Farewell to New Zealand

The decision to leave New Zealand was a difficult one to make. In the end, after weighing everything out, we decided it was logical to travel home to Canada. The three (and a half for me) years we spent here were some of the greatest years, filled with lots of adventures and wonderful people. New Zealand itself is a natural playground, with excursions abound to satisfy most people. From a natural perspective, the wildlife were amazing and gave me a new perspective on the world. I am particularly biased in this area but the hiking, boating, snorkeling, diving, and ventures into the zoos and aquariums were a huge highlight for me. I will certainly miss the diving in high visibility, the numerous fish, the sound of birds wherever you go, and the iconic pohutukawa flower which was definitely my favourite.

Being able to complete my PhD here, working on new species and in the field of conservation in an applicable way was a rewarding experience. I hope that all my wonderful friends at the University and Revive our Gulf continue to expand upon the work I started and hopefully develop a best-practice method for the restoration of this highly important species/habitat.

And as if the wildlife was not enough, the country itself is beautiful, from the rolling green hills to the southern alps. The country is dotted with little wonders just waiting to be explored, be that the mysterious spherical Morekai boulders, the bubbling clay in areas of geothermal activity, or one of the numerous waterfalls that seem to be hiding around every corner. I will miss exploring the many back roads and trails that led to some of the most astounding sights.

Despite my distaste for large cities, I will even miss Auckland. It was our home for three years. It was here that Mary-Ellen got to work at a fantastic school with fantastic students and colleagues. It was here that our son was born. It was here that we met wonderful people who will hopefully always be part of our lives.

It was also from this city that we launched our first ventures into Australia. I was privileged to meet and learn from many of the scientists working in bivalve restoration there on several occasions. We got a taste of Australian wildlife and got to snorkel and dive the Great Barrier Reef, a definite bucket list check for me!

And of course, for myself, there is Leigh, the place I called home for seven months before Mary-Ellen's arrival. This is probably the place in New Zealand that will stick with me the most. I had so many wonderful adventures in the Marine Reserve, a lot of poker and cooking with my new friends, and a fantastic time with student and staff alike. As beautiful as the reserve is, it is equally the people that made this such a wonderful experience. You will all be missed, until the next time we meet.

We were also very fortunate to be able to host some of our family and friends in this beautiful country and share some adventures. We can not be grateful enough to have had you with us on this chapter of our life.

And of course I can not be thankful enough to have had my friend, my partner in crime, my wife with me to share these experiences with. We had a fantastic time and plenty of laughs. We met wonderful people who we will miss until we return some day to show Thomas this wondrous land he was born in. And of course, our door is always open, once we figure out where that door is. Thank you all for the memories.

The last of our New Zealand adventure

The months of August through December were filled with a lot of sitting in front of a computer finishing my thesis, playing with Thomas, marking (for Mary-Ellen), and towards the end, the dismantling of our life in New Zealand. Despite the incredibly busy schedule we still managed to get a few day trips in here and there, most often to the zoo. It was fun to watch as the animals slowly spent more time outside and were more active as Spring turned to Summer. The tortoises moved outside again, and were a big hit with Thomas who watched them lumbering around their enclosure. The Kea's seemed to become increasingly cheeky and the lemurs spent more time in the front of their enclosure.

We also got to see some of the animals better than on any previous trips, such as the tigers which wandered down in front of their enclosures. The little blue penguins came out of their hiding places to swim in the water on a warm summer day.

For Thomas and I, the large aviary was particularly fun. We could go in there and not be disturbed by too many people as we peered through the bushes looking for the many birds that inhabit the enclosure. Towards the end we even got to see the saddlebacks feeding on fruit and the kakas searching for food in the underbrush.

In December we also got to see the opening of the Australian exhibit which was filled with large lizards, some very colourful parrots, and some enormous stick insects.

The zoo was definitely our favourite part of Auckland and a place where we got to expose our son to many of this world's wonderful creatures. We will certainly miss this place.

Mary-Ellen, also finally got me to Western Springs Park where the bird life continued to provide amusement for us and Thomas. Everywhere you can see pokekos and waterfowl such as the family of geese that attempted to join us on our picnic there.

We also enjoyed Monte Cecilia Park which was just behind our house. We took a great number of walks in that park and shared some great times with a lot of little dogs. One of the things Auckland and New Zealand in general do very well is the amount of green spaces in town.

Of course in November I finally handed in my thesis for examination. This was a huge weight of my shoulders, just in time to start the packing process for our return to the great white north.

We furiously packed, sold off our accumulated belongings, shipped our keepsakes home, and eventually ended up living on an air mattress in our living room with only a few utensils to cook with. We rented a car for the last days in New Zealand and on Christmas day, we attempted to have a final Kiwi Christmas. Unfortunately, as it has been the last few years, we were foiled by bad weather keeping us off the beach. Despite that, we explored Devonport, Thomas played with the pohutukawa flowers (the christmas tree), and we got one last good look at the city we have called home for the last three years.

Fur seals and waterfalls

And so we come to the last big adventure and final leg of this journey into the south. We headed up the coast towards the Ohau seal colony. This piece of coastline was quite rugged, with only the strongest kelp managing to withstand the pounding waves.

Despite the harsh appearance, this area was hub for wildlife, clinging to the rocks and cliffs. The number of seals appeared to be far greater than the one directly in Kaikoura, with fur seals hauled on the boulders and bedrock that are characteristic of this shoreline. Again, we got the chance to see some great behaviours from these seals, aside from laying around.

There were mother seals nursing their young on the relative safety of the bedrock.

There were pups and juveniles playing in pools, interrupted only by crashing waves.

And of course, there were many laying around; some in particularly awkward positions propped up on boulders.

Another seabird, the spotted shags with their distinctive blue, grey, white, and black patterns, were busy building nests on the pitted cliffside. We even got to see some collecting algae for building nests.

A bit further up the coast, towards the tip of the colony, there is a parking lot in front of a beach area that is noticeably bare of seals compared to the rest of the colony. What was apparent here were the seal pups, coming out of the water and heading up under the road and into the forest.

This short yet fantastic hike takes you along a stream bed where the seal pups traverse inland towards a very special place. The pups largely ignore you which was great because it allowed me to give Thomas a very close view of the pups.

The stream trickles down through pools to the ocean, but the goal of these pups is to follow the stream up towards a large pool at the base of a waterfall. Here at the base of the waterfall, the pups play in safety, diving around and making it very difficult for anyone to take pictures of them with the waterfall in such low light.

We all had so much fun and Thomas really took to the baby seals, so much so that on the day we traveled back to Christchurch, we detoured north for another visit. Then we headed south to Christchurch, passing through this place we had come to love so much. It is definitely somewhere we will be taking Thomas back too when he is older. And with that our Kaikoura adventure was over and we flew out the next day for Auckland again.