We enjoyed a hearty Sunday morning breakfast at the Wrinkly Rams. It was a good start to a busy day.We are in Mackenzie Country, named after a Scotsman who, in 1855, was accused of stealing 1000 sheep and taking them to this previously uninhabited area. He was jailed and he escaped three times before the judge determined he was innocent. Thus he became a folk hero, and they named the area after him.After Mackenzie made his mark, other sheep farmers imported mer...

Today we left the sea and headed for the Southern Alps.  We passed the quarry where they obtained the limestone for the buildings of Oamaru. We went through a farming area where everything was very green due to irrigation, as NZ is in a drought. We passed sheep, dairy and deer farms, lots of orchards and a few vineyards. We saw one black sheep and wondered if he felt like "One in a Million."We entered the Waitaki Valley and flowed along the Waitaki River. We...

It was announced on the radio that today is the first day of Fall in NZ. Where did the summer go?While on our way out of Moeraki Village, we stopped to photograph Kotahitanga Church, which means "one united people."  It was built in 1862 and recently moved and restored.A major tourist attraction not far north of the village is the spherical Moeraki Boulders. We arrived at low tide so walking the 300 meters on the beach was “easy peasy.”  The boulde...

After we left the Otago Peninsula, we drove through Dunedin and then headed north up the Otago Coastline. We stopped to photograph a memorial to Sir John McKenzie which was erected on Mt.Puketapu. He won the affection of small farmers for his efforts in making farmland available to them. I found an aerial photo of the memorial online to include in today's blog; it's a much better view.Then we stopped at Shag Point which is a special place for three reas...

We decided to leave the city and head for Otago Peninsula. It is about a 45 minute drive over narrow roads to a beautiful but narrow and hilly peninsula. On one side is the harbor for Dunedin and the other side is the Pacific Ocean. It is home to a great variety of wildlife.We stopped at Larnarch Castle, a beautiful mansion built by JWM Larnarch, a very successful merchant and politician, for his first wife on the highest point of Otago Peninsula.   Construct...