Along with Waipatiki, another excellent Hawkes Bay locality for looking at rocks laid down over a cycle of sea level change is Darkeys Spur, about twenty minutes by car west of Lake Tutira. The road is very narrow and care should be exercised to park safely and watch out for vehicles. Fortunately the road is […]
Darkeys Spur’s rock record of sea level change Read More »
Waipatiki Beach north of Napier is a great place for family holidays in the summer. It is enclosed by cliffs at either end that happen to provide one of Hawkes Bay’s many classic geological sites. (for more geological and access information see also www.geotrips.org.nz/trip.html?id=24) A track leading south of the beach takes you to a good view of
On our second day in the Maungataniwha Forest, some of us explored the lower Mangahouanga Stream using the well established kiwi river transport method of tyre tubes. This allowed us to visit parts of the river that would otherwise be very difficult to reach. Initial access to the river was via bush bashing through pine
Tyre Tubing the Mangahouanga Stream Read More »
The first barrier to accessing Mangahouanga Stream Three years ago I visited Mangahouanga Stream in Hawkes Bay along with a group of GNS Scientists. This is the area where Joan Wiffen, New Zealand’s famous “Dragon Lady” found the only known bones of dinosaurs from New Zealand, as well as various marine reptiles, prior to her
Reptile Fossils from an Unexplored Valley. Read More »
Takaka limestone country Whilst on holiday in the Nelson area last week, I went for a look around the limestone plateau of Takaka Hill, not far from the huge natural shaft of Harwood’s Hole. I managed to persuade a couple of friends to come along for the adventure. The area is very rugged, covered with
Last week, following my visit to Castlepoint I also headed further north to Hawkes Bay. State Highway 2 runs parallel to the central North Island mountain ranges, which had just received fresh snow from a recent southerly blast, to provide a classic New Zealand pastoral scene… Te Mata Peak near Havelock North is a popular
James Crampton and Marianna Terezow’s The Kiwi Fossil Hunter’s Handbook won the LIANZA Elsie Locke Award in the non fiction category. With James away from town, Marianna attended the awards ceremony last night to accept the prize. Here you can see clearly that Marianna was one of the people behind the book! Armed with the fossil
Castlepoint and the Kiwi Fossil Hunter’s Handbook Read More »
Palliser Bay is an isolated sweep of coastline about 2 hours drive from Wellington. It is separated from New Zealand’s busy capital city by the Rimutaka Range. Yesterday I visited the area with a group of Lower Hutt school children as part of their Year Seven geology camp. Fully armed with the “Kiwi Fossils Hunter’s
If you are reading this blog, you presumably like the idea of getting outside and appreciating the landscape and its underlying geological features. James Crampton and Marianna Terezow are paleontologists here at GNS Science. They have just published a great book for fossil enthusiasts called the Kiwi Fossil Hunter’s Handbook. It is full of interesting
Turning over an old leaf with the Fossil Hunter’s Handbook Read More »