Nachtrag von der Südinsel: fur seal washing

since NZ fur seals stink like hell, they obviously need to be washed from time to time.
So how does one achieve that?
Easy! Nature built fur seal washing mashines like this one:

http://youtu.be/6JtpZ7TSI6k

first impressions of rotorua

... in the middle of geothermal steam ...

also geothermal steam ... smells very well ;)

milky water - lake rotorua sulfur bay
- probably because of sulfur

lake rotorua - sulfur bay

H: and how the hell is one supposed to eat this???

H: our hostel ... ... ... naaahhhh. Would be nice though!! ;)

on the way to rotorua

H: what the ...?!

today we passed through NZs most modern  tunnel

the sea ... no ... lake taupo 

New Plymouth

a beach near surfers highway

... the hostel was really a little bit like this!

our car ... ... ... no not really
:(

what a nice university-building ... ;)

and finally the volcano ... 

eating habbits have changed dramatically ... cornetto for breakie ...

Animal voices

Since nothing much revolutionary happened today except that we didn't find the volcano we were searching for - yesyes, I know, its big; it was hidden in the clouds - here goes another installment of our famous animal voices riddle:

what animal makes this sound?

http://youtu.be/1JEWmkGKiEY

Kaka style

http://youtu.be/NKbI1hfZEEw

Tui song

and here we have a Tui singing - sounds like he is trying to synchronize an old Charlie Chaplin film ;)

http://youtu.be/jayxB6kM2cs

(may be online after 23:30 NZ time, which is ... uuuuuhhh.... no idea what time that is in Austria, I'm totally confused by now ;)

leaving wellington, going to new plymouth

tomorrow we are leaving wellington and heading to new plymouth to see a volcano - Mount Taranaki. afterwards we go to rotorua/bay of plenty - the thermal area in NZ. so our volcano tour in NZ begins ... :)

Wellington & Plimmerton

Wellington is really a nice town ... beautiful houses mostly made of wood, nice wharf/harbour used for various leisure activities, small and lovely centre, ... :))) but it is really a big city with all the suburbs!

view from our room in plimmerton

our hostel in plimmerton (near wellington) - really lovely

wellington city

wellington wharf

wellington wharf

our FIRST butterfly in NZ - yellow admiral (Vanessa itea)

Wellington Wharf

Wellington Wharf - really strange .... 20 degrees and they freeze water to go iceskating ...

Wellington City and still no member of the Conchords ;)

beautiful houses in wellington town

plimmerton: bay in the evening

wellington wharf

wellington wharf

Zealandia and Matiu/Somes island

The tuatara - as the ranger put it, their life plan is basically to do as little as possible. So they don't move very much for example, which makes it possible to mark their position! And they get very old - i've heard stories of about 100 years and more...

The Kaka - the closest relative to the Kea, only half as big and living in the woody lowlands, while the Kaka mostly lives in the mountains.

A Tui - one of the most eloquent birds I have ever heard before; some films where you can hear him sing will follow.

A cave Weta - in a cave. Where else.

Readers of this blog know this animal already: the glowworm. It sits in its slimy coccon on the ceiling of the cave, and waits for prey that sticks to its sticky capturing lines while it glows in the dark, trying to attract the prey. Eery animal.

Tree Wetas. Some NZs say they are fearsome, because they may bite. I found them quite tame.

Kaka - brownish/red in color; the underside of the wings is red, similar to the Keas.

Kaka in flight
C: one of my best pics

Langbeinschnäpper - sehr zutraulich
C: so cute :)

as one can see here
:)))

"fearsome" tree Wetas again in their weta hotel

C: Matiu/Somes is a pestfree island - but, as everywhere there are still sheep! For example this "working" sheep, as the ranger called it.

And finally.... the GIANT WETA!!!!! Also named Cook Strait Weta.

It could never do any harm to anyone...

...despite of its size. A very dozile weta, and therefore almost extinct.

Fearsome fight #3: Tui against Kaka (the Tui won in the end)