This is a first Blog for me, and im currently in an airport on my way home from New Zealand where i've been filming for a new 3 part series for the BBC Natural History Unit, New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands.
It’s a country i've always wanted to work in, with some truly stunning scenery.
Its been an interesting trip so far, Island hopping between the North and South Islands. Filming on Rangitoto Island (a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf) opposite Auckland and Tiri Tiri.
Its true what the Crowded House song says about new Zealand, Four seasons in a day, I've never been anywere where the weather is so changeable, it can go from very cold and torrential rain to bright sunshine in the course of an hour.
But the main part of the filming adventure, was a trip to Snare’s Island on the TiriTiri Yaught skippered and crewed by Henk Haazen and Steve Parsons, a fantastic ship. Snares is a small island lying about 200 km south of New Zealand's South Island and home to the Snares penguin, the star of our sequence.
Snares is down in the Sub Antartic and I had prepared myself for weather reflecting its location but we got lucky, the sun came out and turned it into a magical place.
The Snares penguin is one of the only to nest in a woodland and it was our job to capture it journey from sea through forest to its nesting colonies.
There were two main landing sites on the island, station cove and penguin slope. Station cove was truly the easier of the two and those penguins that were nesting near there had the easier time. Penguin slope however was a 200m slippery near verticle slope, which provided one of the more spectacular journeys ive seen. Ill miss the little guys as they were full of character and it’s a trip and place ill never forget.