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!