NZ South Island for Christmas : not tinny for me

[Hallu]

I just realized I haven't posted anything on my recent trip to NZ. I went there with a couple of friends and one of my friend's father (big mistake), and the best times were when I was walking alone, because it was when I did the hardest and most rewarding walks. The weather wasn't our friend though, couldn't do anything at Mount Cook except Tasman Glacier and at Milford Sound the rivers were swollen like crazy, impossible to go see Gertrude Valley.

First up is a beach walk near Rapahoe, most of it only accessible at low tide. Beautiful and a bit of a secret.

Attachments

[Hallu]

Next is Rob Roy Glacier. The highlight of my trip, and yet done in awful weather. The road to it is tough on a 2WD (corrugations and 9 river crossings). The amphitheater at the end of the walk is just a superb reward. But trying to get a good picture of it with this rain and those clouds was nearly impossible.

Attachments

[Hallu]

Now Tasman Glacier, the only walk we did at Mt Cook because of horrible weather. We did the Balls Flat Route (along with a lookout walk), that nobody does, but it's worth it because you get the best sights of this glacier.

Attachments

[Hallu]

And now for some amazing wildlife at Katiki, the rarest penguins in the world (yellow crested penguins) that you can see real close along with some seals and... rabbits.

Attachments

[Hallu]

Some sea lions at Sandfly beach.

Attachments

[Hallu]

Fiordland NP (not a great weather).

Attachments

This was supposed to be almost dry...

[Hallu]

And finally the surroundings of Queenstown. The Remarkables Ski fields offer great walking in summer, amazing not more people go there, with one of the best lookouts in NZ...

Attachments

[Hallu]

And since it's NZ, I couldn't really spare you some blue-er than blue lake/river shots.

Attachments

[surly 17]

Great pictures Hallu thanks for sharing them, I would love a trip to NZ myself at the moment now you've made me want to go even more.

[andrewbish]

Great photos, Hallu!

[Hallu]

Thanks, NZ is really photogenic. In Australia, there's so much sun that you have to wait dawn/dusk to take great photos. I didn't expect to see beaches where you can walk freely amongst seals, penguins and sea lions though. A big thanks to the NZ Frenzy guide, it's a must.

Surly if you want to go, don't make the same mistake we did. We drove too much, underestimating the distances/travel times due to speed limits. I think we did about 3000 km in 12 days, we thought it would about 2200 km but the side trips amounted to 800 more.

[Tortoise]

Wow! Some brilliant shots there, Hallu.

I must confess i didn't look at your post early because i didn't get the topic name. Still don't Boat? Beer? Weed?

Or (google, google) Lucky? If you mean the weather - I take your point, and I expect I would have felt the same. But on the plus side, the low contrast gave you some of the strongest images.

[Hallu]

lol I was referring to this topic : viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12302 and Wayno's use of "tinny".

[wayno]

tinny can also mean aluminium foil enclosing canabis.......

[wayno]

late summer , or autumn, the weather is generally more stable.

[Strider]

Yellow crested penguins? Or yellow eyed penguins?

[wayno]

eyed, looking at the photos

[Hallu]

Eyed sorry yes.