Golden Bay via 16 One-Way Bridges

We curved our way up and down the mountains across 16 one-way bridges and stopped to explore Hawkes Overlook and crystal clear springs and lake. Our destination was Golden Bay. The tides and time didn't allow us to go on tour out onto the Spit. I chased Fantails trying to get one in perfect focus, not an easy goal. We even saw the black morph Fantails. See pictures from our day to Golden Bay.

Two days of Nelson NZ Fun

Our first day in Nelson we visited the museums of wearable art and antique cars, a unique combination in one museum complex. Next day was the Nelson market for yummy food and condiments then on to Brook Waimarama Sanctuary where a Weka joined us on the path. The sanctuary is creating a special predator free area by trapping and installing special fencing to keep out rats, possums, stoats, cats and other bird predators. See other pictures.

Kereru House Bach

You book a vacation bach online thinking the place can't possible be as nice as the description and pictures but the Kereru House is! Check out these picture and this album of bird and flowers from our stay. I'll post more pictures to these albums during the rest of our stay.

Warm Weather and a Wobble

The day started with warm weather and a wobble. Frank sitting inside while we enjoyed our coffee on the deck felt it. Only a weak one which we did not notice on the deck.

Christchurch Botanical Garden Flowers

We had the first of hopefully many "Flat Whites" and toured the Christchurch Botanical Garden including its rose garden currently in a spectacular display of color. See slide show of pictures. See slide show of pictures.

Post Earthquake Realities

The Cardboard Church, road repairs, memorials to lives lost and historical building repairs all are post earthquake realities.
See slide show of pictures.

Market and Tara's Performance

We started our second day with a trip to the Riccarton Bush Market. Sampling our way through the market provided a better lunch than a walk through Costco. :) See slide show of pictures.

The day ended with Tara's performance with the local Opera Club at a car dealership.

Tara's vocal singing and opera career is definitely unique. She has sung in concerts with doctors and medical personnel, about tort law and porn, at the opening of a medical practice, a performance combining Maori and opera and tonight with the  Canterbury Opera Club in a Mercedes car dealership.See slide show of pictures.

Flight and First Day

We experienced United's entertainment on our iPads during the first leg of our journey. The movie I really liked was Monkey Kingdom, a Disney Nature film. It had a story line and LOTS of amazing video. It was great entertainment for one who once chased baboons through Kenya's jungles and Frank got to watch what he wanted.

The long Air New Zealand flight had a multi course dinner and breakfast before landing. Definitely not the usual airplane food! We had noise cancelling earphones to watch movies and videos or listen to music. It really did help to block out the plane noises. I didn't think I slept much but the flight seemed shorter this time so maybe I slept more than I thought. We had to get all our bags through customs and then walked them from Auckland International terminal to the Domestic terminal, a supposedly 10 minute walk. It taxed us old people who after rechecking our main bags at the domestic terminal had to carry our carry on bags down stairs to board the Christchurch flight from the runway. Some kind Kiwis helped us carry bags up the boarding steps to the plane. A bumpy Christchurch flight ended with the highlight of the day being greeted by Tara and Al. See slide show of pictures.

The second highlight was photographing birds in their backyard including a New Zealand Fantail! We are trying desperately to stay awake until bedtime to reset our internal clocks to local time. 

Preparations

Preparing for another trip to New Zealand to spend the holidays with Tara and Al. Now that I've used the puzzle to review the geography it's time to see if I still know how to add to our blog.