One of the absolute best things about living in a country for 6 months is the opportunity to spread travel in the country out so you don't always feel like you're rushing from one spot to the other and trying to fit everything in without missing places that are 'must-see items.'

Since the kids didn't start in school until the end of January, and since Tam wasn't doing any work for the University of Otago until their semester began in February, we tried to see a few places on the South Island shortly after we arrived and got settled in our house in Dunedin. We looked at places we wanted to go, and decided to head west from Dunedin. Mark Joyce at the Penguin Place in Dunedin helped us out by finding some quick accommodations for us - what a guy!

Jan 15-20 - Central Otago and West Coast
Wed - Drive to Te Anau, stay at the Rose n Reel homestay on a deer farm outside of Te Anau
Thur - Drive to Mannapouri, get on the boat to cross Lake Mannapouri to pick up the bus that will take us to Deep Arm on Doubtful Sound. Board the Real Journey's Fjordland Navigator for our overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound. See bottlenose dolphins, hector's dolphins, NZ fur seals, yellow crested penguins while on the 70-passenger ship and kayak around in the evening in Precipice Cove. Sleep in a 4-bunk berth on board.
Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon - Get off the ship, drive to Lake Hawea Station, a working sheep station with over 10,000 merino sheep. They also have 2 old musterer's bunkhouses that they've converted to homestays, so we were there for the next 3 nights. We headed over to the west coast down the Haast Pass, stopping to go jet-boating along the Wilkins River near Aspiring National Park. We went to Neels Beach and Jackson's Bay along the Tasman Sea. On Sun, we hiked around the sheep station, marveling at the rugged country and spectacular views. On Monday, we went to Wanaka to see Puzzling World and then headed home. A great first trip!

Jan 24-27 - Stewart Island
Fri - We headed out for Stewart Island, NZ's smallest island, off the far south coast. After touring part of the Scenic Southern Route and seeing the sea lions at Nugget Point, we boarded the 5pm ferry for the hour long ride across the Foyeux Strait - wow, that is a rough one! We stayed at another homestay, overlooking the harbor at Half Moon Bay.
Sat - We hiked all around the part of the island near Half Moon Bay.
Sun - We spent the day at Ulva Island, a small sanctuary off Stewart Island where all of the rats, cats, and stoats have been killed in order to allow the native bird population to return. Lots of birds, including wekas, kakas, tuis, fantails, oyster catchers, and red crowned parakeets.
Mon - Headed home, back across the strait

Jan 30, Feb 1, Feb 15- Dunedin beaches
Thur the 30th- We live about a 10-minute walk from St Clair beach here in Dunedin - long stretches of surf and sand, lots of gulls, terns, etc.
Sat the 1st- Our first trip to Tunnel Beach, about 20 minutes from our house. A great walk across cliffs and sheep pastures to reach a hidden tunnel carved by a landowner last century so his children could get access to the ocean from his cliff side home.
Sat the 15th - We headed out to hike up to the Sandymount summit and then around through the pastures to Lovers Leap and the Chasm.

Feb 6 - Waitangi Day on the Peninsula
Waitangi Day is a national holiday, so we headed out to the Otago Peninsula, which begins about 5 minutes from our house. We drove the Taori Head, the tip of the peninsula, to see the only mainland spot in the world where royal albatrosses breed. Watched Hooker's sea lions, shags, etc., off the cliffs, then headed down the peninsula to hike out to the Pyramids and walk along Victory Beach - got lucky and saw a rare yellow eyed penguin! In the afternoon, we headed to the Dept of Conservation public penguin hide at Sandfly Bay to wait for penguins to come home from the sea - got lucky again, then headed up the steep dunes for home.

Feb 16 - Waitame and the Moerkai Boulders
Sat - We headed about 2 hours north from Dunedin along the east coast to see Waitame, where they have lots of berries and a place with wallabies. After feeding them, we came back to Dunedin and stopped at the Moerkai Boulders, a geological formation along the coast where rocks have formed near-perfect spherical shapes, so they sit there in the surf looking like so many huge marbles.

Feb 23 - The Catlins on the southern coast
Sat - We hadn't really explored the Catlins when we went to Stewart Island, so we drove south toward Invercargill on Rte 1 until we could take the Southern Scenic Route through the Catlins. Lots of great waterfalls - Purakaunui Falls, Matai Falls, Horseshoe Falls, McLean Falls - spectacular.

Feb 28 - Botanical Gardens
Fri - Dunedin has wonderful Botanical Gardens downtown, so we spent the evening roaming the trails, climbing the hills, and watching all the birds in the aviary.

Mar 1-2 - Dundedin attractions - the Highlanders, the beach, Mt Cargill
Sat - We went to our second Highlanders rugby game at Carisbrook, their stadium, which is about a 20 minute walk from our house. So hot, so we took off and headed for the beach, where Sara and Tam tried out their new wetsuits (the water is freezing!). Nice to see things without having to drive anywhere!
Sun - Mt Cargill is the highest mountain surrounding Dunedin at about 680 meters, so we struck out and got to the trailhead in the morning (it was also about 20 minutes from our house) and spent the day climbing to the peak, crossing the Organ Pipes and Butter Peak in the process.

Mar 7-9 - Queenstown for Joe's birthday
Fri - Drove to Queenstown right after school - stayed in a family unit at the Pinewood Lodge near downtown, so we walked all around on a lovely summer's night.
Sat - Action Day. Joe bungee-jumped off the Kawaru River Bridge, the orginal AJ Hackett bungee site. Gondola ride up to Bob's Peak with the luge rides up there. Tam, Joe and Sara went paragliding off the Coronet Peak in the afternoon while I went mountain biking.
Sun - We drove up to Glenorchy to take the Dart River Safari - a 4wd van ride up the Dart River, a short hike, and jet boating back down. Spectacular. Then headed home through Arrowtown and Central Otago.

Mar 16-20 - Parents visit
Mom and Dad stopped to stay with us during their trip to NZ - great to see them, of course.
Mon - Tunnel Beach and the Botanic Gardens.
Tues - Dunedin, including Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world.
Wed - Out on the peninsula to take the tour at Taioroa Head and the albatross center, then watched seals on Pilot's Beach, then watched yellow eyed penguins at Penguin Place, then hiked out to Lover's Leap on Sandymount. That was plenty for Dad, I think. They took the train to Queenstown on Thursday.

April 5 - Taieri River Mouth Gorge Trail
Sat - Along the south coast, the Taieri River empties into the ocean about 30 minutes from Dunedin. So we hiked the 11km trail, which follows the river inland over a nice mix of tidal flats, native bush, and steep dry gorge views.

April 11 - 25 - Trip to the North Island and the northern part of the South Island
The children had 2 weeks off from school for the end of their first term. We figured this would be our only chance to see some things on the North Island, since it is a good day's drive to get to the ferry crossing at Picton.

Fri - Headed north after school to Christchurch, the South Island's largest city, about 5 hours from Dunedin.
Sat - Went north to Kaikoura, along the coast about 2 hours from Christchurch, to board a whale watching ship. Because the coast is so steep, the water gets to 800 or 1000 meters deep fairly close to shore, so many whales live in the area - we saw 3 sperm whales, which was great! Then headed to Picton, another 2 hours away, to board the 5pm ferry to Wellington. Crossed at night and got to our motel at about 9:30 at night.
Sun - In Wellington, we spent the day at Te Papa, the national museum - wonderful, with a highlight that the terrific Lord of the Rings exhibit was extended for a couple of weeks, so we were able to see it.
Mon - Headed north to Tongariro National Park, filled with volcanos. Took an evening hike out to Waitonga Falls. Great sunset and views of snow capped Mt Ruapehu.
Tues - Took a nice long 17km hike through the volcanic landscape to the Tamas Lakes, with lots of views of Ruapehu and cone-shaped Mt Ngauruhoe.
Wed - Headed north toward Rotorua, but stopped at the the Craters of the Moon and the Thermal Wonderland at Wai-o-tapu to see geysers, fumaroles, boiling mud, sulfur caves, and the largest limestone terraces in the southern hemisphere. In the evening, we went to a Maori dinner at Tamaki Maori Village, which included dinner (the hangi), a concert (the haka), and demonstrations of Maori culture, which is centered in the Rotorua area.
Thur - Stayed in Rotorua to see the Agrodome to learn about sheep breeds, shearing, and dog work, then went to the Buried Village - the remains of a village buried by a volcanic eruption in 1886.
Fri - Left Rotorua for a tour of Hobbiton, in Matamata, about an hour from Rotorura. A good 2-hour tour of the location where the shire was constructed for LOTR. Then we headed southwest to Otorohanga, where we were spending the night outside of Waitamo.
Sat - Up at 5am to get ready to go abseiling in the Waitamo Caves. A 100 meter abseil down into a cave, followed by some dry cave exploration and then a 30 meter ladder climb back out. Absolutely terrific. After lunch, we had a good drive south (along the windiest route I've ever driven - you don't often see signs that say 'Curvy road - next 55km') to Wanganui.
Sun - Headed to Wellington to take the noon ferry back to the South Island - beauty weather, so we got to see the islands, the Cook Strait, and Queen Charlotte Sound. After arriving in Picton, we headed through Nelson toward Motueka.
Mon - Just a few minutes drive to Abel Tasman National Park, where we spent the morning sea-kayaking off Kaiteriteri Beach - excellent. Hiked in the afternoon along the coastal track.
Tues - Drove south from Abel Tasman to Greymouth after walking across the longest swing bridge in NZ. Stopped at the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki to see Dolomite Point and the Truman Track, which were unlike any rock formation I'd ever seen. Then headed south again along the west coast of the South Island to Franz Josef - spectacular double rainbows along the way!
Wed - Got up early to spend the day hiking on the Franz Josef Glacier, one of only 4 glaciers in the world that go into a temperate zone (the others include the Fox Glacier, just down the road, and 2 in Patagonia). Wonderful day with ice axes, leather boots with steel crampons, lots of ice, lots of fun. 3 of us were asleep by 9 that night!
Thur - Headed back through Haast and the Haast Pass to Wanaka, where we spent the night overlooking the lake. Hiked Mt Iron in the evening.
Fri - Home through Central Otago on Anzac Day - I think the Wanaka area is our favorite place in New Zealand.

May 11 - Larnach Castle on the peninsula
In the late 19th century, William Larnach built a castle on the Otago Peninsula with materials from all over the world. We toured it on Mothers Day.
Larnach Castle

June 8 - Otago Peninsula (visit from my sister Lin and her husband Frank)
A rainy start to the day, but in what is our last trip to the peninsula, we got very lucky. On the drive out down Portobello Road, we saw at least 150 black swans out in the harbor. At Tairora Head, we saw lots of shags, NZ fur seals, and a good number of albatrosses flying over head. The rain held off so we headed out for a hike along Sandymount. First, we climbed to the summit for a nice view up and down the coast, then we took the loop around Lovers Leap and the Chasm. After a quick but exciting stop at the public loo in Portobello, it was time to head toward Sandfly Bay and the penguin hide.

We arrived at about 4pm and started down the long dunes to the beach. In the surf and along the shore, Hooker sea lions lolled about, so we gave them a wide berth (although some tourists from the UK went dangerously close). We arrived in the hide at about 4:30 - 2 yellow eyed penguins had already come ashore, but the UK guys were walking right up to the area where the penguins swim in - penguins are very shy and won't come ashore if they see people (hence, the penguin hide!). Joe went down and told them to clear out. They did, and after a bit, penguins started trooping in, 1 or 2 at a time. Eventually, we watched about 15 penguins come ashore and start up the cliffs where they spend the night. All in all, a lovely day on the peninsula!

June 11-13 - Queenstown with Lin and Frank
In our final trip to Queenstown, where we planned to celebrate Sara's birthday, Lin and Frank joined us from Te Anau. We arrived on a clear cold afternoon after touring a bit through the goldfields along the Kawarau River in Central Otago, home of large goldfields dating back to the 1860's. We met Lin and Frank for dinner at Sombrero's, a good Mexican restaurant in Queenstown, and headed to our accommodations at Pinewood Lodge, where we had what was basically a small 3 BR house for $135/night - worked out great.

On Thursday, Sara had wanted to go horseback riding for her birthday, so we arranged to go up to Glenorchy to ride for 2 hours along the Dart and Rees Rivers. It was chilly, with frost and fog all around. We headed out around 10am for an eerie ride - the fog never cleared, so we didn't see the magnificent views, but the willows and scrub were covered in a heavy frost - spectacular.

In the afternoon, Lin and Frank went jet boating while we saw our first kiwis at the birdhouse near the gondola. Sara decided that yes, she did want to bungy jump after all, so we headed out to AJ Hackett's on the Kawarau River, and after a bit of indecision, she made the big plunge toward the icy river! Very exciting! On Friday, things never worked out for a helicopter ride or rafting, but Lin, Frank, Sara, and I took the gondola up to Bob's Peak while Tam and Joe went on the 109 meter Canyon River Swing over the Shotover River - lots of fun. We headed home, arriving after dark and tired, before Lin and Frank took off on Saturday for Auckland.