I had troubles creating the captions for this gallery, so here's a little information on these photos. The whale watching expedition took place at Kaikoura, just north of Christchurch, where unusual geography makes the waters very deep quite close to shore. Sperm whales feed here throughout the year in the 800-1000 meter deep sea.

In Wellington, we went downtown on the train to Te Papa, the national museum, and spent the day. One of the highlights was the Lord of the Rings exhibit, originally scheduled to leave NZ for Europe and the US in March, but fortunately for us, the exhibit was extended through the middle of April.

After passing the statue of the huntaway, NZ's own breed of herding dogs, we stayed in Ohakune near Tongariro National Park and went on a hike past Mt Ruapehu to a spectacular falls. On the way back to the car, we were treated to a wonderful sunset, which we enjoyed until we realized . . . hey, it was pitch dark and we needed to get on back down the mountain!