New Zealand Adventure 2011

Late night arrival in Auckland, so we just stayed at an airport hotel, the Sudima Auckland Airport Hotel. It did the job.

Perfectly fine place to stay for a quick night before our flight to Christchurch the next morning.

Took helicopter to White Island, using Vulcan Helicopters with Pilot/Tour Guide Ross. First time on an active volcano. Amazing experience, and we were the only 3 people on the entire volcano. 

Early day, as we drove 15 minutes to Manapouri for the kayaking trip on Doubtful Sound. The trip took all day. It started with a 45-minute boat trip across Lake Manapouri, then a 20-minute bus trip on a gravel road down to Doubtful Sound, where we boarded 2-man kayaks. Doubtful Sound was so beautiful, and seeing it from a kayak was even better. We paddled under dripping waterfalls and saw a few Little Blue penguins along the way. Sand flies were as pesky and plentiful as mosquitoes, so bug spray definitely helped.

Long drive from Te Anau to the Otago Peninsula. Stayed in the little town of Portobello, near Dunedin. We chose Portobello because it's near penguin nesting grounds.  Little Blue penguins come back to their nests at dusk. The Pilots Beach nesting ground was just 20 minutes away, and they showed up right on cue, swimming up to the beach in a group of about 15-20, and making their way to their nests. The next morning we took a tour of another nearby penguin nesting area with Nature's Wonders, a company operated by a family that owns land on the coast of the Otago Peninsula. Our guide drove us in a little 8WD vehicle similar to a golf cart, but much more sturdy for the bumpy paths through the property. The guide drove us to a cliff where we could see cormorants nesting. Next we went by an area full of New Zealand fur seals. At the next stop, we were at a steep beach cliff where penguins nest.  Little Blues and Yellow-Eyed penguins use this area.  The guide took us into a wooden tunnel "hide" where we looked through little windows to see a rare Yellow-Eyed in its nest. We also saw Little Blues nesting, one with a newly hatched chick.  Great tour.
 

Larnach Castle is in this area so we decided to check it out and were really glad we did. Built in the 1800s, it had fallen into disrepair after a few changes in ownership. The current owners have restored it very well.  The gardens were beautiful, full with familiar and unfamiliar plants. An arbor in front was created to perfectly line up a view of a mountain in the distance. Inside, much of the original furniture remained. Some of the ornamental floor tiles were missing, but other than that, everything seemed to be intact.

As we headed north, we stopped to see Moeraki Boulders, which were big globe-shaped boulders sitting on the beach. Erosion of rock and minerals left these boulders. Interesting sight.

After renting the camper at the Christchurch airport, we took off for Akaroa, a beautiful little French village on the Banks Peninsula. After settling in at the holiday park, we walked into town in search of dinner. We discovered a great little place called The French Bistro, with only about 10 tables.  Fantastic dinner of grouper and ribeye.

Found a holiday park right on the beach and stayed overnight.

Leaving Fox Glacier, we drove south toward Queenstown. The drive was so beautiful, with the road taking us by Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea.  The area was so amazing that we decided to stop short of Queenstown, and stay in the small town of Lake Wanaka instead. The holiday park there had a fantastic view of the lake and surrounding mountains.

That afternoon we drove to Te Anau. Plenty of shops to explore, then we stopped in a place called The Grill for a beer. Te Anau was a perfect place to overnight before our kayaking trip on Doubtful Sound the next day.

Drove further north to Oamaru, and went to the Blue Penguin Colony. They have a grandstand for watching the penguins as they return to their nests at dusk. There's also a self-guided tour, which was pretty cool because they have hundreds of little wooden nesting boxes that penguins actually use. You could see the penguins in the nests without disturbing them. The tour area was adjacent to a great track that lead along the ocean. More penguins were living in nests along the trail, as well as more cormorants and sheep. Great find!  Next we found a holiday park right next to the Oamaru Public Gardens. They were beautiful, as were most we'd seen on this trip. These gardens also had several aviaries with colorful and noisy birds.