Farewell Spit Eco Tours Blog

The 30th and 31st of August are the dates for the second annual "A Gnome away from home " weekend.

Have a look here to see what they got up to last year.

Sometimes when things go just right you see something special.

This was one of those times.

Looking back at the Farewell Spit Lighthouse from near the Gannet Colony just as a rain shower passed over.

Have a look at our photo gallery to enlarge this image.

The Belladonna Lillies or "Naked Ladies" planted by the Lighthouse keepers in days gone by flower every year about this time.

These ones are along the path at the foot of the lighthouse.

The concrete in the path is made of sand cement and shells, the shells were used instead of stones as there was  no gravel nearby.

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.