Friday, January 28, 2011

Wildlife Extravaganza

Since we left Milford Sound we have been fortunate to see so much marine wildlife and some crazy birds, including as we mentioned the kiwi on Stewart Island. We are currently in Dunedin and spent yesterday out on Otago Peninsula where we saw blue penguins and a royal albatross colony. Since the weather isnt great today we are checking out the museum and then heading to a brewery tour. We have met up with a friend we met in Africa last year while in Dunedin which was a pretty great part of this stop.
Here are some of the most recent pics...

Sawdust Bay on Stewart Island


The eel Chad helped catch....yes we did eat it

Mason's Bay - Most beautiful beach


Kiwi!!! After a search in the middle of the night, we found one!
The Catlins - Slope point

Yellow-eyed penguin in Curio Bay (The Catlins)


Hector Dolphins in Purpoise Bay - We sat on the shore for about 4 hours watching these dolphins play in the surf. Look closely there are dolphins in the waves...
 


Sunday, January 23, 2011

Stewart Island

Stewart Island was incredible!!!! Saw a kiwi after some intense middle of the night searching....more to come next time we are one...

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

In Search of Kiwis...

Tomorrow we leave for Stewart Island in search of the cute little kiwi, New Zealand's national bird. It can be seen all over New Zealand but is very rare and is best seen on the island. It is a nocturnal bird so we are going to be up in the middle of night searching for it. We will be in the island for about 5 days before starting up the east coast. We have scheduled in the superbowl in Queenstown, maybe before we jump off a bridge or do something else slightly insane there.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Milford Sound

We just finished the Milford Track, a 4 day and 33 mile hike, through Fiordland National Park. It was incredible and we met so many amazing people from all over the world. We are going to spend the next few days in Fiordland before heading down further south to Stewart Island.
Here are some pics so far...

Queen Charlotte Sound - From Picton

Fur Seal in Abel Tasman



Island Stop in Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman

Curious fur seal right beside our kayak

Pancake Rocks along the West coast

Lake Hawea - Cutest little town in New Zealand's southern alps

BBQ in Lake Hawea

Driving into Mt. Aspiring National Park

Rob Roy Glacier in Mt. Aspiring National Park - We got to see snow in January!


Milford Track - Glacier formed river, it was freezing!

Milford Track - Summit of Mt. McKinnon

Summit of Mt. McKinnon

Curious Kea bird

One of the many beautiful waterfalls on the Milford Track

Milford Sound Cruise

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Wanaka

We are in Wanaka, a small town on the south island. We have been travelling for just over a week on the South Island and its amazing! It has exceeded all our expectations and there is still so much more to come. So far we kayaked with seals, hiked a glacier and drove/hiked through the Southern New Zealand Alps! We are starting our 4 day trek through Milford Sound tomorrow with a day cruise on the last day into the sound. Then heading further south.
The south island is so beautiful and very relaxed, we would recommend it to anyone.
Next time we are in a bigger city we will post another round of pics!

Hope all is well back home
Love Ashley and Chad

The Lost Years

 The lost years cover from 2020 until current day. I feel like we did really well during the pandemic to keep up our travels. I stopped post...