Beautiful Purakaunui Falls The 22 m falls are on the Tautuku River in Catlins Conservation Park and are often described as the most spectacular in the region. The walk to the falls is very pleasant and passes through a variety of forest and shrub types: huge tree fuchsia, stands of olearia and podocarp forest. A ten…
ASHBURTON LAKES – Lake Emily, Moari Lakes and Lake Heron
Waiuta is an almost abandoned gold mining town, 38 km south-east of Reefton. The town grew to provide accommodation for miners who worked at the nearby Blackwater mine which became the West Coast’s richest gold mine. The town is now designated a protected area, under the care of the Department of Conservation, the few local…
The popular Piano Flat riverside camping ground is situated in a farmland area with the beautiful Waikaia river running through it. There are walking tracks and tramps from here plus biking, fishing, hunting and 4WD excursions (see my Whitecoomb road post) This camp is very busy over Christmas, New Year and Easter etc. The last…
We were staying at the Piano Flat camping ground for a few days last summer and decided about 10.00am one morning to take the dogs up the road and find a quiet swimming hole for them. After they had a good swim we thought we would drive a bit further up Whitecoomb road.
Cable Bay in the Nelson region is a beautiful bay only 25 minutes from Nelson City. Great for swimming, fishing, kayaking, walking or just a having a relaxing picnic or a wander along the beach. The laying of New Zealand’s first international telegraph cable was from Sydney to Cable Bay, it took 11 days and…
If you are in the Blenhiem area and have a 4WD vehicle, make sure you drive up the Black Birch Ridge road for some spectacular views. The road is good but we were there on a stunning spring day, it’s probably a bit more challenging if it’s wet. The 360 degree views from the site…
In the Abel Tasman National park area you will find beautiful Wainui Bay and Wainui waterfall, the largest and most accessible falls in Golden Bay.
We had been to Slope point a few times but it was either blowing a howling gale and raining or the walk was closed for lambing. This was about the best day we had over the 2021 Christmas break so we made the most of it.
After an 11km drive on a reasonably good gravel road (Cannan Road) we arrived at the Cannan carpark and the start of the walk to Harwoods hole.
If you are in the Golden Bay area, I suggest (a bit weird I know) you call in to the public toilets in beautiful Ligar Bay. I thought you might like to see the amazing art work on the walls of the toilet block.
The track to Wharariki Beach is about 20 minutes over farm paddocks and through a section of coastal forest, before arriving at the beautiful windswept coast. The best time to visit is at low tide, when you can walk the length of the beach and take in spectacular coastlines, caverns, islands, and enormous sand dunes…
On a recent trip to Blenheim we were so pleased to see the seal pups at Ohau point, north of Kaikoura. This area was severely damaged by the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016 and we wondered if the seal pups would ever return. Luckily they have and although the Ohau stream walk is still closed (as…
On the way to Lake Heron, Lake Clearwater and Erehwon Station we called in at the Hakatere Station historic buildings in the Ashburton lakes area. The historic building were once at the heart of life in the Ashburton Gorge.
I thought you might like these photos of the 2019 season’s New Zealand sea lion pups around Jacks Bay and the Catlins Lake area. We think there were around 7 but hard to tell as they move around a bit. Anyway we feel very privileged to have been able to watch them grow up over…
Our travels to amazing places off New Zealand's main roads
To travel is to take a journey into yourself...
Sharing the Beauty, Mystery & Adventure of Travel
Our travels to amazing places off New Zealand's main roads
Exploring the world with Curtis and Peggy Mekemson
Health and lifestyle
After trying really hard to find something useful to be good at, it looks like my calling in life is to travel and eat
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