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From Christchurch to Queenstown 4.-6.12. 2019

Start of the pre-conference field excursion that took us from Christchurch to Queenstown. Strong westerlies caused Föhn wall above Southern Alps.

We stopped at the site of the fault from the Christchurch Earthquake in 2011. The ground displacement can be seen in the hedgerow.

And on the fence.

Ground was also uplifted as it can be seen few metres ahead on the road and field.

Next point was Rakaia RIver outlook.

Braided Rakaia River and several terraces from the past glaciations.

Lake sediments stand out in orange colour.

Rakaia Gorge with high waters that are result of rain that is lasting already for several days.

Bayfield terminal moraine up the valley. It presents the limit of the last glacial maximum.

Stop at the Archeon Bank.

Excursion leader Peter Almond is explaining stratigraphies of the sediment profile across the river.

Loes forms as silt is blown of the braided rivers after floods. Wind was so strong that it eroded also material from the river banks.

The bus driver seemed to have been almost more engaged than the scientists.

Making our way through sheep to the HIgh Peaks Station.

Station is a name for a large farm dedicated to the grazing of sheep and cattle. Several thousands hectares of land were distributed to individuals upon land colonisation.

There is virtually no native forest in this part of New Zealand. They grow mostly pine trees for wood, among them are radiata pine (Pinus radiata) and corsican pine (Pinus nigra).

Making our way back from the station through a herd of cows.

Staying overnight in Omarama.

The landscape here is covered with grasslands and used mostly for grazing.

Start of the next day's trip in MacKenzie basin. The basin lies in a rain shadow of the Southern Alps and receives around 300 mm of rainfall per year.

The slope visible behind the bushes is Ostler Fault that is still very active today.

The semi-arid landscape.

At exposure by the Pukaki Dam.

The till was pushed over outwash gravel. Pukaki Dam on the right.

A short stop at the Pukaki lake.

Himalayan tahrs were introduced to New Zealand in the early 1900s as game animals. They spreaded drastically and reached population of 40 000 in 1970s, when their numbers were reduced back to 2000, because of devastating effects on local ecosystems. They can still be hunted only here since they are endangered in the Himalayan.

The wind was so strong that it created a metre-high waves only over 30 km length of the lake.

It is possible to see Mount Cook from here on a day without clouds.

Another viewpoint along the lake.

Mount Cook Village after the rain. They measured 600 mm of rainfall during the last few days.

Hiking up a moraine to get a view over Tasman Glacier and Lake.

The Aoraki/Mount Cook National park is covered with native vegetation. Golden speargrass or golden Spaniard (Aciphylla aurea) is better not to be touched.

Blue Lakes in the middle of the moraine that seem to be rather green today.

Matagouri or wild Irishman (Discaria toumatou) is another thorny plant named after a nation.

There were no mammals that would feed on bush trees in New Zealand before it was colonised. Nevertheless, many native bushes have nasty thorns. It is because birds adapted to eat their leaves.

Sky opened up a bit just before reaching the top of the moraine.

The moraine with a view up the Tasman Valley.

And with Tasman glacier calving in its lake.

And a panorama. Sorry Yury but panorama algorithm didn't see you in one piece.

The weather slowly improved, but there was still a lot of rain up in the mountains.

We checked out also the lake outflow.

Floodplain landscape.

Gaultheria crassa

Pieces of ice stranded at the outflow.

A part of our group went to check them out from boats.

Marc is impressed.

The most persistent went to the Hooker Valley despite the rain and wind.

A native Hebe odora plant.

Lower Hooker Suspension Bridge.

The weather was too bad to spot any hookers.

So we returned back to the bus.

Slush avalanche - slash - debris flows from Mount Oliver.

Lindis Pass and its tussock grasslands. Native vegetation here were shrublands, which were burn already upon Maori arrival 800 years ago.

Smooth hilly landscape in Haast schist.

Participants on the top of the pass (971 m).

Russian Gang: "чё кого"

Further south in Central Otago ...

... lie remnants of Bendigo gold field settlement. Gold was found here in 1862, which caused gold rush and quick development of this area.

Several glaciofluvial terraces down in the valley.

Landscape of Dunstan Range with tors.

Non-native mullein (Verbascum sp.) growing on the ground and native kānuka bushes in the back.

Interesting lichens.

There were many shafts around.

Peter with his assistant Florence explaining properties of semi arid soils formed on weathered till.

High evapotranspiration results in abundance of cations rising pH up to 8.

Lunch at a vineyard.

This part of New Zealand has summers warm enough to produce quality wines.

Most of the vineyards are not on slopes but on flat terraces. The windmill is not for producing electricity but for the opposite. They turn them on to mix a layer of cold air that coud cause frost in the early spring.

A side arm of Lake Dunstan near Cromwell.

Gold can be also found in alluvial sediments and they used alluvial mining to extract it, which is still visible in the landscape today. Note the flooded trees.

Visit of the Felton Road vineyard.

They excavated soil profile with an excavator for us.

Slightly lower pH than the last time.

The property where they run business with several employees.

They use ecological farming and produce boutique wines.

Initial wine processing.

And maturing in barrels.

They have a whole lab for testing wine properties.

They study their soils carefully as they are crucial for the wine properties.