We drove from Christchurch to the Banks Peninsula, stopping on the way at Akaroa, a French settlement situated on a harbor. We have been staying in a cottage near the Hinewai Reserve, an area comprising about 1,500 hectares of regenerated native bush. Our friends, George and Hilary, invited us to Read more…
We packed up our Hanmer Springs house and headed to the Church of the Epiphany, Hanmer’s Anglican Church, this morning. We arrived early, and the vicar greeted us in her bedroom slippers. By the time the service began, she had changed into sandals. The smallish congregation was most welcoming to Read more…
We are spending several days hiking and visiting with friends new and old on the Banks Peninsula south of Christchurch. For the most part, we are electronics free in this lovely place. More posts in a few days when we are back in the North Island.
Just a quick update Hanmer Springs. This morning we walked up Conical Hill (550 m) through a pungent conifer forest to the peak where we could look out over Hanmer Springs (population about 1,000). This afternoon, George and Frances tried to explore the Molesworth Station, the largest cattle station in Read more…
Today we walked along the Kaikōura coast where a new shore surfaced in the 2016 earthquake. The 7.8 magnitude quake lifted the seabed by 0.5 to 2 meters (2 to 7 feet) along a 20-km stretch of the Kaikoura coast. The exposed white rocks were lovely, and the terraces seemed Read more…
Well, Team New Zealand are the America’s Cup Winner and what an exciting ten races it took to get there. Final score 7:3! Congratulations Te Rehutai! Today, we hopped islands, taking the early morning ferry from Wellington, in the North Island, to Picton in the South Island. We are traveling Read more…
Yesterday we took a final walk on the Waikanae beach. It was a perfectly glorious day, and there was quite a crowd on the beach – about 20 people over 6 km! Then, while Jim was Zooming with his siblings, Frances found a lovely local artisan market. The proprietor was Read more…
We had such a busy day today, we had to catch a re-run of the America’s Cup. Italy won the first race and NZ the second. The boat that wins the start seems to win the race. It is getting to be a pattern. More light winds expected for tomorrow’s Read more…
We’re back to the fine weather. Light winds were not so favorable for the Emirates Team New Zealand in Race 3. In Race 3, Italy won the start and was the stronger player throughout, consistently ahead of New Zealand and beating them by 37 seconds. In Race 4, NZ dominated Read more…
Where has the week gone? We are on Thursday already and we’ve been slacking a bit on the blog. On Tuesday we drove down to Wellington to lend some extra hands to our niece, Lizzy, who was expecting her movers the following day. We loved being able help, usually we Read more…