South Island Whistle-stop

This is a brief overview of our trip around the top of the South Island. We drove down on the ferry and spent three nights in St. Arnaud. The first night we were there a bit of a storm came through and the following morning there was a coating of snow on the peaks above Lake Rotoiti.

Luckily the fine weather returned quickly and we managed a couple of walks around the area. It's mainly beech forest down by the lake

with streams and waterfalls refreshed by the recent rain.

The lush vegetation under the forest canopy.

I liked the way the water and stones complement this duck swimming in the lake.

We went up the steep road to the lookout on the side of Mount Robert

and posed by the information board.

Then we header south via Maruia

through the Lewis Pass to Christchurch. Here we had a picnic and walk around Taylors Mistake.

The rebuild of the city seems to be gathering pace. I was glad to see the locals’ sense of humour is still alive.

Everywhere we went we endeavoured to find typical Kiwi culinary experiences for Ed to savour.

All too soon is was time to head north. We stopped for kai – koura in kaikoura.

Some kawau were sunning themselves on a rock

and nearby is the Ohau Point Fur Seal Sanctuary.

The rocks were crowded with family groups of kekeno – the pups would be about a month old I think.

Now Jen and Ed are back in London. Sam and Bex are in Melbourne and will be back in NZ next week. They are settling in Dunedin so we hope to see more of them there.