Category Archives: Uncategorized

After lunch at the Wild Walnut Café we left the town of Lawrence, crossed a big river, and began driving through miles of farmland. There were fruit trees and fruit stands (New Zealanders call them fruit stalls): pears, apples, apricots … Continue reading

We had a rather leisurely drive from Portobello to Arrowtown. But before leaving Portobello we walked along the bay not far from the motel to look for the Sacred Kingfisher. Taren had seen it while the rest of us were … Continue reading

Raining. We went to a museum in Dunedin and spent the morning there. It was very interesting but of course I could have used more time. I bought two little bird models for the youngest grandchildren for their birthdays. They … Continue reading

Twice this year I’ve been able to see petroglyphs, actually see them, rather than viewing pictures. I am awed to see the results of the creative urge, the artistic impulse, in such early inhabitants of our planet. Twenty-five million years … Continue reading

After eating lunch along the trail (trails in New Zealand are called tracks so we had walked along the Hooker Valley Track at Mt. Cook), we returned to the parking lot where we saw a redpoll and the pictured Paradise … Continue reading

This was our Mt. Cook day. After a big buffet breakfast (dinners were buffet too) at our motel (MacKenzie Country Inn in Twizel) we drove to a place where we could purchase lunch to take with us and then to … Continue reading

November 19th “No overtaking trucks while they are in the tunnel”. This sounds like good advice to me and was posted on a sign just outside of Kaikoura along a two-lane highway. This was a long day of mostly riding in … Continue reading

Have I mentioned I need Dramamine for ocean trips? And probably merry-go-rounds? The water this day (November 18th) was quite rough and choppy. We were in a little boat, just our group, and the captain bounced us out –whump- whump- … Continue reading

The snowy mountains seemed to be pulling morning light from the sky—alpenglow! We’d awakened at 5:30 and a glance out the window showed faint pink, reason to throw on clothes, grab my camera and cross the street to the beach. … Continue reading

Creel Lodge was surrounded by shrubs with brightly colored blossoms. Brightly colored blossoms glistening with raindrops! We arrived the night before around 7:00 and were eating dinner by 7:30. We donned raingear and walked along the river trail first thing … Continue reading