Te Anau NZMCA site
(unpowered)
Te Anau only has 1500 permanent residents but is always full
in Summer months with coach loads of tourists and up to 4000 residents. These international folk have travelled specifically
to undertake activities like the Kepler Track, the Milford and Doubtful Sound
tracks and the expensive helicopter flights.
In fact, one of the helicopter companies was very near to the horses-field nearby to the campsite. I wasn't sure whether this was one of the companies contracted by DoC to distribute the poison. At the time we were there, the were either delivering tourists or bales of hay to the cattle.
During our stay, one of our (Jayco) neighbours had a technical problem, and we were pleased to see a local plumber visit him (on a weekend!) to fix the problem for him. The Plumber told us his trusty apprentice always travelled with him:
Knowing in advance from the our trusty Facebook site and pro-nature friends that this is again an area suffering extensive poisoning - not just 1080, but cyanide and pindone too, it was essential to establish where we could take Dizzy safely first. So, we looked at the DoC pesticide summaries -
....which is always a challenge when freedom camping because you ideally need: wifi, power and at least 4 different webpages open at the same time (it also helps to have a Topo map handy too as there are often mistakes on the DoC documents in names of places etc.)
We discovered that all the areas immediately around Te Anau were poisoned (disturbingly, even the 'famous' glow-worm caves) and there were not many places apart from the area near to the start of DoC Kepler Track near the Dam where we could go (and fish for trout). I wouldn't eat any trout caught from this area though - too much poison and sadly - even after 60-odd years of its use, still no evidence to suggest that it is safe to eat. Perhaps luckily, we didn't catch any fish anyway (!) but we did enjoy watching the massive eels from the bank and Dizzy had a nice swim in the shallow water of the nearby stream.
The town itself is very Mediterranean in feel - with flowers and a pedestrian area, with gardens and tree-lined parking areas. Shopping opportunities too - Justin treated himself to a new cycle crash-helmet after his one was found to be rotten!
I loved what the council had done with the public library space here - to cope with the numbers of tourists wanting access to the web and charging posts - there was a little 'extension' to the building, a large porch-like area where, without disturbing those who were studying, people could come and go easily and make use of the wifi and power facilities. This was a contrast to the unhelpful policies at Twizel library that I would experience later in our trip.
In the Te Anau library, we met a Scottish guy on holiday with his sons, planning his return trip. He also needed some advice about trout-fishing near-by, so Justin gave him the low-down on the poison-free areas, the lures and techniques to try. They were (as usual) horrified when we explained about DoC's use of aerial 1080 poison throughout Fiordland and elsewhere. And that's why we try whenever possible to raise awareness of the risks. DoC can try to dismiss the harm they are causing and the lack of science, but tourists are intelligent - they can see corruption for what it is.
We met some interesting characters at the Te Anau campsite. Many in buses who were 'living' the traveller life. Many buses were old and looked ill-prepared for the potentially dangerous roads around the area. Many were towing their 'bomb-around' vehicle - and some towing more than one item...(see right).
Later we travelled to Manapouri (the 'gateway' to Fiordland due to the ferry terminal running from here) - from Te Anau and stopped at some of the rivers and look-out areas.
Poison signs were literally everywhere - at every fence post and walking track. Paranoid - Dizzy needed to be within sight at all times. During our day out and about in the ute, we stopped at Hillside Manapouri Road Bridge - a freedom camping area - we met a couple from Bath, UK - a retired cheese-maker apparently on their 'trip of a lifetime'.
They asked us why - after they'd gone to all the trouble of bringing their special binoculars and other bird-spotting equipment - they hadn't seen one native bird since leaving Christchurch and camping overnight, or even many insects (at that moment a single bumble-bee flew past as if to make a point). They were camped at the side of the river in the middle of nowhere - and they expected to see some wildlife. I explained, with a heavy-heart, what the DoC pest-control warning signs meant - and what damage they had obviously done to this area and others. We spent over an hour chatting to them (he was a keen trout fisherman too), and they promised to sign the petitions, follow us on Facebook and generally help raise awareness back home of the tragedy happening here.
On the subject of all the poisoning, it was beautiful sunny, calm weather the few days while we were at Te Anau. We met some fabulous characters. But it was strangely quiet in terms of 'life' around the lake. Virtually no dawn chorus at all even though we were situated on the very outskirts of the residential area - near the farmlands - again, lots of blackbirds and sparrows - the odd joyful-sounding invisible Skylark in the blue sky overhead. This was a similar pattern we had experienced in Franz Joseph and the surrounding areas: obviously, poisoning just isn't working. There are no Kea in Manapouri now, They were prolific a few decades ago according to artist Peter Beadle's observations in his 1971 book:
When we see the wildlife in places like Makarora that I wrote about above, which have not had poison (until now) this breaks my heart. It will be interesting to return to Makarora in a few weeks' time to see what has happened there. (But Dizzy sadly won't be running around freely like she was before). :(
In fact, one of the helicopter companies was very near to the horses-field nearby to the campsite. I wasn't sure whether this was one of the companies contracted by DoC to distribute the poison. At the time we were there, the were either delivering tourists or bales of hay to the cattle.
During our stay, one of our (Jayco) neighbours had a technical problem, and we were pleased to see a local plumber visit him (on a weekend!) to fix the problem for him. The Plumber told us his trusty apprentice always travelled with him:
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| Plumbing-dog (you know what I mean, he says with a wink)! :) |
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| Example of a 'pesticide summary' available from the DoC website. NB Unless you are very familiar with the area, you will need a topo (Ordnance Survey) map too. |
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| Sign at the Te Anau lakeside boat ramp warning of poison in and around the water (the aerial drop was 3 month ago) |
The town itself is very Mediterranean in feel - with flowers and a pedestrian area, with gardens and tree-lined parking areas. Shopping opportunities too - Justin treated himself to a new cycle crash-helmet after his one was found to be rotten!
 |
| Town centre, Te Anau |
In the Te Anau library, we met a Scottish guy on holiday with his sons, planning his return trip. He also needed some advice about trout-fishing near-by, so Justin gave him the low-down on the poison-free areas, the lures and techniques to try. They were (as usual) horrified when we explained about DoC's use of aerial 1080 poison throughout Fiordland and elsewhere. And that's why we try whenever possible to raise awareness of the risks. DoC can try to dismiss the harm they are causing and the lack of science, but tourists are intelligent - they can see corruption for what it is.
 |
| A bus, towing a jeep, towing a trailer - is this legal in NZ? probably. Safe? Mmmm |
We met some interesting characters at the Te Anau campsite. Many in buses who were 'living' the traveller life. Many buses were old and looked ill-prepared for the potentially dangerous roads around the area. Many were towing their 'bomb-around' vehicle - and some towing more than one item...(see right).
Later we travelled to Manapouri (the 'gateway' to Fiordland due to the ferry terminal running from here) - from Te Anau and stopped at some of the rivers and look-out areas.
They asked us why - after they'd gone to all the trouble of bringing their special binoculars and other bird-spotting equipment - they hadn't seen one native bird since leaving Christchurch and camping overnight, or even many insects (at that moment a single bumble-bee flew past as if to make a point). They were camped at the side of the river in the middle of nowhere - and they expected to see some wildlife. I explained, with a heavy-heart, what the DoC pest-control warning signs meant - and what damage they had obviously done to this area and others. We spent over an hour chatting to them (he was a keen trout fisherman too), and they promised to sign the petitions, follow us on Facebook and generally help raise awareness back home of the tragedy happening here.
 |
| Meeting the tourists at the Manapouri bridge site.. |
On the subject of all the poisoning, it was beautiful sunny, calm weather the few days while we were at Te Anau. We met some fabulous characters. But it was strangely quiet in terms of 'life' around the lake. Virtually no dawn chorus at all even though we were situated on the very outskirts of the residential area - near the farmlands - again, lots of blackbirds and sparrows - the odd joyful-sounding invisible Skylark in the blue sky overhead. This was a similar pattern we had experienced in Franz Joseph and the surrounding areas: obviously, poisoning just isn't working. There are no Kea in Manapouri now, They were prolific a few decades ago according to artist Peter Beadle's observations in his 1971 book:
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| Page from Beadle, P. (1971) 'Manapouri' Published by AH & AW Reed Ltd ( ISBN: 0589006738) |
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| The Lakeside at Te Anau - no sign of life here. Poison warning signs all around us. |
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