>Ill be heading to New Zealand in Jan. And would like to be pointed in the
>direction of good places to check out local NZ species. Ill start in
>Christ Church and head to North Island then Back to the USA
>
>Robert Rice
Hi Robert,
I was in NZ this time last year for some weeks with my family, and have
visited it before. I too was interested in seeing NZ native fish.
I have to tell you that is not easy.
When you get there take time to find out a bit about the history,
particularly geological, and you will get a good picture of the country. It
is an interesting place in that the the north-east and the south-west of the
country actually sit on different tectonic plates, the west side of the
country passing slowly under the east side. It is therefore an interesting
volcanic region.
The history of human habitation is short. The maori people only arrived some
1000 to 1300 years ago, and Europeans only in the last 200 years.
New Zealand never has had a very diverse population of native species of any
animals. Add to this the fact that early settlers finding a relatively
useless fauna, imported deer species, thar, chamois, goats, pigs, rabbits,
ferrets, possums etc to roam the wild.
They also filled the streams with imported brown trout, rainbow trout, brook
trout, and a couple of salmon species. So the native populations have taken
a beating.
The only decent place I found to see the native fish, was the Westland Water
World at Hokitika, on the west coast of the South island.
You can check it out at www.minidata.co.nz/nztour/water.htm
Remember, there are not a lot of natives, mostly galaxiid types, and huge
eels, so its not as big as aquariums you would have visited elsewhere.
If you would like to see huge brown, rainbow and brook trout through glass,
visit Rainbow Springs at Rotarua. Actually it is a very good place to see
the native plant species, and some of the unique wildlife like kiwi and
tuatara.
The fish/pet shop scene is nothing to get enthused about. I couldn't find a
decent aquarium store anywhere, although I admit to not looking too hard
after the first few experiences.
There is an expert on NZ native fishes on the web. Rowan Strickland, you can
go to www.cawthron.org.nz/people/rowan.html and read about him, and access
e-mail to him from there.
It's a beautiful country, very green, full of mountains, lakes, fiords,
postcard scenery, has some bubbling, steaming, sulphureous volcanic regions,
and is full of friendly people.
Pity about the native fish scene though.
Hope that helps your preparations.
Doug Collom