Rab & Lesley's Big Trip

Days 43 to 52 - Wanaka to Christchurch

Day 43 - 12th January 2016
Wanaka & Te Anau

The lake from Wanaka (town)

The peaks on the far side of the lake from Wanaka

Lake Wakatipu south of Queenstown

Getting near our camp for tonight

View of Lake Te Anau from our campsite at Te Anau

Day 44 - 13th January 2016
Milford Sound

What a brilliant day!
Went OTT with the number of photos - most very much like one another but here are a few
On the way to Milford Sound


This Kea kindly posed interrupting its destruction of a kayak on top of a car at one of our stops

View from Milford Sound Jetty

Milford Sound


There is an underwater observatory - different

Lots of fur Seals - but alas no dolphins today

Day 45 - 14th January 2016
The Southern Tip

We get to the very south of New Zealand
Last sight of Lake Te Anau

Derelicts on the outskirts of Bluff, on the headland south of Invercargill

We have seen lots of gorgeous old cars like this one

Curio Bay near where we camped tonight

This was our campsite on the other side of the isthmus from Curio bay - you can walk to the bay in 3 minutes

Sunset as seen from our campsite

But we went for a walk before sunset and saw the rarest penguins in the world! - The Yellow Eyed Penguin

Day 46 - 15th January 2016
Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula


We had planned an early morning walk around the headland at Curio Bay but the rain that started last night (and hasn't yet stopped) was torrential at 6am so we upped sticks and took to the road. Took no pictures (because of the rain) till we got to tonights site at Portobello on the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin.


Took the bus into Dunedin and stopped by the station. It has an impressive frontage seen on many postcards but today in the rain....
So I settled for a platform shot

The ticket hall is good too

Apparently the was some kind of 'Brighton' run today

Day 47 - 16th January 2016
Taiaroa Head

Another great Nature day
Drove up to Taiaroa Head at the tip of the Otago Peninsula

The object of the visit was this - The Royal Albatross Sanctuary, the only mainland nesting site of any Albatross species

The Star of the show...

Unfortunately the viewing area only had 3 pairs nesting ( there are 700 more where the public cannot go) and as each parent can be at sea for anything from 4 to 14 days before switching places the chance of us seeing one in flight was slim
The eggs (one per pair) take 80 days to hatch and then the chick takes over 8 months to fledge
One the chick takes flight it remains at sea for 5 years before returning to land and won't breed until it is 7 or 8 years old
They live for 35 - 40 years
I took more pictures but it was through glass and as the birds were not moving there is little more to show

But there are other attractions
New Zealand Fur Seal

This one thought it was comfier on our side of the fence that was keeping the tourists off the nature reserve beach

Red Billed Gull chick

Day 48 - 17th January 2016
Still on the Otago Peninsula

Went down to the local bar last night to find this parked (chocked) outside

When we got back to the site these pulled in



Speaking to the owner of the Austin 12, I discovered that there was to be a big Vintage Car Show in Dunedin today.
So we booked another night here and went to the show where we saw far too many great cars to show you here.
There were over 600 on display.

There were also lots of these too

....And some oddly garbed people

Day 49 - 18th January 2016
Lake Tekapo

We are now at Lake Tekapo, somewhere to the west of Christchurch
On the way at one picnic spot we saw what purported to be some 19th century Maori cave drawings
I'm not convinced!

Lake Pukaki at 2.00 pm in the afternoon. It has not been a very sunny day

Lake Tepako when we arrived at 4.00pm as seen from our campsite

And from a little way round the shore

Chaffies are much the same here as at home

As are the ducks but we don't usually see ducklings in January

Day 50 - 19th January 2016
Akaroa

Our time in New Zealand is nearly over. We are on our final campsite at Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula to the east of Christchurch. Once again the weather on the way here was awful but brightened up a little as we got nearer the site.
Last 20 miles was beautiful scenery but with steering wheel gripping twists and turns
First view of the bay

View of the harbour from the campsite

View of the harbour from shore

For the birders A bellbird feeding her chick

Day 51 - 20th January 2016
Akaroa

Our last full day in NZ. The sun came out to celebrate so we didn't do much but to walk down the hill for lunch in a waterfront cafe, some last minute souvenir shopping then crawled up the hill to the van - that hill is steep!
The harbour today

The lighthouse

A Friendly thrush came looking for crumbs from our picnic table

But decided that a nice big juicy bug was better

Day 52 - 20th January 2016
Akaroa

Sad to leave NZ with still so very much to see but we knew we would never fit in everything friends insisted were must sees and dos
Final shot with the Canon - Fishermen on Lake Forsythe

On phone camera - farewell to NZ as we take off from Christchurch

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