Adventures with Adam, Part 5: Lake Tekapo

Our drive from the Central Otago region to Lake Tekapo took us through some fairly bare hills, but also past a gorgeous lake with the snow-covered Mount Cook in the distance. Lake Tekapo itself is very pretty, but there is not much to do in the town and the main reason we stopped there was to do a star-gazing tour.

Lake Tekapo is part of a dark sky initiative, which seeks to limit light pollution in order to allow better stargazing opportunities. We noticed that even most of the streetlights are low to the ground, and a yellow-ish color rather than night-vision-killing white. Our stargazing tour was fantastic as we learned about the southern sky including how to find the Southern Cross and use it to identify due south (more complicated than simply using the North Star to find north), saw Jupiter and Saturn through a telescope, and looked at much more distant objects, including a beautiful view of the Milky Way. We even learned that some of the constellations we know in the Northern Hemisphere can be seen in the Southern, but they might be a little different. For example, the constellatiion of Orion (the Hunter) is easy to find by the three bright stars on his "belt", but in the Southern Hemisphere Orion is standing on his head.

They tour even provided us with pictures that show the beauty we witnessed:

The next morning, we spent a bit of time wandering around down by the lake, and saw the two most visited sites in Lake Tekapo: the Church of The Good Shepherd, and the Sheepdog Memorial, a statue of a collie, which was built to celebrate all of the dogs who came with the Scottish settlers to the area and helped them complete their work.

There was also a public art exhibition by the lake, and given Lake Tekapo's importance to astronomy, we thought this globe statue was the most interesting and relevant.

After leaving Lake Tekapo, we dropped Adam in Christchurch so he could make the (long) journey home to Seattle while we returned to Conway Flat. More about our adventures in New Zealand soon.

Jeff and Shana

Adventures with Adam, Part 4: Central Otago Gold Country

We spent three nights in a small town called Ophir, estimated population 50. Not joking. Why Ophir? Largely because our hosts’ friend was kind enough to let us stay in her historic cottage because she is away for extended periods. Who are we to say “no” to free lodging in a place that is one of the country’s most authentic and significant settlements from its gold mining days? 

The town sprouted quickly and became a commercial center, and just as quickly petered out. Its 31 historic buildings are preserved, including Heather’s property, known as Elm Cottage, which dates back to early mining days, and which also has a stone barn that was owned by two brothers who built horse-drawn cottages. Fascinating, right? Our favorite town feature was the Daniel O’Connell Bridge, built in 1880 of wood and rebuilt with steel in 1905.

We used Ophir as a base to explore the area’s gold mining history and vineyards. We ventured out to St Bathans, another gold mining settlement to hike around Blue Lake and see the historic Vulcan Hotel, established in 1869, and a great place for refreshment after a hike.

We also explored the larger towns of Clyde and Alexandra. It was great to celebrate Adam’s 56^th birthday with dinner at The Old Clyde Bank, now a restaurant. We visited several local wineries, nearly all of which are so small that their “tasting rooms” consisted of the viticulturalists’ back porch, the kitchen/great room, or a small basement lounge room. It was very different from the more commercial wineries in Blenheim. Adam’s favorite was Judge Rock, likely due to the vineyard and wine names. Our favorite was RuRu, operated by two Dutch immigrants who were super friendly. One slick commercial winery had just opened, Monte Christo Winery, which has historic roots and terrific wines, but the contrast with the smaller operators was night and day. Hopefully it won’t change the wine experience in this area.

We rented mountain bikes and rode the riverside trail between Clyde and Alexandra before continuing on to do part of the Roxburgh Gorge Trail, ultimately circling back along parts of the Otago Central Rail Trail. We rode 40+ kilometers. While Adam and I had e-bikes, Jeff went old school. He was only sorry during the last 8 kilometers or so. It was a beautiful ride.

As you can see, at one point we had to dismount and walk the bikes due to the narrow and steep nature of that part of the trail. Quite the adventure.

Alexandra has a unique feature – a clock up on a hill, which presented another hiking opportunity. But first, to get to the base of the hill where the clock is, you have to cross the Shakey Bridge (yes, that it literally its name). 

This entire area was new to us and we had fun exploring, especially with the good weather. 

One more adventure with Adam to come,

Shana & Jeff

Adventures with Adam, Part 3: A Tale of Two Beaches

After leaving Oamaru, we continued down the east coast to Dunedin, a city we visited on our trip last year. However, since we were coming from the north this time, we were able to stop at Moeraki Boulders Beach. The Moeraki Boulders are large, spherical stones, which are officially known as septarian concretions. These naturally occuring formations are importatant for science, but they have also become a tourist attraction, and we had a lot of fun with them (especially Shana).

The next day we returned to Tunnel Beach near Dunedin. We felt that both the spectacular beauty of the hike down to the beach and the beach itself were something that we should show Adam. It certainly did not disappoint.

After Dunedin, we headed toward the Central Otago region, but more about that soon.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana

Adventures with Adam, Part 2: Oamaru

During Adam’s visit, we took a 6-night road trip south. We spent the first night in Oamaru, a small town with a Victorian heritage. Oamaru sits on the coast, offering lovely views, Victorian architecture, and penguins.

Our night there we watched Fairy penguins (the smallest penguin breed) arrive on shore from their day at sea. We saw these penguins in Australia last year, but can you ever get enough of penguins? We witnessed several hundred penguins come home. They arrive in “rafts,” congregate on the beach, and then make a run … err, waddle for their burrows. It is a pleasure to see. No photos allowed during the penguin “parade,” but we did get some fun related photos.

We spent the morning exploring the Victorian precinct and enjoying the small-town vibe.

Oamaru has an interesting history.

More to come,

Shana & Jeff

Adventures with Adam, Part 1: Akaroa, Marlborough, and Kaikoura

My brother was the only one to take us up on our offer to come visit us at the end of the world, and we’re pretty sure he was quite pleased with his decision. We had a terrific time exploring the South Island – showing him places we’ve been to and discovering new places as well.

We met up in Christchurch, and after Adam had a bit of time to recover from his journey, our first stop was the Akaroa peninsula, one of the highlights of our first trip. The drive to Akaroa is simply stunning. Of course, we had to repeat our Hector dolphin adventure with Albie, the dolphin spotting dog. The weather was amazing this time and there were plenty of dolphins to see.

We also drove up to the Marlborough region. Although we had just been there, who are we to turn down more wine tasting and a second dinner at a fabulous restaurant?

In Kaikoura and had a great seal spotting day. We even saw a mother with her newly born pup. We can’t be sure, but we believe she birthed the seal during the hour or so we were out walking in the seal colony.

Adam had a second dolphin adventure, swimming with the Dusky dolphins, which we had seen last year. While he did that we met up with Gail and Murray, the parents of our dear friend Dena, who were visiting NZ on a cruise. We always say we’ll meet you where we can, and NZ is no exception.

As you can see, we enjoy playing host/guide, even outside of San Sebastian.

More adventures to come,

Shana & Jeff