Christchurch is noted as one of the driest areas of New Zealand, nestled on the east coast at the edge of the Canterbury plain. Apparently there is on average 5 days of rain January, we were there for 6 of them! The last time we visited Christchurch was 1999, and
Leaving Greymouth, our next stop was Diamond Harbour, about 45 minutes from Christchurch on the other side of Lyttelton Harbour. Our route took us through Arthurs Pass, that according to our friend Sarah, is one of the must see places in New Zealand. Sarah was right! To get across the
Our AirBnB just outside of Greymouth was perfect for exploring up and down the west coast. We headed up towards Westport on Saturday with a planned stop at the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. The rock formations are the result of uplifted limestone and water erosion. At high tide and with
We’re about halfway through our stay in Rapahoe, about 10 minutes north of Greymouth. The weather has been typical west coast summer, cool, some rain, but not much wind and there’s a lot to see and do. Wednesday, after getting the grocery shopping out of the way, we
We left Castlepoint early to make sure we had plenty of time to get to Wellington to catch our ferry to the South Island. We did find out what at least one of the emergency sirens we heard was for. Along the road from Castlepoint to Masterton, a power line
It’s Sunday January 11th, just after 10:00 am and the wind is gusting 40+ knots (80 kph). The AirBnB we’re in, is at the top of the hill and the back is exposed directly to the SW winds that have been blowing hard for the past few
We said goodbye to Palmerston North on January 3rd and headed to Wellington, about 2 hours south. First stop was to visit with friends we used to sail with. It’s been awhile since we got together and re-uniting was welcome. We’re looking forward to seeing them again
We’ve spent a bit of time travelling out from Palmerston North as we wind down the year. Sunday, we went with our friends over to the Wairapa to visit a couple of wineries, have a nice lunch and enjoy the scenery. I’s about a 2 hour drive, made
Merry Christmas from Palmerston North! The weather today is sunny and 22. Lovely day, not too hot, perfect for a traditional Christmas lamb BBQ. When we first came to NZ in 1996, we spent our first Christmas tenting in Penny Spencer’s back yard in Palmerston North. They have a
There are a couple of routes south from Lake Taupo, but the most scenic is on State Highway 1 across the Desert Rd. This is an alpine desert and when the weather is clear the views are stunning. This is one of our all time favourite drives. Leaving Lake Taupo,
We said goodbye to Waiheke Island on Friday morning. It really is beautiful and if you’re ever in NZ it’s worth a day trip to see the sights, or if you have the time, a longer stay to explore the beaches. Be warned, the car ferry isn’t
We took the car ferry over to Waiheke Island on Sunday to spend some time with one of our adopted whanau. Whanau is a Maori concept that encompasses not only the nuclear family but also extends to close friends and we are part of our friends Pip and John‘s