Farewell Spit Eco Tours Blog

A group of six Wrybill posed for their photograph about halfway along the ocean beach on Farewell Spit.

The wrybill are only seen from the bus a handful of times in a season. those who came out on a rather bleak day were rewarded with a rare sighting.

Compare the size with that of the oystercatcher in the right of the picture.

The native sand binding plants near the lighthouse on Farewell Spit are flourishing now.

The photo above is of female spinifex plants near the lighthouse at the end of Farewell Spit. The spiny heads break off and the wind spreads the seed. The male plant below has much smaller flowers.

Just before sunset the light is just right for photos of the sand and taking in the view of the intertidal plain on the inner beach of Farewell Spit..

The Gypsy is the lastest in a long line of 4×4 buses to be used on the Spit.

She is a 28 seat MJR model Bedford that has been extensively modified for driving on the beach.

She made her first trip to the Lighthouse with a group of youngsters (Rangitahi) from the region who were staying at the local Marae connecting with their roots.

A few days ago we were visited by a chap from Scotland called Simon Varwell (Mullet man) who is travelling the world in his spare time going to places with the word mullet in the name.

When he came with us to Mullet Channel on the Spit he had a couple of people from TV NZ with him who were filming some of his exploits.

TV NZ featured the story on Close Up on 30 January. Click here to view video. New browser window will open.

To see what Simon has been up to go to his website and have a look at his blog.

Hope you dont mind us "borrowing" your photo from your website Simon

This Sperm whale, an older male stranded near the beginning of the Spit after swimming around in Golden Bay for a day or two.

His jaw was removed by local iwi and his body has been donated to science. He was towed away to be sunk and his remains monitored by scientists as they decompose.

The annual Swan count has just been done and there are about 9900 of them on the intertidal plain of the Spit. The Black Swan originally came from Australia, probably blown over in storms. Then in the 1860s  more  were introduced as game birds. They thrive on the Spit as there seems to be an unending supply of zostera (Eelgrass) for them to eat. Last year there were about 6000 Swan and there have been up to 14000 in the past.

Twenty one Pilot whales are now swimming safely away from Farewell Spit thanks to the effort of local Department of Conservation staff and volunteers. Some of the original number were stranded and could not be helped. However the use of a small boat to shepherd the whales out to sea as the tide fell was very effective. A small army of helpers was on hand to assist but the majority were not needed. This was the third whale stranding on the spit in just a few weeks. Three beaked whales on the ocean beach a Sperm whale in Puponga and now the pilot whales. The Farewell Spit whale trap is very effective this year.

Murray’s last trip for the year provided him the opportunity to see the Curlew again, last time out about 3 days ago he saw four of them. The Far Eastern Curlew are the largest of the migratory waders to visit the Spit and we do not see them often. They are similar in size to a White Faced Heron and almost the same colour as a Godwit.

 As the Moon rose last night Collingwood residents were given a rare treat as a pod of more than fifty Dolphins cruised past the beachfront only a few hundred metres from the shore, they were big ones and there was some speculation as to whether or not they were Pilot Whales but a wee boat went out amongst them and the occupants confirmed that they were Dolphins, steaming along at high speed rounding up fish like it was going out of fashion. Dolphins are common in Golden Bay but don’t often come that close to shore near here.