Waikuku

We are now renting a little cottage just one minute walk to the beautiful Waikuku beach. It's about 30 minutes to Christchurch. The beach seems to go on forever and it's always empty! A nice place to spend our last few weeks in New Zealand.

Ben Lomond & Rob Roy Glacier

 View from Ben Lomond

 Rob Roy Glacier

On Thursday I walked up Ben Lomond (Ben means mountain in Scottish Gaelic). It was a stunning day with great views. On Sunday we went back to Mt. Aspiring National park and walked up to Rob Roy glacier. We had great views of the glacier and could hear avalanches on it while we ate our lunch. Luckily we were safely on the other side of the valley!

Aspiring Hut

On Sunday we went for a day walk in Mt. Aspiring National park up to Aspiring hut. We had some great views of some of the surrounding glaciers- beautiful!

Bannockburn

 View from the house

 Looking back towards the house from the other side of the lake

North Otago Golf Club (by Kakanui)

We moved in with our friend Chantal a few days ago in the town of Bannockburn. It's so much hotter here than it was in Kakanui- at least 5 C warmer, with no wind- and nice dry air. Our laundry actually dries in a few hours- instead of in 3 days! Chantal's house overlooks an arm of the Kawarau river, which is much like a lake, and it looks nice for swimming. Before we left Kakanui, Brad got a round of golf in at the bigger golf club there. It was pretty spectacular for $30!

Kayak Surfing

Summer is officially over and it's now autumn. The weather is definitely a little cooler already. Surfing the waves in a kayak is a warmer alternative than regular surfing since I can wear a spray jacket, my legs don't get wet, and I can wear a cap under my helmet. This evening we saw someone kayaking in the surf with a Hector dolphin right next to him, playing in the waves with him! Apparently they like to do that sometimes. (Unfortunately it was a little too chilly for me!)

Surfing and Surf Casting

There is supposedly some good surf casting fishing- and we've seen people catch fish, but we been out four times already and haven't had any luck yet. We've also been out surfing to Campbell's bay beach a few times- it's a great spot!

Kakanui

 View from the house

 Collecting mussels

Last Saturday we moved from Christchurch to a small coastal town next to Oamaru called Kakanui where we will stay for one month. The town consists mostly of holiday houses, and the one we are staying in sits near the mouth of the Kakanui river where it empties into the ocean. There is an awesome surf beach around the corner. Yesterday, while surf casting, we had a Hector's dolphin come up to us within just a couple meters!

Akaroa Wedding

Cruise ship in the Akaroa harbour. 

Because of it the town was much busier than normal!

This weekend our friends got married in the quaint town of Akaroa, 1 hour from Christchurch. It was beautiful- with the best food we've ever had at a wedding!

Auckland

 The Harbour

Sky City Tower

This past weekend we went to Auckland for a big concert and to explore the area because we haven't spent much time there yet. Unfortunately I had the flu so we didn't get out to some of the nearby islands that we wanted to get to- but we had a spectacular time at the concert and still got to see some of the city.

"Fairlie" good New Years

For New Year's Eve we went to Fairlie- a small town 2.5 hours southwest of Christchurch. There isn't a whole lot to do in Fairlie but there are a few nice lakes nearby that are actually pretty warm for swimming (a real rarity in NZ).

Kenepuru Sound For Christmas

 Snorkelling? More like just swimming- there wasn't much to see!

 View from the balcony

Over Christmas we rented a holiday house in Kenepuru sound which is in the Marlborough sounds in the north part of the South Island. It is a beautiful area with lots of native bush and birds, although it is often quite windy. The Queen Charlotte hiking/biking track is nearby- which was really handy.

Pukaki

Spillway 

Lupins (a very invasive species- but colourful)

This past weekend I went whitewater kayaking near Lake Pukaki. The lake was dammed several years ago, and as compensation to the whitewater kayakers who protested the damming (because it destroyed the river below it), water is released from the dam a few times each year, making a nice little whitewater course once again. It's a very beautiful area!

Hope Halfway Hut

 Boyle River

Windy Point swing bridge

This was a nice little hike (about 3.5 hours each way) to a cute hut on the Hope river. There were even hot springs 100 m from the hut- but unfortunately they weren't exactly hot- more just lukewarm!

Cromwell, Queenstown & Dunedin

 Dunedin Golf Course

 Queenstown Botanical Gardens

 Lake Wakatipu (Queenstown)

 Walking in "the heart of desert"- near Cromwell

Kawarau river

Last week we spent 6 days travel around Otago. First we went to Dunedin, then Queenstown (for a conference), then to Cromwell to visit our friend Chantal. We had a great time! The weather in the Cromwell area was actually hot (30 degrees- a real rarity in New Zealand). It has it's own hot and dry micro climate!

Show Weekend Kayaking

 Buller River

 Granity Rapid (Grade 3. I decided I wasn't ready for this one yet!)

This past weekend was a long weekend in Canterbury, and I went to Murchison for whitewater kayaking (for the third year in a row). Brad decided not to come this time- he stayed home to golf in Christchurch and watch movies. It was beautiful- as it always is there.

Neighbourhood BBQ

After 3 years and 9 months of living here, we finally got to meet the rest of our neighbours at a neighbourhood BBQ. It was such a great idea. It's a very multicultural part of Christchurch with neighbours from Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea and of course New Zealand. The BBQ was held next door by a family from a city not too far from Mumbai. They were doing free Henna tattoos (which is a part-time business of theirs). This one on my arm took the artist less than two minutes (she is incredibly fast!)- although she said when she used to do weddings (and cover two arms and legs) it would take 7-8 hours.

Pelorus & Rye Rivers

 Campground kitchen

 Pelorus river- view from the campground

 Rye river

This past weekend was a long weekend and I went kayaking at the Pelorus & Rye rivers. The Pelorus river flows into the Pelorus Sound at the northern tip of the South Island (and the Rye flows into the Pelorus). The huge campground was in beautiful native forest, overlooking the river. Both the river trips we did ended right at it. It was also very quiet at the campground for a long weekend. The rivers were crystal clear- you could see down to the bottom, 20 ft below. A gorgeous part of NZ!
Brad was golfing in Nelson (not too far away) with a friend of his. Unfortunately he didn't get any pictures!

Helping with the Beginner's Kayak Course

This past weekend I helped out with the beginner's whitewater kayak course because a friend of mine was in it. We did an easy section of the Crooked river, which is close to the west coast (on the South Island). We had to go further because the water levels were too high on the rivers near Christchurch. We had great weather, which was such a relief! When I did the course 2 years ago it was raining, windy, and miserable!