On March 25th, I promptly turned my car around and drove the 30-odd kilometers along Old Motu Road, back to the ocean and highway. My guide booklet had described the road as travelling "through some of the best rugged bush-clad mountainous country in New Zealand". Although I was retracing my tracks from the day before, I had driven most of it in ( Read more... )

On March 3rd, I peaked out my "curtains" (a valence bought at a second-hand store which I stuff into the plastic molding near the roof of my car) and was ever-so-pleased to see blue sky as promised by the weather forecast. I wandered down to the beach while eating breakfast and found lots of rock art; people had spelled out their names and various ( Read more... )

On February 28th, as with many other mornings in the last couple weeks, I wiggled out of the back of my car, over the console, and into the driver's seat, ready to start the day -- you can't beat that time frame for getting on the road! My morning routine also involves some breakfast in the form of muesli... or if I'm feeling Kiwi, some Weet Bix ( Read more... )

On February 23rd, I drove the remainder of the distance to Milford Sound. The drive itself was captivating, tracing a river much of the way and the winding road confined by the steep mountain faces. The area receives a lot of rainfall and so was incredibly lush, with vegetation framing the turquoise-blue pools awaiting the flow from waterfalls ( Read more... )

On February 19th, I reluctantly left Mount Cook and headed back to the coast to Oamaru, which I had been at a few days before. My route traced several more stunning lakes. I also decided stop in at Lake Benmore on a whim, which was just gorgeous. I also took a detour to some striking sandstone cliffs, and at the town of Duntroon, I chose to take ( Read more... )

On February 18th, I spent the morning catching up on the blog and chatting with a Danish photographer I met (Erik). When I got a few posts up, we headed out to Kea Trail for a hike. The Kea is the world's only alpine parrot, and they are found throughout New Zealand. They are reknowned for their intelligence and curiosity (similar to Canada's ( Read more... )

On February 17th, I woke up in my mountain paradise, though heavy cloud shrouded the top half of most of the mountains. I later learnt that the valley -- and Mount Cook especially -- is often obscured by cloud, so I was understandably pleased when I headed out on a nearby trail and it was blue skies and sunshine within the hour. My chosen ( Read more... )

On February 16th, I set out inland from Timaru to see two unbelievablely blue lakes called Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki. These were enroute to my destination of Mount Cook, the highest peak in Australasia at 3,754m. It was raining when I left Timaru, and I was worried that the lakes would not be as blue with an overcast sky, but when I stopped in ( Read more... )