We left Lake Hāwea, near Wanaka early, our journey to Mount Cook was only about 207 km but we wanted to get there in time  to hike one of the many trails we’d been told about. We knew we were …

We set off from Queenstown on day 18 headed towards Mt Cook. It is possible to do the 3 1/2 hours (272km) journey in a day. But we weren’t in a hurry and wanted to stop at one of the …

It has been a couple of months since we returned from our wonderful trip to Australia and New Zealand when I was sharing our adventures. Sometimes life takes a dramatic turn and for a while everything seems to stop. During …

Queenstown As we landed in Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand, even before the plane wheels had kissed the runway, we could see from the window that we were arriving somewhere spectacular. Queenstown sits in the south west …

Wine and water on Waiheke! Waiheke Island is a short 40 minute ferry ride from Auckland across the Harbour. The ferry service is excellent so many locals live there and commute into the city. Many more people, however come for …

“Kia Ora” ~ Welcome to New Zealand Days 11~12: Auckland Our flight landed in New Zealand in the late afternoon. I have family in Auckland and had visited New Zealand three times before but not since 2002, so I was …