We took a small boat (10 passengers) on Lake Wanaka to Mou Waho Island for a nature walk. Our skipper/guide, Chris, was enthusiastic and knowledgeable, our best guided excursion so far. Mou Waho is a predator free nature preserve managed by the Department of Conservation, a fitting designation for an island whose name is maori for “hard to get to”. There is a flightless bird called the buff weta which had been extinct on the New Zealand mainland since the 1920s. Many years ago the Maori took a dozen buff weta to an island far out to sea from Christchurch, hoping to save the tasty species. Populations were subsequently twice introduced to islands near Wanaka, but each time a stoat swam to the island and wiped out the population.
A note about stoats: Europeans brought rabbits to New Zealand, which proliferated to the extent that sheep grazing lands were decimated. The solution: bring in ferrets and stoats in the 1880s to kill the rabbits. Unfortunately, they also kill birds, especially the flightless birds which are easy prey. We’ve seen stoat and ferret traps everywhere we’ve hiked here. We’ve also seen a couple signs asking people to report any wallabys they see. At first we thought it was a joke, but apparently they’ve also been introduced to the South Island and they, too, need to be eradicated.
In 2004, thirty buff weta were introduced to Mou Waho, and they’ve since multiplied 10-fold. We were hoping to see one of the fearless and curious chicken-sized birds today.
We climbed 650 feet, with several stops to take in the changing views and learn about fauna and flora on the island.
Above the lake on Mau Waho, glacial striations cut into the bedrock by gravel or stones carried in the ice. The island was covered by a vast glacier until 15,000-20,000 years ago.
The tour company, Eco Wakana, plants a native tree on the island every time they visit. Chris said the small lancewood tree we planted today was over 9,500 for him. (Fun fact: Gandolf’s staff was made of lancewood.) It’s a clever tree, which evolved over millennia to protect itself from the now-extinct moa. The leaves on the lower three meters (as high as the moa could reach) are serrated like long hacksaws. Once the tree gets taller, it branches into more tender leaves and flowers.
At the top - an island in a lake on an island (Mao Waho) in a lake (Lake Wanaka) on an island (South Island, NZ) in an ocean. We saw falcons soaring and diving from here.
The critter on the top is a mountain stone wētā (not to be confused with the buff weta). They are cryogenic, and survive in a frozen state for about 5 months of the year. The water in the cells freezes extracellularly; they can be frozen in a block of ice and gradually become active again as the ice thaws. They are of great scientific interest; NASA has been studying them. The lovely thing below is an unhappy New Zealand gecko, which kept biting Chris. Better him than me.
On the way down, Greg detoured with our guide to pick up a geocache, and I tagged along hoping to see a buff weta. And sure enough, Sally (who’s raised 29 chicks!) came over to check us out.
We were treated to three more buff wetas at the gathering spot near the boat dock.
I was a happy camper; just sat on the grass and watched. They are as fearless as penguins.
We drove through the lakefront town to see the most photographed tree in New Zealand, “that Wakana tree”. It improbably sprouted from a makeshift fence post, and now seems to thrive in the lake.
No comments:
Post a Comment