Waitaki Whitestone Geopark

I recently took a short holiday in Oamaru, a small city on the East Coast of the South Island. It is the seat of the Waitaki District council as well as the center of the only UNESCO Geopark in the country. 

Little Shag drying its plumage after a dive. I just love the texture and hue!

Fantail. Still chasing the perfect shot.

Geological feature at Elephant Rocks

Elephant Rocks. Once on the floor of the sea, now 220m above sea level. Erosion has left us with this peculiar pattern.

Omarama Clay Cliffs. One of the major tourist traps, I mean Attractions, of the region.  Interesting enough of a feature, but way overcrowded with smelly and strongly perfumed tourists. 

St. Martins Church, Duntroon.

St. Patrick's Basilica. One of the more prominent buildings in Oamaru

Built from local limestone, also known as Oamaru stone. Quarried locally it became a popular choice of building material in the 1860s and the economic of the local gold rush spawned many great buildings all around New Zealand, but mostly in the Otago.

House of Breakthrough Church

Showing the steep roads mandated by the hilly landscape.

St. Luke's Anglican Church. Would have been a great shot, had the black car not parked in front of it...

Criterion Hotel

Oamaru Town Hall

St Paul's Presbyterian Church. I think that's all branches of Christianity covered...

AMP building

  

Summer

Another summer has finally passed. Blazing sun, unbearable heat and little else. 

Araucana Chicken. With little else to take pictures of in the summer I tried my hand at some portraits of the local livestock.

One small bit of news I do have, after all: I am now a resident of New Zealand. This means I now have free choice of employer and place to live as well as unlimited access to educational and medical facilities. All things I didn't have for almost 10 years. I'm curious to see what comes of all this newfound freedom... 
There is, however, a slight proviso on the "unlimited" access to medical facilities: As it turns out any medical professional of any description seems to be booked out for years to come and the majority refuse point blank to admit new patients. And the emergency department at the hospital was completely overrun when I stopped by the hospital for some immigration related paperwork... I did hear about a nurses strike some time back, but little did I know just in how deep of a crisis the medical system is in New Zealand... 

 

Wairau Estuary

 I recently took one of our canoes down the Opawa River and around the Wairau estuary. I did fill up my memory card, but shooting with a tele lens from a canoe does come with challenges! Below are the few pictures that didn't land in the trash:

Pied Shag

The sheer amount of birds there suggest a very nutrient rich ecosystem.

Royal Spoonbill in flight

Spoonbills always fly with their head extended.

While the low tide was anything but ideal for the canoe, it gave me the opportunity to observe the countless crustaceans inhabiting the exposed mudflats. 

These tidal mudflats are the home of the Tunnelling Mud Crab. They are endemic to the many estuaries and lagoons of New Zealand.

They're known to be very active and dig complex tunnels in the mud. At low tide they come to the surface to clean their tunnels of debris and to scavenge for food. Their excellent eyesight protects them from predators, such as kingfishers.

Though generally quite small, larger individuals can reach up to 40mm across the carapace.

The bright patches of yellow and red appear during breeding season along with an illustrious plume of feathers on the back of their head which this one lacks.

The plume is here clearly visible

A native Kelp gull. New Zealand's largest gull with a length of 60cm, a wingspan of 135cm and a weight of 1000g

A Red-billed Gull. Endemic to New Zealand.