From Hanmer Springs we continued on towards Timaru with a couple of stops in Christchurch, one to pick up some duplo we’d bid for on TradeMe and a second stop at Riccarton Mall to stretch the legs. We were looking for some new shoes for Alayna and found a pair on big discount at Rebel […]
The kiwifruit incident
We left St Arnaud in the morning with a plan to do a morning walk before lunch. This worked out quite well other than a couple of incidents, one during the walk and one afterwards. Lake Rotoroa was the first stop and we had lovely views from the pier and got to watch a swan […]
St Arnaud, Lake Rotoiti, Mount Robert and a fire alarm
Day two of our holiday and more walking in store. We again took the Black Valley walk and had a look around the lake shore. This morning’s destination was the Brunner Peninsula Nature Walk and as we neared the start point we could see a group of people congregated at the lake side taking in […]
A big boat, driving and a forest walk
Our December family holiday saw us take an early morning ferry from Wellington heading to the South Island. Earlier in the year I had won a return sailing with Bluebridge and our first journey across Cook Strait was taken on the Strait Feronia. We spent a lot of time in the family room which we […]
A photowalk and Bird of the Year
With longer days and the promise of warmer weather we’ve been getting out and about making the most of the opportunities outdoors. Earlier this month was the latest Scott Kelby worldwide photowalk and the Wellington event took place in Petone. This was the first time Keryn and Alayna have joined in and we set off […]
The Strait Feronia
Recently the Wellington ferry company Bluebridge announced that they had purchased a new ferry and it was sailing its way from Sweden to arrive on the 1st June. There was an associated photo competition to capture the best photo of the Strait Feronia’s Wellington arrival so I figured we’d get out and see if we […]
February highlights
It’s been a busy February so far with lots of things happening including my 40th birthday. Rather than go into any detail here’s a few photographic highlights instead. Walking at Zealandia: Camping at Kaitoke: Chinese New Year: Plimmerton fish and chips: Walking in Wellington on my birthday: Back to Zealandia: Night time at the Pauatahanui […]
Miniature Huts – Part three
A beautiful and breezy Wellington Anniversary summers day was the chosen time for us to complete our Miniature Hut collection. We had so far found five and only had two to go. First up was the DOC Hut located on Matiu/Somes Island and that meant a ferry ride. We met up with Pauline in Petone […]
Miniature Huts – Part two
After a morning of chores and a little bit of footy practice the afternoon was set aside for some more hiking around Wellington in search of Miniature Huts. There are two huts on the south coast so we targeted them, starting with the Robin Hut to be found somewhere near Red Rocks. Parking at the […]
Miniature Huts – Part one
Recently we heard about an interesting public art project in Wellington created by Kemi Niko & Co. Titled Miniature Hikes the project involves 7 miniature huts that have been placed in off the beaten track locations around Wellington. Each hut can be found after a short walk using the instructions found on the Miniature Hikes […]
A Summer Holiday – Napier & Hastings
Our last three nights of our holiday were spent in Napier. Travis was also in town having spent the last few nights our tramping so we met up in Hastings at the weekly night market for some good food. There were a few craft stalls and a dozen or so food stalls from which we […]
A Summer Holiday – Whangarei
Our most northward destination was the Bainbridge home near Whangarei and we had a relaxing week with family around Christmas. From watching the daily antics of the numerous quail families, checking out the other wildlife such as the kereru after seen visiting the big puriri tree at the bottom of the front yard or the […]