South Island Snap Shots

We have been blessed for the last 10 days to be traveling around NZ with our three children, Tamsin, Sebastian, and Tristan.  We flew to the South Island and covered more than 2000 kilometers, starting from Christchurch, making our way down through the “Southern Alps” to Milford Sound, and then back across to the Pacific coast. Here are a few of our favorite sightings.

Hector Dolphins in Akaroa Bay in the Banks Peninsula

We took a sailing boat tour out into the harbour where these rare, endangered dolphins congregate and had the delight of watching them “surf” the bow wave of the yacht. At 1.8 meters long, they are the smallest saltwater dolphins. Watch this video to get a sense of how graceful they are!

Largest Mountain, Smallest Bird

Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in NZ. We did a 10 kilometer hike up a valley to where we could dip our hands in a glacial lake (brrrr) and then later in the afternoon Mike and the three kids did another hike to see the Tasman Glacier while Marsha rested at a hut. While resting, Marsha encountered a Rifleman Bird – New Zealand’s smallest bird. This small wren and her partner had a nest with two chicks tucked away under the eaves of the tramping hut.

Rob Roy Glacier in Mt. Aspiring National Park

Another 10 kilometer hike in Mt. Aspiring National Park took us up to a fantastic alpine viewpoint of Rob Roy Glacier.  We could view at least 15 waterfalls from the resting place at the top of the hike!

Fiords and Parrots in Southland

That little white dot in the middle is a ship with about 100 people on board! These cliffs are HIGH!

On Tristan’s 27th birthday we drove to Milford Sound, the only New Zealand fiord on the southwest coast that is accessible by road. Incredible alpine scenery on the road in, and mind-bogglingly high cliffs viewed from the boat ride. It hadn’t rained in Milford Sound for nearly three weeks, so the waterfalls were “small” — but they were still mighty impressive!  On the road back from Milford Sound we stopped at the Homer Tunnel overlook (at about 950 meters above sea level). There we enjoyed the antics of Keas – the only alpine parrot species in the world. They are very inquisitive, and even tried to get inside someone’s camper van!

Bungy Jumping

NZ is where bungy jumping began, and we spent quite a while watching folks shell out $200 for a quick adrenaline high!  I got a video of a complete stranger jumping and yoyoing on the bungy cord. The folks selling this experience also had a sense of humor, as you could tell from the bathroom signs!

Unicycles

Along the way we came across many signs to the bicycle trails that crisscross south island, including the Otago Central Rail Trail and the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail. What we did not imagine was that anyone would undertake such a trail on a unicycle. This photo was taken at the head of the Hooker Valley (Mt. Cook). He was the last of a large group of unicyclists!

Tyre Change or 2

It’s a long story, so here is the shortened version. As we were fording shallow streams toward the head of the Rob Roy trail we passed a car with 2 flat tyres. This was an ‘unsealed’ road and both left-side tyres were as flat as pancakes, presumably done in by the gravel, large and small. Other cars had stopped to help so we passed on by.  This was in the morning. By late afternoon, we were back to the parking lot from our wonderful hike to the foot of the Rob Roy glacier (see above). We recognized the couple from the car with the flat tyres. They were still stranded and so we became the good samaritans to Niels and Anna from Belgium. They had never changed a tyre before. So we used their spare for one and ours for the other, and they got to civilization. Once they had parked at a garage (of course, it was Sunday and so closed), we retrieved our spare. They were effusive in their thanks and we enjoyed that evening their gift of a bottle of wine.

Distilling Spirits

And finally (for now) a favorite of the kids. Going to the Cardrona Distillery. This is a young distillery, only 2 years old, and since whiskey is not whiskey until it has aged at least 3 years, they are building the brand and not selling yet. However, you can buy your own cask of future whiskey for only $12,500! We had a lovely tour and here you can see us tasting their vodkas and liqueurs.

Stay tuned — we’ll add more information about our trip later!