on the way to golden bay and farewell spit

2 rivers mixing - one carrying mud, the other seems to carry organic acids or iron

Muddy river in the mountains between punakaiki and the north side of the island

dead trees can be seen all around the island for reasons beyound us

golden bay/farewell spit; arrived late at sunset; the perfect place to say farewell to the south island ;)

Farewell spit at the Golden Bay; the location of many whale strandings. One can get an idea why.

Golden Bay seen from farewell spit (inside beach): never saw a part of the ocean THAT calm and flat

hedgehogs are another very problematic neozoon here; strangely enough they were introduced back then by the so called acclimatisation societies so that the poor settlers could feel more at home. We found many at the farewell spit and reported to the Department of conservation; no idea what they will make out of that information; I guess they know already.

Marlborough sounds

Queen Charlotte Sound

Queen Charlotte Sound; the interislander ferry that will carry us over to the North island is just coming in

Somewhere near Picton: sort of an animal prison. Look at the fence! This peninsula is sealed off since 2008 and they are starting to eradicate foreign weeds and neozoa like rats, possums, etc. Once this slow process is complete they want to start settling the peninsula with native birds (including Kiwis). Nice to have at least a little native NZ back again; however the backcountry is completely in the hands of the farmers abd the logging industry, so this seems to always remain a very patchy thing.