Cat and Luke vs. the Volcano

We spent a few days hanging out at the Banks Peninsula, a has-been volcano off the coast of Christchurch.

We spent our first night in Akaroa, right on a bay in the center of the crater before heading off to Okains Bay in the North.

We had this campsite amidst the pines right on the beach in Okains Bay all to ourselves. Amazing views and solitude, ahhhhh.

Crash!

No, not the car. The camera. :(

The camera was all set up on our mini-tripod, with the self-timer going, positioned to take an awesome shot of us on the coast... until the wind came. A huge gust came and knocked over the camera - and it of course fell about 4 feet down to crash into some gravel.

Here is the picturesque coastline that tempted us to take a self-portrait.




Last pic taken by the camera - Cat rushing to try to save it from its fall.




And here is a pic the camera. The lens really shouldn't look like a crunched up Dr. Seuss hat...

Milford Sound-less

Here it is. The sign that every tourist dreads to see. CLOSED.

We were so excited to see Milford Sound, but unfortunately, heavy snowstorms kept us out! Those damn avalanches! We decided to drive out anyway, just to see how far we could get. It was a mostly sunny day and we were able to drive along the lakes and mountains and have a beautiful day practically to ourselves, since nobody else dared to venture out on the closed roads that day...

This is a cool shot of a Kea (one of world's few species of alpine parrots) hanging out at the top of the pass.

Those Quirky Kiwis!

Every day we would pass a sign or a statue or some sort of randomness that would crack us up. Here are a few of our favorite roadside attractions, including the oh-so tropical snowman.

Taste Test - NZ

We were amazed at how many good breweries there were in NZ. 15+ breweries sampled over three weeks.

Tuatara was the winner as our favorite brewery; it's clean and balanced offerings seem under-appreciated.

Other interesting brews we tried worth checking out for their quality and/or uniqueness: Moa, Duncans Founders, Emersons, Epic.




We are used to buying growlers full of beer from breweries at home... in NZ, they call them "riggers" and they are 2-litre plastic bottles! Crazy! This beer had a clever name - "George Best," after the Manchester footballer.


This slogan, painted on the wall at Mac's Brewery in Wellington, says it all:

Chillin' Out

This is where things started cooling down a bit... to glacial temperatures! The hail pounding on our van's roof-top kept us awake (and cold!) at night.

We visited Franz Josef Glacier and were amazed by the moon-like landscape.

Heading South

From Ruby Bay, up to Abel Tasman and down the West Coast through Punakaiki, the South Island has some amazing views.






Some parts reminded us of California's Highway 1 (especially Big Sur!).

Cook Strait Crossing

We bought ferry tickets to cross the Cook Strait down to the South Island from Wellington despite multiple warnings of a pending storm and rough weather.

We lucked out and had a sunny trip over.








... but then the storm came. Our drive through the wine country of Marlborough lived up to the name of this winery, Cloudy Bay.

Mt. Maunganui

The "Mount," as it's called, was one of our favorite places in NZ. The unique geography of this extinct volcano provides awesome beaches, great hiking and amazing vistas. We camped at the base of the mountain, right on the beach, and lucked out with a great sunny day for a hike up and around the peak.




View of campsite:



View from campsite:




Hiking shots:

Kauri Coast

2000+ year old trees are the highlight of this stretch of the North Coast. At over 50m tall, Tana Mahuta, was spectacular, even for those spoiled by the beauty of California's well-known Giant Sequoia, General Sherman.






Some of the smaller guys were pretty cool, too, including the awesome ferns.