Sealife Central

A rainy afternoon in Auckland and so we headed over to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Centre and Underwater Encounter to meet the penguins and the sting rays.



More fishy portraits here...

NZ from the Air

Fantastic views from the plane again today.

First up a good view of the Canterbury river estuary looking a bit sunnier than when we visited with Mark.



Next, the snow-capped Kaikoura Ranges, two parallel rows of mountains at the north of the south island, somewhere still on the list of places to visit.



And finally, Raglan - with the good surf which was missing when K&B visited.



For more airborne shots, click here.

Thinking Lincoln

Lincoln University is 22km outside Christchurch - the Garden City - and is an agricultural college. So it's hardly surprising that the campus had some impressive gardens.

The Liffey

Had just enough time for a short stroll down to Lincoln Township where I found the River Liffey - lovely but not much in common with its namesake though.

Lincoln Sunrises

A week of beautiful blue skies whilst I was stuck indoors but at least the sunrises kept getting better and better.

Busy Bee

There's going to be no more blogging for a week or two as I head off to Christchurch for an intensive training course.



Check back in September for updates.

Beyond the Silver Fern

The silver fern - or ponga, which graces the All Blacks jersey, is probably New Zealand's best known plant.



However, there are many other ferns, mosses and epiphytes creeping up the trunks of the bigger trees. Here's a selection of some of the ones that I found during a recent walk to Bridal Veil Falls.

Bridal Veil Falls

Some more shots from our weekend in Raglan - this time at the very well-named Bridal Veil Falls, just out of town.

Rain in Raglan

Another wet day in Raglan so had breakfast at a cafe before driving north via Pokeno Market where we stocked up on fresh vegetables and Turkish bread for the week ahead.



Katie and Brendon went on to Waitomo where it wouldn't be raining in the caves.

More photos of our weekend here.

View from a Canoe

No waves in Raglan today so we went for a paddle in the estuary rather than attempting to surf.

Seafood III

And it wasn't all marine life at Maori Bay last week. On the cliffs, we found these fantastic creepers.

Seafood II

I'd only ever seen a starfish once before and so was a bit overwhelmed to see all of these creatures at Maori Bay last week!

Seafood I

Plenty of life down on the beach at Maori Bay last week. These mussels looked very tempting but were pretty small - will have to go back later to collect them...

Black Sands

Auckland has grown up in an area with more than 50 volcanoes. So it's not surprising that the west coast beaches are covered in black volcanic sand which makes for some striking patterns.

Sheepworld!

A return visit to Sheepworld this afternoon, five years after being stranded there for three days in our Heap of Junk campervan.



Good fun was had by all. We fed the donkeys and alpaca, gave the pigs a good scratch and stroked a possum's nose. Herding, sorting and shearing sheep was demonstrated by an Englishman before James had a go at the shearing and Katie fed a little black lamb with a bottle.

Tiritiri Matangi

Had a wonderfully sunny day on Tiritiri Matangi and saw heaps of birds - tuis, stitchbirds, bellbirds, takahe, whitehead, kereru, kakariki... Pretty much everything apart from the kiwis which were fast asleep.

Horses Up North

A trip to Northland today for some horse trekking at the very picturesque Pakiri Beach. We rode up and down the sands and through the dunes in glorious sunshine. We saw a gannet fishing and oyster catchers digging. I didn't manage to trot though - I was bounced around in the saddle like a sack of potatoes!

Greeting the Gannets

Took Katie over to Muriwai Beach this afternoon to see the gannets which have recently arrived from Australia. Having completed their Big OE, the birds have returned to their roots to couple up and produce their chicks.

The nesting areas are on top of a rock stack and part way down the cliffs.


The birds were just settling in, cleaning themselves up and having a rest after their long flight.


Some of them were getting to know each other...


...whilst some of the males had already taken a dislike to each other...


But it was difficult to tell what some of the birds were doing - maybe they were simply hanging out...


More photos of the Wild West Coast online here...

Tall Poppy Syndrome

New Zealand has something of a paranoia about tall poppies - those successful people who rise above the pack.

But these pink poppies were doing well in Cornwall Park last weekend.

Springtime

The Sunny South

Attempting to dodge the rain, we headed south yesterday to Beachlands on the Pohutukawa Coast where we found lots of sun and scenery nothing like that for which South Auckland is famed...

More pictures online here...

Weather Incoming

In Auckland, if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes. On the top of One Tree Hill this afternoon, we were just on the edge of the rain.

The city was getting a soaking...


But the west of Auckland, on the other side of the crater, was basking in glorious sunshine.


Unfortunately the rain reached us just as we descended...

White Rabbits!

Mostly wet today but we did have a little stroll outside with Uncle Geoff and saw a real brown rabbit racing across the next section.