1. Waiau bridge, near Hanmer Springs.

We crossed this bridge over the
"Thrillseekers" canyon going to and from
Hanmer Springs. Adventure freaks can do
bungee jumping (from the bridge), jet-
boating and white-water rafting here.
We went to the thermal pools of Hanmer
Springs during a very busy weekend.
Badly timed but very nice. We walked
and cycled a bit as well in the area
around the pretty resort town.



2. Sperm whale, Kaikoura.

The main attraction of Kaikoura is
whalewatching. Due to the presence of
a deep sea canyon and convergence of
tropical and antarctic water currents
this area has abundant marine life.
During a boat trip we saw a big group
of dolphins and a whale twice:
they surface every 40-50 minutes, need
a large feeding area and are consequently
difficult to locate, which is being done
by hydrophones.







3. Mt. Fyffe hut, Kaikoura.

We made a trek in the Fyffe Palmer
Scenic Reserve, just outside Kaikoura.
After a 2-hours steady steep climb on
a 4WD-track we reached this hut, our
private penthouse for 1 night, with
beautiful views of city, peninsula,
plains, and Seaward Kaikoura Range.
We continued in the foillowing 2 days
over Mt. Fyffe (1602m) and back through
the Kowhai valley with numerous river-
crossings: a beautiful, rough and
rugged area with little tourism.


4. Seaward Kaikoura Range, Kaikoura.

The morning after another cold front
passed with bad weather, the mountains
where we just had come back from, had
a fresh white blanket highlighting
the town's superb seting.










5. Seals on the rocks, near Kaikoura.

On our way from Kaikoura to Blenheim
along a beautiful coast, we unexpectedly
saw hundreds of fur-seals on the rocks
just next to the main road.
This outnumbered by far any place that
was advertised in tourist informations
as "seal colony". 







6. Vineyards, near Blenheim.

The Marlborough region features NZ's
biggest wine-growing district.
From Blenheim we went to Picton via
"the hard way": up and down over gravel
roads along coast and sounds, to arrive
at dusk. Next morning we took the 5.30am
ferry to Wellington.











7. House moving, near Levin.

It is quite common in NZ that houses,
old and new, are being moved from one
place to another. This one arrived on
a Saturday night from New Plymouth
(300km away) and was lowered onto the
new wooden pile foundation on the next
Tuesday afternoon.










8. Sunset from Waiopehu hut, near Levin.

From Levin we made a 2-days trek in the
Taratua Forest park, our first one on the
North Island. We walked up through thick
bush, comparable to Malaysian jungle, to
the hut: this time a big and new one, again
perfectly located and all ours for 1 night
with nice views of surrounding mountains,
plains and (far away) Mt. Ruapehu and as
seen here Mt. Taranaki, our next destinations.
On our way down via a muddy ridge track we
encountered in the Ohau river gorge a
mountain goat, our first bush wildlife.
This distracted Anna in such a way that she
later slipped and sprained her ankle.


9. Windmill "de Molen", Foxton.

We were attracted to this town by the
flax (an agave-like plant) stripping
museum not knowing that only recently
a replica windmill had been opened here,
a project initiated by local "crazy
Dutchmen".
The flax-museum by the way was quite
interesting, where we were entertained
by the manager, a kind and very talkative
German-born Kiwi, known as the "chatterbox
from Foxton".
Flax is an agave-like plant, which Maoris
used for many different things. The fibres
that remain after stripping of the leaves
were and are mainly used for ropes.

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