Maketu Beach

30 Mar - A morning visit to Maketu, a beautiful unspoilt coast near Tauranga. Wildlife highlights included Wrybill (above) and New Zealand Dotterel.
. Later today we sail for Norfolk Island and New Caledonia, and blog updates may be less frequent due to lack of internet access in the islands, maybe next in New Caledonia....

First 3 days

29 Mar - We are now at Tauranga after 3 days cruising up from Kaikoura in south island, highlights have included 100s of Albatrosses in the rough weather we experienced yesterday, along with Petrels and Shearwaters, and 2 Sperm Whales seen. Tomorrow we pick up the rest of the passengers for the main trip and start heading north.
Photos of Albatrosses at Kaikoura and off North Island - 1.Wandering, 2.Royal, 3.Campbell, 4.Shy, 5.Buller's Albatrosses.

Cairns to New Zealand....

24 Mar - Arrived New Zealand after an overnight at Cairns, Australia - windy and cloudy there after a cyclone passed through 2 days earlier. I still managed (I hope) to get some good shots of the waders along the esplanade - Great Knots (upper), Grey-tailed Tattlers, Bar-tailed Godwits - Siberian race (middle) - Australian Curlews and Red-necked Stints (lower) amongst others. I'm now 13hrs ahead of the UK.

Mai Po, Hong Kong

22 March - I managed to negotiate the TFR train system to Mai Po, on the Chinese border - an excellent tour of the world-famous (for birders!) WWF reserve, thousands of waders present including Nordmann's Greenshank and Great Knot - also at least 50 Black-faced Spoonbills (photo), an endangered species with 25% of the world population at Mai Po. Gulls included Great Black-headed and Saunder's Gulls (photo). Hong Kong is fascinating - very noisy and crowded but the people friendly, safe to walk around at night. The air pollution from China is very bad at present so the famous view across the harbour is obscured by smog. I've not been very adventurous with my eating I'm afraid. Escalators on the pavements, subways and lifts everywhere, high-tech and amazing hotels. Next stop Cairns for 24h en route to NZ.

Malaysia

20 Mar - 3 days in Malaysia, at Fraser's Hill in the highlands (photos - no 3, Chestnut-capped Laughing-Thrush), and then Kuala Selangor on the coast. It took a day or 2 to acclimatize to the heat and get over the time change - the mountains much cooler than the coast, very humid. Highlights included Gibbons and Leaf monkeys, as well as a mixture of resident Malaysian birds - Storks, Eagles, Buffy Fish Owl - and migrants such as Sandplovers, Terek Sandpiper and Harriers. Next stop Hong Kong and Mai Po Wetlands. I also have a rash from my insect repellent which is starting to fade....

The start....

17 Mar - Hong Kong airport, en route to kuala Lumpur. A misty morning with distant views across the harbour to skyscrapers below Victoria Peak. I hope to be back here in a few days to explore further (and see Mai Po reserve).