Puriri moths and wetas and glowworms, oh my!

Those of you that know me know that I love me some insects, and I've seen some great ones so far during my time in New Zealand.

This past week we stayed in an area on the Coromandel Peninsula called Opoutere to study the nearby estuarine ecosystem. I saw all kinds of plant and animal species I'd never encountered, including three insects I've been on the hunt for. One night 3 puriri moths visited our hostel. Puriri moths are NZ's largest moth, and they are endemic to the North Island. The beautiful green moths live in holes they bore in the sides of trees--usually the puriri tree, but sometimes others, such as marble leafs. They are preyed on by an owl called the morepork, which earned its name from it's call, which sounds exactly like it's saying "more pork!" Once puriri moths leave their trees, the holes are taken over by another fascinating insect: the weta. 

The puriri moth clinging to our screen door:

Weta are seriously the coolest thing ever. Picture a cricket, but huge. I mean HUGE. There are five different types of weta: tree weta, ground weta, giant weta, cave weta, and tusked weta. All of them exhibit traits characteristic of endemic NZ species: they are nocturnal and they are giant. Some species of weta are in danger; the giant weta went extinct on the mainland about 100 years ago, and is currently being rehabilitated. Tree weta are still quite common in NZ bush, especially in this area of the North Island, and since we saw some puriri moths, I thought I might be able to find a weta. So two friends and I got our headlamps and went for a late night bushwalk. We managed to find one weta emerging tail end first from an old moth hole. We could only see it's back half, because it stopped coming out of the hole when we shined a light on it, but I could already tell how huge it was! That weekend in Waitomo I had the opportunity to see cave weta during a tour and also while exploring some small caverns off of a short trail. Cave weta have bodies that are shorter in length than giant weta but with extremely long antennae and legs, which can be up to four times their body length. It was such a great surprise to look up at the ceiling of a small cavern I was crawling through and see about 20 cave weta peering down at me (for more information on the weta, check out this site: http://terranature.org/weta.htm).

The reason we toured the Waitomo caves was to see another creepy crawly creature: the glowworm. Waitomo caves are famous for the worms that stick to their highest ceilings, which are the larvae of the fungus gnat. A chemical reaction in their excretory systems produces bioluminescent poo, which appears like a little bluish green dot. The light attracts insects towards the worm, which suspends a silky, mucus-coated strand from its abdomen to trap the insects. They only eat about 5 insects during their entire lives. They live for about 13 months as larvae, but only 3 days as adult flies. The adults do not have mouths to feed with and spend the entire time reproducing and buzzing around the cave. On our journey to see these spectacular creatures, we climbed, swam, and tubed through the freezing cave waters. It was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, and it was well worth braving the freezing water to see the ceiling of a cave illuminated by worms, like stars in a pitch-black sky.

Me tubing underneath the glowworms in Waitomo!:

Land of the Long White Cloud

When early Polynesian settlers arrived on the shores of New Zealand they named the mini continent Aotearoa--meaning Land of the Long White Cloud. NZ is still commonly known as Aotearoa, and now I understand why.

Yesterday 9 of us loaded up our backpacks and headed over to the Pinnacles, an area about an hour and a half away from EcoQuest. I couldn't really tell you how many miles away it is because Kiwis tend not to measure distances in miles or km, but hours. So, fittingly, a sign at the trail head told us that our campsite was 3 hours away. The trek started out rather flat but soon became a steep ascent. My friend Lee compared it to the never ending staircase in Mario 64. I've never played that game, but the name of the staircase is fitting. Of course we were rewarded with spectacular views every time we came across a clearing in the trees. Oh, the trees! After learning a lot about NZ trees in class, I could identify a few. There were many palms and ferns, lending the forest a very tropical feel. We came across an extremely large tree trunk that was hollow inside and knocked sideways, which of course I climbed through.

Every so often we came across rope bridges extending across a river. These were really fun and could get quite swingy and bouncy if you wanted them to. The water is so clear you can see every pebble underneath it. If only it were warmer I would've pulled on my togs (kiwi for swimsuit) and hopped right in! At one point some of us climbed along some stones through the river, which reminded me of the river in front of the elf city Rivendell in Lord of the Rings--which was probably filmed somewhere quite similar.

We made it to the Pinnacles hut, a large, comfortable looking hut where 80 people can sleep and there is a dining room, bathrooms, sinks, and showers. Obviously we're much hardier than that and walked right past it to our campsite. After setting up camp we completed the ascent to the tippy top of the mountain. Short stairs stretching up and up for ever, talk about a stairmaster! My hamstrings are definitely feeling it today. After the stairs there was a tricky bit involving some ladders and scrambling over rocks. There is something so exhilarating and terrifying about being so high up that the slightest slip of the foot could send you hurtling thousands of feet into trees. This is living!

The view was easily worth the risk. It seemed we were the highest point in the area. The Pacific extended to our east, endless and azure, dotted with tiny islands. On all other sides of the peak we were surrounded by green mountains, with sheep pastures visible beyond. The sun was beginning to set in the west, and we each found a nook in the face of the huge rock and watched. As we climbed down we looked back over the ocean and saw at eye-level an enormous, single flat white cloud extending across the whole eastern horizon--the long white cloud.

9/1/11

I’ve only been in New Zealand for a bit over 24 hours, and already feel like so much has happened. After arriving at the Los Angeles airport, I found the other EcoQuest students by keeping my eyes peeled for college kids in hiking boots. We played some Set (the card game) and got to know each other while waiting for our flight. Due to hurricane Irene, about half of the students can’t make it until Friday, so it was just 11 of us. Then we set off on the thirteen-hour journey to NZ. Surprisingly, the flight wasn’t as terrible as I expected. The food was actually really good (at least for airplane food) and there were myriad movies available on-demand. I watched a really disturbing Australian film called Snowtown, which is about Australia’s most well-known serial killer, John Bunting . I don’t recommend it if you’re looking for a feel-good film, but it did keep me glued to the screen and distracted for a good two hours.

Finally we arrived in NZ! I could already spot an absurd number a sheep from the plane window. After deliriously stumbling through customs, we met up with two members from the EcoQuest staff, loaded into vans, and took off for campus. Whakatewai (pronounced fuh-caw-tee-why), where campus is located, is about 1.5-2 hours southeast of Auckland. We took in the scenery on the drive: the rolling, hilly pastureland dotted with sheep after sheep, the jungle-like foliage that conjures up images of Jurassic Park, the water stretching out to reach for the foot of the mountains. If I could relate it to anything in the States, it’s like some weird combination between Vermont, northern California, and Hawaii.

When we got to campus, the whole staff was gathered to sing us a song (a common greeting in NZ), and we had to sing a song in return. We had a great lunch of sandwiches and salads and took a tour around campus. My favorite thing about EcoQuest is that it’s located on the beach. I mean literally on the beach.  Pictures coming soon, don’t worry. I’m living in cabin number 7 with Cara and Katy. Last night was pretty relaxed. All 11 of us huddled in Granny’s—our little hangout room with a TV—and watched Jurassic Park. It’s quite chilly at night, so we all put on many many layers and sleeping bags. I’m wearing a lot of sweatpants and Chacos with socks, so basically looking super sexy 24/7.

Today we got up, had breakfast, did some more orientation stuff, and then went tramping—which is the NZ word for hiking. We learned about some common NZ tree species, which are BEAUTIFUL and prehistoric looking. My favorite is the silver fern, or Ponga trees. The underside of the leaves are actually silver! Later in the afternoon we took at swim test at a pool in nearby Thames, and then went to the grocery store. Obviously, we stocked up on alcohol, since we’re all legal here. We looked a little ridiculous walking out of the store—I alone had 2 bottles of red, NZ wine and a bunch of hard pear cider. Don’t worry, parentals, I won’t go too crazy, we’re not allowed to drink on weeknights.

Tonight for dessert we had a NZ delicacy called Hokey Pokey ice cream, which is vanilla ice cream with bits of honey-comb in it. Delicious! I’m really digging the food here thus far. 

Check out pictures!

 The beach view from EcoQuest

 My backyard! ioawjeiorjawierjaioewtjaeiojtlaijksk,sjkjklsljkgjgjlsd

Marie showing off some silver fern/Ponga

On the eve of adventure...

It's finally arrived, the day that I leave for my New Zealand study abroad program. It's weird, it didn't quite hit me until today that I will be leaving the country for 17 weeks. I'm super excited, and super nervous, and overall just feeling wholly unprepared. I've read travel guides, bought all of my gear, gone over checklists time and time again, but somehow I still feel like I don't know what to expect.

I'm traveling to NZ to study for a semester with Ecoquest NZ, an ecology program through the University of New Hampshire (check out their website here). For 11 weeks I will be studying ecology, resource management, and environmental policy with 20 other students from across the US. The last 4 weeks of the program consist of directed research projects with Ecoquest professors. After the program ends, I've elected to stay another two weeks to do...whatever I feel like doing, I guess. Take a trip to Australia? Fiji? Kick it in NZ for awhile? Only time will tell. We're based in a field centre on the North Island in Whakatiwai, near the small town of Kaiaua, which is near the city of Auckland. I can't pronounce most of the names of the places I'll be going to, so we'll see how that goes.

The journey there is going to be a long one, with a 13 hour flight from LA to NZ. I leave today at 3pm for Los Angeles (with a connection in Dallas) to meet up with the group, and then we'll all fly to NZ together. NZ is about a day minus seven hours ahead of us. So while it's 10am here in Des Moines, Iowa, it's 3am tomorrow over in NZ. O HAI JETLAG. Whatever, I'm armed with my trusty copy of The Hobbit (the novel from which this blog steals its name), so I'm probably good, right?

I should probs go finish packing (i.e. stuffing everything inside of my ginormous backpack) but I will update the blog once I get there. I will try really really hard to stay on top of this and actually write things, post pictures, etc., but I'm pretty bad at actually keeping up with these things, so bear with me. See you later, the United States!