Views from The Queen Charlotte Walk

A short and twisty road trip west from Picton, NZ brings you to the beginning of the Queen Charlotte Walk. It's not too strenuous and well worth the effort as it the early part looks down on the Marlborough Sounds. Here are a couple of shots of what I mean.

Butterfly Wars

Keeping butterflies alive is difficult. Wasps are a problem but the real issue where we live is the praying mantis. I have heard the local variety has bread with an aggressive arrival from South Africa and have become not only prolific in number but also voracious. We use netted containers as seen below, where they then latch.

Below is a new butterfly that has had it's body consumed and some wings and only a small part of the body is left. We have seen a praying mantis actually eating large caterpilars and even butterflies before they fly off. We didn't take a photograph of that (too gruesome) but highlights the problem with insects out of control.

We would have these predators flying on to our property every day looking for food. I have seen houses nearby with several praying mantis' on the walls of the house. It was almost in plague proportions. Despite that, 80 new butterflies took to the air from our home.

The Crafty Seal

This seal was trying and trying to get on to a boat moored by a floating salmon farm. After several attempts, it made it. See the sequence below, captured by yours truly.

Yet another attempt

Just about there!

If I just wriggle a little bit more

Finally on deck

I need to find a suitable spot to sunbathe

Ah, I think I've found it 

Now for a snooze