Black Stilt

When we were near Twizel, we saw the rarest wading bird IN THE WORLD! IN THE WILD! Steve managed to get some great pictures of it and this is one of them. Rob and Tracy are keen bird watchers and they have introduced us to lots of wildlife.Rob has been waiting to see one of these stilts for 10 years and he was very excited. It was great for us too.

Oamaru, Dunedin and RAIN!

We stayed at Oamaru 2 nights and it rained all day and night. we did brave the cold and wet to look at the rare yellow eyed penguin. We saw one close to the cliff where we were standing,and one near the shore but we didn`t see the 30 or so who normally waddle up the beach at 7.30pm! We did stick it out for over an hour though.
We travelled to Dunedin in the rain on 22nd Feb. It rained for solidly for 3 more days and nights! We are developing webbed feet!

Twizel to Oamaru

18th Feb travelled to Twizel, stayed for 2 nights then onto Oamaru. It rained all the way. We stopped to see the Clay Cliffs near Omarama. These were formed after 2 million years of erosion on layers of silt and gravel. They are a very strange landscape, but we didn`t hang round too long as it was eroding as we stood there!
We also stopped at Elephant Rocks which are giant boulders which began as sand, buried 25 million years ago and have hardened into limestone. This setting was used as the backdrop for Aslan`s camp in the films `Narnia` and `The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe`.

Tasman glacier

18th Feb We walked to the Tasman glacier. This was an experience not to be missed. This glacier has in recent decades been melting from the top down and exposed rocks, boulders and lots of dirty stuff so it`s not as pretty as Fox of Franz joseph. It is however, still said to be over 600m thick in some places.
We saw some boats cruising around the floating iceburgs and they looked like ants.It`s strange to think some of that ice is thousands of years old.

Mount Cook

17th Feb we travelled to Mount Cook and again had fantastic weather and therefore beautiful views of this huge mountain.It is 3755m high and the highest in Australasia. Sir Edmund Hillary climbed this before Mount Everest. It is breathtaking and the Department of Conservation campsite we stayed on was in a fantastic location as you can see. We could hear the crack of the ice as it melted on the mountain. It sounded like thunder. This was another memorable place to stay.

Lake Tekapo. Mount John

16th Feb. Tracy, Steve, Em and I walked up Mount John and had a great view of the lake. There is an observatory owned by the University of Canterbury at the top. The clear skies and distance from any main towns means the stargazing is good here.
We could see what looked like the milky way most evenings and often the clear skies meant it was really cold. In fact, we offered to sleep in the tent a couple of nights here, so Em could stay in the van. Usually, she declines, but not this time!

Lake Tekapo golf

We had a serious crazy golf game which lasted about 3 hours. Tracy won by one point over Rob, whose competitive streak surfaced during the game! It was great fun, and a well thought out pitch.Em got a hole in one for the first time. Well done Em!

Lake Tekapo campsite

14th Feb We spent most of the day driving to Lake Tekapo and found a great campsite right beside this beautiful lake. The colour of the water which is an amazing turquoise, is due to sediment gouged out by the glacier and suspended in the water and refracting the sunlight.(Science lesson over!)
REALLY cold to swim in though, as Em`s face will show you. Steve and I were not brave enough to go in.
We spent 3 nights here and had great weather. We were camping alongside Rob and Tracy and spent time with them doing fun things.

Christchurch house

We stayed at the rented house for nearly 2 weeks. It was great to be able to leave our stuff in one place and not have to share a bathroom with strangers every morning!
We ate outside when we could and all piled into one campervan when we had trips out.

Sumner Beach

We all had a lovely day out at Sumner beach, the weather was hot and we swam, surfed with lilos and rings. Steve and Rob played ball while we ladies sunbathed.

Christchurch

We travelled through Hanmer Springs to Darfield where we met up with Vic Pryor and her boys at a drinks party for Austen Deans after his wedding. Jilly and Tim, our hosts were incredibly hospitable and friendly and we met some lovely people.It was great to catch up with Vic,Basti, Ollie and Jesse too.
Travelled on to Christchurch and rented a house for a few days.Our friends Rob and Tracy met us here too and we have done lots of things together which has been great fun.
We went punting on the River Avon and had a lazy afternoon on the water.

Whilst staying in Christchurch, we went to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula to swim with Hectors dolphins - the world's smallest and rarest. It was only us girls who went swimming
as the boys decided they would just watch. We got to wear full-length wetsuits, snorkels and special bootees (exciting AND attractive!). We set off, but didn't have to go too far
before we spotted some dolphins. The first lot we saw was a nursery pod (there were babies in the group), so we couldn't swim with them, but seeing the baby was an amazing experience.
We carried on, but almost straight away got to get in the water. Unfortunately, as the dolphins are a clever bunch, they managed to trick us into getting in the water, then swam off, but
before long, we were in the sea with the dolphins having a nose around us. We had stones to click together underwater, which attracted the dolphins. It was definately a worthwhile trip.

Reggae Festival

25th Jan. We went to the Riverside Community Peace Festival near Motuaka. We joined all the hippies; wearing flowers in our hair (me and Em anyway!), hoolahooping and dancing with strange people! We saw some really good bands too. Great day out.

Kaiteriteri in Abel Tasman

19th Jan.
We stayed in Kaiteriteri on a busy but friendly campsite. We met some more friendly people who invited us for `nibbles` almost every night.
Kaiteriteri was opposite the beach which was just a walk away.We enjoyed it so much,we stayed for 5 nights. As you can see, the beach and views were fantastic.
Steve was always cooking up something delicious, even in Shirley, the campervan.

Able Tasman kayaking

29th Jan, another fantastic day. I think this was one of the best days of our trip so far. We caught a water taxi to Onetahuti and kayaked around Tonga Island Marine Reserve where we saw little blue penguins and fur seals. As we were a group of 5, we had our own guide who was brilliant, he was in a kayak with Em. Lucas was really knowledgeable and could tell us about the wildlife and history of the area.
We had lunch at Mosquito Bay and explored the Falls river. Steve and I surfed into the creek on a huge wave! Over lunch, Lucas made us latte,capaccino and hot chocolate. Luxury!
We caught the water taxi back from Bark Bay to Marahau.