November 25: Lake Tekapo to Oamaru

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 share pictures with you.

Lake Tekapo’s iconic landmark, the Church of the
Good Shepherd

Sylvia in a field of lupine on the shores
of Lake Tekapo. These plants are invasive
and the NZ government is working on
eradicating them. So sad as they are so beautiful. 












View of Lake Tekapo with mountains in the distance

Another view of Lake Tekapo









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

November 24: Christchurch to Lake Tekapo

Image
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...
Read more

November 18: Bus Ride - Picton to Christchurch

Image
 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
Read more

November 22-23: Wellington Sightseeing with Porteous Family

Image
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...
Read more