Queenstown

Proper winter in Arrowtown

Lake Wakatipu

Just like buses the world over, you wait for ages and then two blog posts come along together. After Hanmer Springs we headed south to Queenstown to make a couple of wedding arrangements. By the end of the week we managed to sort out the venue, church, photographer and cake. That's pretty much everything!

Hotel with a view

It was nice and cold down in Central Otago but there was very little snow on the mountains so things didn't really have that winter wonderland feeling this year. Still, a few minutes on the Shotover River in a jetboat is a great way to drop your core temperature to dangerously low levels.

Shotover Jet 

Final approach into Queenstown is rather exciting

I added three more birds to the New Zealand list in Queenstown and in Christchurch on the way back but again no lifers. Most of the birds in New Zealand originate from back home and so the Coot and Bar-tailed Godwit weren't so exciting and the Grey Teal which took the list to 67 is super common here in Sydney. To be fair, the Godwits and Teal are native to New Zealand but maybe I should use the Maori names to make things seem more exotic. Kuaka and Tete sound much better to me. They don't have a word for Coot!

 Great-crested Grebe

 A handsome pair of Paradise Shelducks

Hanmer Springs

 Hanmer Springs

Sorry once again for the lack of updates. I think I'll blame it on the Olympics this time. The free-to-air TV coverage in Australia is so bad that I've not actually seen any of it but I'm avidly watching the BBC text commentary which drags well into the night. I'm getting nowhere near enough sleep so I've been too tired to get round to doing anything really. Just a bit more whale-watching now and again.

It's been a while now since we got back from New Zealand but I have to put up a couple of pictures. We spent the first few days in Hanmer Springs for a milestone birthday of Roger's. I won't say which milestone but all family and friends showed up and we had a top time in the hot springs and local hostelries. 

 New Zealand Scaup

White-faced Heron

A day trip to Kaikoura also added one new bird to the New Zealand list. Not a lifer as they're pretty plentiful in Sydney but the Australasian Gannet or Takapu as the Maori call it was #64 for the trans-Tasman list.

Kaikoura

Red-billed Gull