New Zealand

- March 07, 2012

Hello everyone, arrived in New Zealand after the long flight via Los Angeles, then headed straight to Dunedin, on South Island, where we spent 3 nights. While there we had a couple of tours around the area, one was a wildlife cruise, on the Monarch, they took us through the harbour and out to Taiaroa Head, where we find the Royal Albatross, this is home for these birds the world's only mainland royal albatross colony. I have been many times before but the display we witnessed was excellent there was a seal with a barracuda fish, and the birds were trying or hoping to take it from the seal, but the seal was not having it .... and managed to eat it all. There are some pics below showing the seal and the albatross. The following day we took the famous Taieri Gorge Rail trip, a half return journey to Pukarangi passing the Taieri Gorge with some excellent sight along the way, there was a short stop at Hinton where we could disembark, and managed to get some great views, this journey is one of the best in the world and well worth it. The next day we left Dunedin and made the journey to Te Anau, in the heart of Fiordland, this is the gateway to the fabulous Milford Road and Sound. The weather was not that great when we started the journey and deteriorated as as we climbed toward the Hollyford Valley, we then passed through the Homer Tunnel, and opened out to slightly better weather, and by the time we boarded the Milford Sound Cruise the weather was improving by the minute which meant that we had a fantastic scenic cruise lasting approx an hour and a half. We returned to Te Anau and then continued the journey to Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. More from here later, enjoy the pictures.