Author Archives: Susy

  Yesterday Tom and I drove to Green Island, a couple of miles northeast of Coburg, so that I could help with a 7:15 a.m.  bird walk during an all-day event organized by the McKenzie River Trust, a non-profit land … Continue reading

We were back in Auckland for a couple of days before heading home. This extra time made a nice break from being scheduled because of our tour although it also meant we had to figure out things on our own. … Continue reading

  Riding the ferryboat from Stewart Island back to the South Island I entertained myself by reading, and jotting down, information posted on the boat for passengers to peruse. Additional information that I have looked up appears in italics. 1. … Continue reading

At 9:00 p.m. a fire alarm sounded and a pre-recorded voice told us to evacuate. November 28th and it had been another long day. We met just before 8 a.m. and rode in the motel van from our motel on … Continue reading

November 27, 2014 Breakfast in our room this morning and then we met a few minutes before 8:00 out in front of the motel to walk about half a mile to the boat dock with the rain blowing sideways from … Continue reading

The right wing of the small airplane pointed nearly straight down toward the wet, green trees. All that existed in that brief moment of potential death was the wing of the plane—in brilliant detail–and a foot or so below the … Continue reading

Milford Sound is actually a fiord, formed from glacial action, rather than a sound, which is wider and more like a bay. Sounds are often formed by seas filling river valleys. The 14-mile Sound (fiord) is named after Milford Haven … Continue reading

Raining! So nice yesterday but a different story when we got up this morning. First overcast, then raining off and on and then RAINING. Milford Sound day. I had rain pants in my daypack but didn’t put them on. Should … Continue reading

After visiting the beech tree forest in Mt. Aspiring National Park and witnessing the falcon attack, we headed back to the small town of Glenorchy where we stopped at a little cafe and  ordered sandwiches to go.  The place was … Continue reading

 After leaving Arrowtown and going through Queenstown we drove along Lake Wakatipu, a finger lake formed 15,000 years ago by retreating glaciers. The lake is very narrow, long (84 km-52 miles), and deep (339 meters—1,112 feet) with mountains rising straight … Continue reading