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 […]
A long time between drinks
This blog hasn’t been forgotten, no matter that it’s been a few months between entries. Much of the delay can be attributed to Keryn and I buying a house and the rigmarole surrounding moving. Thankfully we’re mostly done with the moving lark, there are still a few boxes to empty and we’ve got one set […]
South Island: Arthur’s Pass to Kaikoura
We had breakfast in the restaurant area and it was simple but OK. We then packed and drove to the nearby carpark we had walked through yesterday to do the other waterfall walk, this time to see the Bridal Veil falls. Through quiet forest we followed the track again upwards, though not as steep as […]
South Island: The Hokitika Gorge and Lake Kaniere
The forecast today wasn’t that great as as we drove towards the Hokitika Gorge in the morning the mist and low cloud turned to drizzle and mist. There were a few cars at the gorge walk car park and more than a few large sandflies as well, maybe the bites distracted me as I set […]
South Island: Westport to Hokitika
All packed at Westport we headed south, first stop back at Punakaiki. Through blind luck we timed our visit with high tide which meant we got to see some blow hole action. Getting photos was proving to be troublesome, in the end we resorted to patience and simply waited until the waves got the right […]
South Island: Karamea to Westport
A short drive today down from Karamea to another Marram house, this time just out of Westport at Carters Beach. Today’s walk was on the Charming Creek Walkway, accessible just behind the coal works at Hector. The first section of track follows the old railway line that was used to facilitate coal extraction from further […]
East Coast Holiday: The Kaituna River
Leaving Whakatane we had one last leg to the holiday, driving to Hamilton. Camping now done with we decided to eat out and had the unfortunate experience of eating at a place called Cafe Surfside. My pancakes were ok (if rather too much for me to finish) but Keryn’s french toast was terrible, a case […]
East Coast Holiday: Driving to Whakatane
Seeking the sunrise has been a theme a few times on this East Coast holiday and today we got up extra early for another sunrise mission. The location for the sun vigil was East Cape lighthouse and we had a 50km drive and then a walk up a path of 700 odd steps before we’d […]
Wildlife
Good recent weather has combined with some days off work, so I’ve been out a about a little bit. I went to the Otari-Wilton’s Bush and walked for three hours, having the tracks mostly too myself on a Tuesday morning. It was nice just walking in forest without people, and I got to see a […]
Day 78 : Huaraz
I was up early with a group of others for a day trip out to Lake 69. We were to climb up the lower slopes of Chacraraju in the Cordillera Blanca, the local name for this area of the Andes. There were six of us; Danny, Albert, Angie, Michelle, Janet and myself. There was a […]
Day 66 : Near Ban?s
As this is pretty much the only place on our trip through South America where it’s possible to do canyoning I had signed up for this as todays activity. Shortly after 9am I was getting kitted up along with Sean, Daniel, Janet and Angie. We all got wetsuits, spray jackets, life jackets, abseiling harnesses and […]
Day 45 : La Fortuna to San Jose
Today was both white water rafting and journeying to San Jose. Cecylia, Aaron, Keryn and I were being picked up at 8:30am for the drive to Rio Toro and the rest of the group headed off to the bus station at 7:45am. The Desafio van would also be taking us on to San Jose after […]