New Zealand Adventure 2024

We encountered more penguins today, this time outside Dunedin at the Otago Peninsula Eco Restoration Alliance (the OPERA). Our goal was to see the rare yellow-eyed penguin in its natural habitat, as it was heading out to sea to fish or returning back to its burrow. Unlike the blue penguin, the yellow-eyed penguin is more unpredictable in its fishing expeditions. We were warned that sightings of this bird in the wild (there are less than 800 of these penguins worldwide) are rare. We took a short bus ride and then walked out to a headland where we hoped to catch sight of the elusive bird. Although we searched the coastline below for a good 15-20 minutes no one in our group spotted this rare penguin. On our way back to the bus we did pass some blue penguin burrows where we were able to see a few nesting birds. The OPERA has a rehabilitation and recovery center for injured birds and we saw a few of the yellow-eyed penguins here. As we were in our car and getting ready to leave the facility...

Lake Tekapo is magical! These pictures don’t do it justice. We took a short walk partially around the lake this morning before spending time at the hot springs here. After relaxing for an hour or so in the various pools (the adults only pool was the hottest; the children’s play pool the coolest), we had a quick lunch and were on the road to Oamaru, home of the world’s smallest penguin, the Blue Penguin.  We booked an evening viewing of these birds as they returned to their nests after spending the day at sea fishing. We were able to watch 3 “rafts” of penguins make their way up from the beach, gather on the rocks at the headland, and then waddle quickly across a grassy area to their burrows. Each “raft” (10-15 penguins) gathered separately and then made their way together across the grass as fast as they could. It was the most amazing thing to watch! No photos were allowed so as not to disturb the penguins, but I’ll carry this picture in my mind forever. I’m only sorry I can’t shar...

We spent the first part of the morning at the Margaret Mahey family playground, a child’s veritable paradise situated beside the Avon River. Besides the usual slides and swings, the park contained a spider swing, a water park area, and a zip line. Jake immediately gravitated toward the zip line while the girls dragged Brent to the spider swing.  After spending an hour or so at the playground, we headed outside the city to the Orana Wildlife Park. If the Margaret Mahey playground was a child’s paradise, the Orana Wildlife Park, when compared to most zoos, would be a captive animal’s dream. Each enclosure was quite large, giving the animals lots of room to roam. We were able to watch or participate in a number of feedings: from farm animals to kiwis, lions, and giraffes. The giraffes were the most fun as we were actually able to participate in the feeding. The rest of the day was spent traveling to Lake Tekapo, a picturesque lake nestled up against New Zealand’s Southern Alps. S...

We flew back to Wellington on Friday to meet up with Ashley, Brent and grandkids who were flying in from San Francisco mid-day. Spent the afternoon at Wellington’s Te Papa Tongarewa museum (the kids’ favorite exhibit was a replica of a blue whale’s heart they could crawl through). Afterwards, Grandpa and I watched the kids in the hotel pool while Ashley and Brent had drinks in the bar ( who wouldn’t need a few drinks after spending that many hours on a plane with 3 kids) before we all headed to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Jake fell asleep at the table while we waited for our food, but woke up long enough to down a huge plate of spaghetti and meatballs (which he said were the best he’s ever eaten!). We spent Saturday wandering along the waterfront and through the city, visiting Wellington’s parliament building, riding the cable car, and hiking through Zealandia while watching for native birds, frogs and lizards. We also stopped at a few of the city’s parks along the way. The d...

We spent most of the day sightseeing and wandering around the central city area of Christchurch. We took a tram tour of Christchurch’s Botanic Gardens in Hagley Park (larger than Hyde Park in London), a trolley tour of the entire central city area from Cathedral Square to the Christchurch Art Gallery to the Bridge of Remembrance and Triumphal Arch. We also spent time at Quake City, an exhibition showcasing the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and their aftermath. (I misspoke in an earlier post when I said that it was the 2016 Kaikura earthquake that had devastated Christchurch.)   The principal earthquake occurred on September 4, 2010 measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale with the epicenter in Darfield, @ 25 miles away. A number of aftershocks occurred in the following months, the most devastating occurring on February 22, 2011. This one measured 6.2 on the Richter scale, but the epicenter was only 4 miles from Christchurch’s central city. It wreaked death and destruction on this lovely city...

The Trans Alpine train takes 5 hours each way to travel from Christchurch on the east coast, across New Zealand’s Southern Alps, to Greymouth on the west coast. It leaves Christchurch at 8:15 am, arriving at 1:10 pm in Greymouth and then leaves Greymouth at 2:15 pm arriving in Christchurch at 7:10 pm. When making these reservations, we decided to stay the night in Greymouth rather than spending the entire day on a train. Scenery was the same both ways, although it was mostly sunny on our travels to Greymouth and mostly rainy through the mountains on the way back. The track carried us past farmlands where sheep, cows, horses and even deer grazed before heading into the mountainous alps. Once we crossed the mountains, it was another 2 hours to Greymouth. Greymouth is a small coastal town that sits at the mouth of the Grey River where it flows into the Tasman Sea. At low tide, one can often see sharks and dolphins feeding on smaller fish near the river’s mouth. We found a coastal pathway ...

 Although we spent 6 hours on a bus today, it was a picturesque ride: passing by vineyards and farmlands and meandering along the east coast of the island through the coastal town of Kaikura (infamous as the epicenter of New Zealand’s 2016 earthquake which devastated Christchurch and surrounding areas). From what we’ve seen so far, New Zealand has rebuilt impressively. It’s a bright sunny day in Christchurch, but the wind has a chill to it, so we’ve been bundling up when venturing outside. Looks like we should have good weather for our train ride over New Zealand’s Southern Alps tomorrow on our way to Greymouth on the west coast of the island.  View of the Pacific Ocean from the bus Kaikura river with snow-capped mountains in background Another view of New Zealand’s coastline

 What a perfect day for a hike on our last day on the Queen Charlotte Track! Our 11.5 mile route today started off with a 2 mile hike uphill from our lodging at Lochmara Lodge to rejoin the Queen Charlottec track. Once back on the trail we had some additional climbing to do to reach the ridge line where we could see down onto the Queen Charlotte Sound on one side and Kenepuru Sound on the other. The last part of the track was a gentle downhill into Anakiwa where we took a water taxi back to Picton and the end of this piece of our journey. Total elevation was @ 1800 feet. The scenery on both the Abel Tasman and Queen Charlotte tracks has been stunning and the area is pristine. As we enjoyed the lush beauty of our surroundings each day, we also had the thrill of being serenaded by birdsong along the way. What lovely memories we have to carry home with us! Tomorrow we have a 6-hour bus ride to Christchurch where we’ll continue our adventure on a trans alpine train before meeting up wi...

 It rained last night. Not a steady light mist. Not even a constant downpour. But a torrential deluge accompanied by very high winds. The track today was a sloppy mess: water and mud everywhere, downed limbs, raging rivers and streams, and even some small landslides partially blocking the path. Thankfully, it was a relatively short day with no additional rain; 8 miles with 1100 feet in elevation gain. Should have been an easy walk, but with the trail conditions as they were, it was a constant struggle to not slip in the goopy mud. Our shoes are filthy! Don’t think I’ll ever get them clean. At one point, I almost slipped and fell in the mud but caught myself in time, wrenching my shoulder in the process. I didn’t realize how bad it was until we reached our destination and I removed my backpack, quickly discovering I couldn’t raise my arm or move it in certain directions without a lot of pain.  We’ve decided not to walk tomorrow to give my shoulder a rest and hope it feels bette...

Our first day on the Queen Charlotte Track started early with a 7:00 am pickup to take us to the Picton waterfront, followed by a 30 minute briefing on the route we would be walking over the next 4 days. We boarded the water taxi at 8:00 am for the journey to Ship Cove, an historic New Zealand landmark, as it’s where the English explorer Captain James Cook landed on his first and subsequent visits to these islands. Today’s hike was 10.5 miles with 1800+ feet of elevation gain. The track surface here is quite different from the Abel Tasman, which was relatively smooth packed sandy soil. In contrast, the Queen Charlotte track is on very rocky, heavy clay soil, making the walking a bit more treacherous. Add to that heavy rain for the first 2.5 hours of our hike and it was somewhat slow going (thank goodness our rain gear kept us dry although our boots ended up quite muddy).  The last 3 hours of our hike were dry and warm enough that we shed our rain jackets, but kept our rain pants on...

 Today we enjoyed the same incredible views of golden sand and clear blue waters in addition to lovely waterfalls and gurgling streams. We also crossed two suspension bridges and walked across Torrent Bay during low tide. Official mileage was 10.1 miles with 1400 feet of elevation gain. Each of our devices reflected something different, but each recorded more mileage and elevation gain than the official total. I think our actual mileage was 11+ miles with 2,000 feet in elevation gain. Regardless of the actual miles walked or the amount of uphill we climbed, it was a phenomenal day with gorgeous scenery, mostly clear skies and near perfect temperatures. After walking this track for the past three days we can see why it’s one of New Zealand’s most popular “great walks”. So glad we were able to make this journey! Tomorrow is a rest day while we travel to Picton where we’ll start our next “great walk”: the Queen Charlotte Track. Another view of those giant ferns overlooking Onetahui Ba...