This is a yellow eyed penguin, nesting high on a beach in Oamaru. His mate is behind him laying down by the stick. When we got here we were pointed to the beach where between 6-8pm, yellow eyed penguins, the rarest breed of penguin, come in overnight. The beach is closed off but there is a viewing platform. One occasion I wish I had a pair of binos! We were told we would see between 1-4 penguins. We saw 2 nesting and about 5 come out of the sea and waddle up the ...

Thunder, Lightening, very very.... welcome!! Humidity back to normal. A fresh start in Queenstown and due to the rain we decided to give climbing the Mt Cook tracks a miss today, so relaxed until checkout. Very short blog day today, we stopped out on route 6 to see the Kawarau bungy bridge. Unfortunately didn't see anyone jump as the river had swelled so much they couldn't launch the boat to recover the jumpers so they were rigging them up to be winched back up ...

It was 7.15 and we were already sat outside Queenstown Rafting waiting for our combination tour. As we walked from the YHA, the sun was rising in a moody sky over the mountains and you could already feel the heat of the day, 22• already. First we scooted up to the Shotover Jet HQ where we checked in and were bussed up to the Shotover canyon where two jet boats were waiting. This is the only company licensed to use the Shotover river and the only jetboat to com...

Another early start today! We had to be on the road to Milford Sound by 7.30. The journey was 2 hours each way but the scenary was really pretty so it passed pretty quickly. Milford Sound is one of the fiords in New Zealand. It also has the highest rainfall in the world! It can only be accessed from the sea, via one road or a challenging 3/4 day walk on the Hollyford track. We opted for the road! The road twists around the mountains before tunnelling under one o...

We were going to put a picture of Lake Te Anau on, but we are all Lake'd out today!! So you got our ugly mugs instead... Weather worn!! Lake Te Anau is supposed to be the most beautiful lake in New Zealand. Don't know why it has that claim, maybe all will be revealed when we drive to Milford Sound tomorrow... Passing Queenstown we passed Lake Waitipu, will hopefully write more about that when we get there. Had a productive time when we arrived at the hostel. We...