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!

Halswell Quarry Park

On Saturday we went for a walk up Halswell Quarry rim. It's a nice conservation area that used to be a quarry- with lots of trails. The views from the top of the rim are normally really good- but there was a bit of low cloud.