Robert van Ham
Study: MSc Molecular Life Sciences.
Destination: Christchurch, New Zealand.
Internship.
Hi all,
The next half year I go to New Zealand for my internship. At this page I will keep you updated about everything I experience. You can also find pictures of me (@robertvanham) and the other WURldexplorers on Instagram, search for #WURldexplorers.
The biggest trip I ever made
So it begins. The biggest trip I have made, and possibly will make, in my life. Wednesday the third of september I flew to the complete other side of the WURld, New Zealand. Together with my new backpack (Thank you WUR!), a new suitcase and hand luggage filled with approximately 40 kg of luggage I came to Schiphol.
Fishing
After my supervisor took me to my temporary home, I met his family. Although I was glad to have arrived at my destination I was tired from the trip, so it did not took long before I retreated.
Christchurch
After starting my internship at AgResearch one of the first things I wanted to see was the city. AgResearch is a large government owned research company. The company has four branches, the one I am located is near Christchurch in Lincoln.
Tailing
After a tour to the centre of Christchurch, my next adventure was on a sheepfarm. New Zealand is well known for its sheep, for a long time it has been the number one agricultural industry, which is overtaken by dairy not too long ago. New zealand had 10 sheep for every people in the country! So when a colleague of mine suggested that I should take a day off to help at her son's farm, I thought, 'Why not?'
Rob Roy Glacier Track
Then something really fun! I must say that I am not quite the most active person, but in New Zealand you can not say you visited the country unless you have done some serious walking. The great tracks are quite famous walking tracks throughout the country, but tracking for multiple days is not really my cup of tea.
Soil sampling
Then back to some work. Since AgResearch does a lot of research it also has quite some farms where it tests new strains of plants, bacteria and all kinds of other research. A phd student working in the same office I am in had quite some sampling to do and since I had to practice that sampling anyway I was asking to come along.
Kaikoura
Then after the lessons in soil sampling it is on to serious business! During the first period of my internship I was taught certain laboratory skills (mostly just using a kit on the laboratory and getting myself introduced to the safety procedures on the three different laboratories I would be working on!). Then my assignment brought a nice gift with it, although I was expecting some sightseeing because of the samples I would be taking, I would have never expected to have a work supplied tour of the entire country!
Franz Josef Glacier
During the second sampling trip, not long after the first, I was travelling the west coast of the south island. The trip itself was already beautiful, the west coast is definitely something most people travel and I could see why!
Hobbiton
One of the most known export products of the last decade is the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings. Aside from the three movies made from Tolkien's TLOTR trilogy, sir Peter also made a trilogy from the small children's book the hobbit. Although it is debatable whether or not it is bad, because I am such a big fan I could not care less!
Canyoning
Christchurch is located on the south island, so it takes a short flight to get to see the north island. The thirds sampling trip was on the north island and I took the weekend before the sampling trip to discover Auckland. The first day I of this weekend I went to see a national park west of Auckland. In this national park are two canyons, which are big (and safe!) enough to be ventured through.
Sharks!
The second day of that weekend I did a trip without the harness, but with the wetsuit. Even though I was planning to do some diving in some nice spots in NZ, this Shark Dive Experience was guaranteed to get me some shark exposure. From when I was very little I was amazed with sharks and I have quite the collection of shark merchandise in a glass cabinet at my parents place. So this trip was definitely something I was looking forward to!
Scientifically defined sampling spot
'Yes, yes, definitely the right spot. You see that hill over there? Yeah that will probably give us some great bacteria to work with.' The spots I sampled were predefined, but not so precisely that you couldn't 'play with them' a little. In order to get really dry and really wet samples I looked up good area's using weather data and combined them with previously sampled areas (pastures used in previous research) to combine data and enrich both research.
Airplane pH improvement
Something that I did not know and definitely did not expect is this! What you see in this picture is a plane being loaded with limestone. Why? Well limestone is mined and used on pastures to get the pH of the soil a bit higher, which is important for the growth of the plants. As a Dutchman I am used to pastures which are mostly nice square areas in our nice flat land. New Zealand does have some hilly areas, so a farmer might have quite some trouble properly applying processes to the soil.
Mount Taranaki
The lonely mountain on the north island. Although it is very suitable, it was not used as the lonely mountain in filming of the hobbit.
WETA Caves
During my weekend trip in wellington I visited the viewpoint on mount Victoria. Enjoyed quite some time in 'Te Papa', the national museum. Te Papa is maori, which loosely translates to our heritage, very fitting for a museum. Even though the country is very young, there is still quite a lot to tell about the history of New Zealand. Especially the Maori history and culture is very interesting and the big difference with other tribes around the world is that these people were not completely gunned down by the every expanding European countries a century ago.
White Island
Now here was something quite amazing. If you look at the tectonic plates you can see that New Zealand is on the line between the pacific plate and the Australian plate. As you all know this creates tension and results in earthquakes. What I did not know is the giant line of volcanos beneath New Zealand. The biggest lake in the country, lake Taupo, was the result of a big eruption tens of thousands of years ago. That sounds like a long time, but on the earth’s timescale it is one of the most recent big eruptions on the planet!
The Legendary Black Water River Rafting Co
Down in a little place called Waitomo, which is Maori for 'water' and 'hole', the Legendary Black Water River Rafting Co is found. The reason why Waitomo is such a touristic place is the caves located in this area. The caves are wet, which means they have some water running through them. This makes them the perfect place for quite a remarkable animal to live, the 'glow worm'.
The dunes of the north
Something that reminded me of home. Just near the town of Drunen you have the Dunes of Drunen, which seem to come out of nowhere! Same for these dunes, while I was travelling north towards Cape Reinga (the most northern part of New Zealand), these dunes just show up! You could rent a board and actually glide down the dunes, which was some kind of surfing, but then you did not get wet if you fell, you would just get your mouth filled with sand.
Mount Doom
In order to show that I am making good use of my precious backpack, I took it with my on my heaviest walk so far, the Tongariro Alpine crossing. The walk should take about 7 hours, so the entire day will be filled with getting myself up on those rocks to view the scenery.
Scuba diving!
Finally I found time to enjoy my most precious and sadly expensive hobby, scuba diving! Although I was already planning it I was still happy I ending up actually going on some trips, since the diving days seemed to slip out of reach before.
Kiwi!
At long last, a real live kiwi! I did cheat however, finding a wild kiwi is a thing that does not happen often. Even though you can actually go on night guided trips, I was happy enough to go and have a look at Kiwi North. Kiwi north is a heritage site, with an old colonial building, a first world war history museum. An exposition about the extinct moa, but also some live animals. The old cousin of the dinosaurs, the tuatara was present. Sadly it would only hide behind a rock so I did not get a good picture. The tuatara looks really cool though, kind of reminds me of a komodo dragon, only these little creatures are 25 cm big or something.
Shark Cage Diving!
Yes, this is a picture taken by my own hand! Ever since I was a small boy, sharks have fascinated me. One of my oldest bucket list items was cage diving with white sharks, of which you see the best result now.
BYO Goodbye Dinner
At last, my adventure comes to an end. I have had a wonderful time exploring this wonderful country. I have seen and done so many things, I can't even guess how much time it will take to tell everyone, let alone show all the pictures I've made!