Tag: New Zealand

  • Wellington, Volcanoes, & Geothermal Wonders

    After a lovely morning drive along the coast, we caught the Interisland Ferry from Picton to Wellington. Staying at the Agnes House Farm, a 1906 restored farm house full of character, we enjoyed the chooks who were hiding their eggs, aloof alpacas, native brush, and so much birdsong – happy to have the morepork (ruru)…

  • Physical Education Class: Making up for Time on the Water

    Heading north to the Dunedin area, we parked for the night at a beachside Freedom Camp near the end of the Otago Peninsula, where we spotted a male sea lion resting in the sand during our evening walk. One of the highlights of our trip was a nighttime little blue penguin tour—there’s nothing cuter than…

  • The Healing Power of Nature: Milford Sound and the Catlins

    Back to our caravan in Queenstown after our drive from Dunedin, we tucked into 12 Mile Delta Campground outside of Queenstown (featured as Ithilien in LOTR). I took time with my cup of coffee and had an excellent meditative morning. It can be an interesting gift to talk with one’s mortality, reflecting on the best…

  • Schist Happens

    But first, the adventures before…Three nights at Glendhu Bay Holiday Park on the shores of Lake Wanaka allowed us to explore this area to the max.  Was the extremely bumpy washboard road and river fords to the 10km Rob Roy Glacier Track worth it? An emphatic YES! And we were treated to a road-grader smoothing…

  • Rivers of Ice Flowing into Subtropical Forests

    We were relieved that we could fill up on fresh drinking water at the Arthur’s Pass Visitor Center and buy gasoline at the local store, as we were depleted in both. A curious Kea (an alpine parrot) bounced around outside the café in front of signs that read, “Please do not feed the Keas,” as…

  • “I’m going on an adventure!”

    We head out on a 2-month New Zealand road trip, a combination of tent camping, caravan-towing, and Air BnBs. The car packed to the brim, we left only one hour after planned…on our 5-hour drive to Hobbiton in Matamata. Hobbit: “Bilbo, where you off to?” Bilbo Baggins: “I’m already late.” Hobbit: “Late for what?” Bilbo…

  • Boatwork in Exotic Locations

    One oft repeated phrases is “cruising is boat work in exotic locations.”  Cruising also involves play and exploration in exotic locations, but there is a constant background of boat maintenance with intermittent large projects.  I am taking a break from our regularly scheduled program of boat fun to bring you…boat work! We pulled into Opua…

  • Northland New Zealand: New Year 2025

    Matai Bay on the Kerikeri Peninsula, the furthest north we would venture in the Northland, turned out to be the perfect location for a New Year’s gathering for 8 kid boats, as well as a secure sandy anchorage for winds that hit 42 knots. Calder was stoked to wing foil daily. The beach was perfect…

  • Christmas & Maori Lands

    Who uses solar-powered Christmas lights? The southern hemisphere where it’s sunny summer in December!  Christmas here is not commercialized (perhaps as it is a majority secular country? summertime?) and it is focused on spending time with family outdoors, camping and having a BBQ in the warm weather. We went to a Christmas parade in Paihia,…

  • Camping & Anchoring in Northland, New Zealand

    We kicked off December by a “shake-down” camping overnight to nearby Whananaki.  We walked the “Longest Footbridge in the Southern Hemisphere” at 395 metres, which was constructed in 1947, enabling the children living in Whananki South to attend school in Whananaki North.  Previously the schoolteacher rowed a boat across the estuary twice a day to…