The weather over the weekend was a bit wet – bucketing down, actually. But, in between the rainstorms, there was a bit of beach walking to be done. There were a lot of Portuguese man o’ war or bluebottle jellyfish washed up on the shore. The Portuguese man o’ war is distinguishable by its float Read more…
As we mentioned in an earlier post the day began early with the first of several earthquakes. The risk of a tsunami on the North East coast of NZ was closely monitored and dominated the news. We had an appointment in Palmerston North mid-morning and so were captive in the Read more…
We have had an extraordinary experience over the last two days. Early on Wednesday morning we headed to Paraparaumu Beach (about 15 minutes south of us) to check in with Kapiti Island Nature Tours. Kapiti Island is around 5km off the west coast of the southern North Island. It’s the Read more…
Just a quick update on earthquake and tsunami events today. There is no need to worry about us. We are a long distance from the quakes and the only impact on us was to shake the bed enough to awaken Jim at 2:27 AM. He checked TV1 and Radio NZ Read more…
When the alarm sounded at 6 am, one of us did suggest that we just rollover and forget it. One of the advantages of marriage is that two people are not always of the same mind. So …… we got up and made the hour-long drive (pre-shower, but after coffee) Read more…
The penguins continued to elude us today, as did the dolphins, but we got some great views. We woke early to get to the Roaring Bay penguin hide soon after sunrise, but we only saw a Sea Lion and a pup and a trawler. This is our 3rd time at Read more…
Our first full day in the Catlins. The name Catlins comes from the Catlins River, named after a whaling captain, Edward Catlin (sometimes spelled Cattlin), who purchased a block of land beside the Catlins River in 1840 from a local Māori chief. It was a sometimes chilly and sometimes warmer day today, depending on how much we were in Read more…
We took one long last look at Lake Wanaka this morning and then packed the car and headed south. We pretty much followed the Clutha River south (we think of it as ‘Our River’), through Cromwell, Clyde, Alexandra, Roxburgh to Balclutha and then to where it flows into the Pacific Read more…
Last day in Wanaka, and the weather has turned a bit. Today we have had some strong gale winds. The temperature is quite pleasant. We took a quick drive on the Mt. Aspiring Road round to Glendhu Bay (on Lake Wanaka) and then walked a bit along the track. The Read more…
We had a little snafu with the blog site. Thank you to Fleur for giving us a heads up. The NZ tech team (Jim) has resolved the problem after a lengthy chat with the Indian team who supports the site host. There is no doubt that this is an international Read more…