Birding On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002
Emmalee Tarry

North Island

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Lake Taupo for Blue Duck

I searched for Blue Duck through the passes of the south island with no success. There is one more chance at Turangi. I decided to make my headquarters at Lake Taupo YHA. This was somewhat of a mistake as I later found out there is a Backpackers in Turangi which would have put me closer to the Blue Duck area.

I was curious about a large Maori rock carving pictured on a postcard. I read and studying something about polynesian culture during the two years I lived and taught school in Hawaii. I had never heard of the polynesians doing any large rock carvings. Furthermore the postcard shows a carving of an animal that looked like a crocodile. There are no crocodiles in New Zealand. The carvings are on the far side of beautiful Lake Taupoand there are several boat trips to take tourists to see them. The one I choose was a quiet trip on a sailboat. As soon as we pulled away from the dock the captain explained that the rock carvings are only 22 years old. They were done by Maoris, but modern men using power tools. I was right to be skeptical. The trip was quite pleasant with the captain fishing for Rainbow Trout (introduced fish from North America ) and giving sailing instructions.

Early the next morning I took off for Turangi to look for the elusive and rare Blue Duck. The directions given to me by a birder in Kaikoura proved a little vague. I eventually got to the right place. Here are detailed directions.

From Taupo, follow the lake shore south on Route 1 to Turangi and then continue south for 7 KM. You will pass the National Trout Farm on the left before coming to a small bridge over the river. Immediately on the left beyond the bridge is a small parking area. Pull in the parking lot. Behind you as you face south you will see an unpaved road that goes into a fishing area known as the Blue Hole. Follow the unpaved road through the woods avoiding a left branch until you come to a small parking area. Get out and look for the Blue Duck here. If you don't see it proceed down the unpaved road to the next parking area where there are some toilets. From here you want to start scanning the river for the duck. There is a track along the river you can walk.

I searched most of the day for the duck with no luck. In the afternoon I visited the trout farm where I met a Ranger who gave me more hints for finding the duck. I think the main problem was that I did not have good directions to this place and by the time I got there it was late in the morning. There were several fly fishermen working the creek. The duck can be anywhere along the river. It is much easier to see early in the morning before people arrive at the area. It tends to hide under overhangs and can be very hard to see. I should have tried again the next day, but I had enough. I hope my directions will help others.

There was good birding in the area and I saw: California Quail, Paradise Shelduck, Silvereyes, European Goldfinch, Grey Warbler, Starling.

I didn't like the YHA at Lake Taupo very much. It was large and crowded. They have a hot tub that attracts people to hang out all day. Another problem was that they had mixed dorms and amenities. I think 63 is just too old to adjust to sharing a dorm with two men, one of whom has a shaved head and tattoos. I have to admit however that I had no problems Another inconvenience was that they locked the kitchen at night and didn't open it until 7 AM the next morning if they were on time. This caused me to get a late start for the duck.

Geothermal Steam Plant and Prawn Farm.

The Craters of the Moon geothermal area is a short distance north of Taupo. From the entrance, the whole area seems to be smoking. Walk along the boardwalks to look into the vents and boiling mud pools.

There used to be a single geyser here before the power plant next door was constructed to tap into the super heated water to produce electricity.

Just north of Craters of the Moon the geothermal power plant is open to the public. Drive through the plant to the visitor's lookout. Apparently the government isn't very worried about 9/11 here.

The power plant taps very hot water from underground and releases cooler but still hot water into the creek across the street.

A prawn farm uses the still hot water from the power plant to raise Malaysian freshwater prawns (shrimp).

I took a guided tour of the prawn farm. The just hatched prawns are kept in sterile tanks inside a shed until they are large enough to be placed in the outside pools. Waders and shags are attracted to the outside tanks which are covered with algae. The prawns hide under the algae in the pools so the guide assured me they do not worry about the birds. At night they use an air gun to keep birds from roosting in the pools. There were cormorants and a few herons in the outdoor tanks. All the prawns raised here are consumed in the farm restaurant where a plate of prawns served hot with garlic butter the way we eat lobster goes for NZ$28.

North Island

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