50: South Island Tour: Part IV: Queenstown to Dunedin (15 Feb 2009)

We thought we'd leave Queenstown early to get a head start on the drive back to Dunedin, but we somehow ended up dragging our heels and did the gondola ride (see part III). We got out of town a bit late, but still managed to make pretty good time getting back to Dunedin. We stopped off at the Shingle Creek Pub for lunch which, if you blink, you'll miss it. It's an amazing little place in the middle of nowhere with a quirky lot working in the bar and kitchen. They live on site so have no real expenses in terms of commuting. Back in Dunedin, we had about 90 minutes before I had to get them to the airport for their flight back to Wellington. We did a whirlwind tour around town, snapping some photos of the old style buildings. Dunedin apparently has a lot of history and is one of the older settlements in New Zealand.

47: South Island Tour: Part I: Dunedin to Te Anau (13 Feb 09)

I was living down in Dunedin for 6 weeks doing a collaboration with a physiologist at the University of Otago. But all work and no play makes me a dull boy, so decided to duck out for an impromptu South Island tour with a couple friends visiting from Wellington.

36: A Glorious Winter Day

Greetings all,What can I say? After a few cold, windy, wet days, the clouds parted and we were left with this beautiful day. It was the clearest I've ever seen the South Island. Just impeccable. I ran up to the top of Colonial Knob and here were the photos I took. Simply incredible. The sunset photo was taken several days ago, but spectacular nevertheless. Click on each photo to see the large image. Enjoy.

33: Titahi Bay Walk: A Three-hour Tour

I seem to have a habit of going out for what I think will be a leisurely walk around Titahi Bay, just to get some fresh air and clear my mind. But then the competitive/curious part of my brain takes over and commandeers my leisurely walk, often making me keep hiking "just to see what's around the bend." Today turned out to be another nice day, so I figured I'd take a walk around the bay and hike to the top of the north end of Titahi Bay. I decided to keep walking around the perimeter of Whitireia Park since the usually brisk wind was rather light. Next thing I know, I found myself half-way to Mana on the other side of Aotea Lagoon. By that stage, I was past the point of no return, so decided to just keep on going. In all, my hour-long walk spontaneously converted into a three-hour hike. Great exercise and great photos to show for it.

Place your cursor over each photo for a description. Click on the photo for a larger image.

32: Titahi Bay (part III): Yet Another Glorious Day

I awoke to yet another glorious day of perfect sunshine and perfect temperatures and just couldn't bear the thought of being indoors. I've been working far too hard lately so decided to cool my jets a bit and explore the southern end of Titahi Bay. Turns out there's a little trail down to the beach and from there you can walk along pretty much all the way to Wellington if you felt so inclined. Due to the impeccably clear weather, you can see the South Island situated in the background off in the distance.