Attack of the variable oystercatcher

Happy New Year from an unexpectedly sunny New Zealand. After being washed out of the Glacial West Coast by a large portion of the several meters of annual rainfall, we went north to Gentle Annie's point. Here we shared in the local hippie lifestyle and managed not to harm any fish in their estuary. However, we did get some very nice green mussels from the bay though whilst visting the blowholes at Pancake Rock. We chilled out, walked down the beach and watched the sunset over the Tasman Sea.

A quick ride over to the Able Tasman National Park and the next few days have been so hot I was cruelly tricked into snorkelling in the sea. Despite the local scenery being lush rainforested islands and green seas - looking much like Koh Kanta in Thailand - the sea currents between the two NZ islands are viciously cold, and I was frozen after just half an hour snorkelling around the musselly rocks. So drained in fact that I wandered into a nesting ground of orange beaked variable oystercatchers and now I understand that variable refers to their tempers, not their plumage.

A less cold and dangerous way to see the coast of Able Tasman is by Sea Kayak. Lou and I went on a guided trip across to fisherman's island and back along the rocky coast, which is covered with manuka and titrees. It has been so hot that we had to get indoors after the trip to miss the peak of the afternoon sun. After this we went down to see split apple rock, and watch some unattended dogs get in a pickle with the local mob of oystercatchers.

Shortly we will leave the south on a ferry over to Wellington in the North Island. Thankfully even the area around the ferry terminal is a beautiful national park with long coasts and remote campsites. Yesterday we camped in the Marlborough sounds and watched the sun go down whilst fishing in the bay.