Side creeks

On Saturday I did a brief training course on how to help beginner kayakers (in preparation to help out with the upcoming beginner's course). I am not sure how much help I will be- but it should be fun! The water levels were really high on the Hurunui river, which meant they were also high on some of the side creeks. One of our group members decided  to run this waterfall (about 6 meters high). I thought I would pass on that for now!

Rakaia Walkway

On Sunday we went for a little walk about 1 hour west of Christchurch to get a nice view of the snow capped mountains before the snow is all gone. Another sunny Canterbury day!

Mt. Dobson and Roundhill

There is about a month and a half left of the ski season. These two ski hills were my favourite NZ ski hills so far. (Although I've only been to 7). The access roads were not as treacherous and it seemed like there were practically no people- even though it was the weekend. (I guess that's what you get when you are willing to drive an extra hour and half from Christchurch).

Magnolias and daffodils

It's sure nice to come back from summer only to find that it's spring!

Bay of Plenty & Firth of Thames

 Backyard of the Miranda bird sanctuary field station where we stayed.

 Bird sanctuary in the Firth of Thames. There are so many different types of shorebirds in NZ- significantly more than forest birds.

 Karangaheke gorge

 Waihi beach. It was so calm and warm- for moment you might think it was a tropical island. (In the summer- yes- but not quite in the winter)

 View from the top of Mount Manganui (the 200 m high hill that the town is named after). The beach there is gorgeous!

Kelly & I  at the top of Mount Manganui

 Waterfall near Lake Tarawera

 The cute bach we stayed in at Ohiwa

Chantal & I at Ohiwa beach

For the long weekend (Queen's birthday) I went to the North Island to visit a friend who is living there at the moment (in Mount Manganui). We picked the right place to be and had fantastic weather. I forgot how much warmer the North island is than the south- especially at night. We travelled from the Auckland airport to the Miranda bird sanctuary at the Firth of Thames, then to Mount Manganui, and then to Ohiwa beach- going on some lovely 1-2 hour walks at some beautiful places along the way.

Hagley

It was a calm and sunny autumn weekend and we went for a couple walks- one around Hagley park. Even when nothing is in bloom, it's still beautiful!

Edwards Hut

This was a beautiful walk along the Edwards river to a really nice hut. The scenery along the way was really varied- river bed with rivers crossings, and different types of native forest. There was no one else out on the track and we had the whole hut to ourselves. The weather wasn't supposed to be that great but it turned out to be excellent. We even heard Kiwis at night!