I've never seen a purple mushroom before - found this one in the forest near Harwood Hole.
Look how these black swans bend their necks to eat crustaceans.
We hiked up Mt. Arthur in very windy and cold conditions. One thing I don't like about some of the hikes is that they have traps everywhere along the trails for stoats and possums. New Zealand was once just a land of birds and insects until people came along. Bird species have been wiped out by these introduced mammals, but still, I wish the traps (which are as humane as they can be) were not every couple of hundred of feet.
Middle Earth country for sure - and here is our little Gollum.
Ben! Shoot me an email so I know you are alive! (This is a whale skeleton)
Harwood Hole is a vertical shaft that goes down over 600 feet to a system of caves. It was "O-some" as the Kiwis say. There are no safety railings around, so you have to be very careful.
Save me Scotty!
I don't think so, not today.
Scotty, GQing it among the boulders.
An Australian couple took this pic of us.
I might look relaxed but these rocks were sharp!
Scotty climbing some mini-alps
Our attic heaven that we had to leave yesterday.
It's been pretty rough leaving Joy's perfect place and coming 4.5 hours south to Hanmer Springs which is kind of like Stowe, Vermont - all touristy and fussy and expensive. We are in a super-basic cabin where you have to pay for every little thing (internet, towels, use of the grill, etc.) We spent the day today floating in the hot springs thermal resort (LOTs of people and fake rocks), then we went mountain biking ($50 for 2 hours!).
Harwood Hole pano
Our favorite place in NZ - does it not look like the Shire?
Click to enlarge
Tomorrow we head down to Christchurch, then the next day we fly off to Australia where temps are in the 90s. We certainly love New Zealand though. There is so much more to see! Next year...
1 comment:
My goodness, you guys look so good and tan! Scott, I like your hair longer like that! Oh man, the Gollum is spot on - SO GOOD! The attic at Joy's looks like my dream world. I want to gooo!
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