee town that has a bit of a French flavour about it. The house I am staying in is at the top of Percy street on the hill and overlooks the beautiful harbour.
So the reason I am here is to study the effects of tourism on the New Zealand fur seals. Crazy Jen from Texas is doing her PHD and needed field assistants and so myself and Sandra (from France) are here to assist in the field.
Days generally involve boat based or land based observations. We go out on the tourist boats that primarily go to look at the hectors dolphins, which are the world's smallest and rarest dolphins, though pretty abundant in Akaroa harbour.
Along the way we visit a couple of seal colonies and so when we get there we record the behaviour of the seals and what gender they are and if there are pups. The pups are pretty darn cute, but still have some work to do if they are going to be as adorable as the IOM's grey seals!
This week we have gone into the field on one day, it was at Damons bay which is past the harbour mouth and is a fair old drive up through the rolling hills/mountains and a wee hike down the hill to get to our watch site. 