Well, how could we pass up visiting an area with “American” in the title and featuring salt marshes? On the way to Flinders Chase National Park, we stopped at a lagoon (Pelican Lagoon), which is part of the American River region of Kangaroo Island. The turnoff is very near the lookout at Prospect Hill–on the … Continue reading
We are currently touring the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand in a region known as Whangarei Heads. Here, the landscape is dominated by a patchwork of pasture, forest, estuaries, and dramatic coastlines with steep cliffs dropping down to pounding surf. We are staying at a fantastic place called Ara Roa; our … Continue reading
Today we decided to drive part of the way along the road to Milford Sound. Having seen Doubtful Sound, we did not want to go the entire distance to Milford Sound and instead focused on less popular and less expensive destinations along the way. There are a number of hiking trails and scenic stops on … Continue reading
The bane of wetland scientists is biting insects, which can be distracting when you are trying to work and even dangerous as disease vectors. Most of us have horror stories about encounters with swarms of mosquitoes, blackflies, and no-see-ums. Here in New Zealand’s fiordland (that’s how they spell it here), we’ve encountered the notorious “sandfly”, … Continue reading
The competition among hotels, motels, B&Bs, and other accommodations for tourist dollars is fairly intense here in New Zealand. This is good for visitors, especially those of us from countries with depressed currency value relative to the NZ$. It means that lodging owners and managers try harder to maintain high standards and to provide extras … Continue reading
Fortunately, the route through Arthur’s Pass was opened yesterday, so that we were able to take the alternate (albeit much longer) route to Wanaka. The good news was that the weather was beautiful and the scenery during the drive was spectacular through Arthur’s and Lindis Passes. If we had tried to drive the day before, … Continue reading
Our plan today was to drive to Wanaka to the most expensive, and hopefully the nicest, hotel on our itinerary. Sadly, we did not make it. When we woke up, the weather was not great, windy and raining. However, the rain was intermittent and not heavy enough to affect driving visibility. So we checked out … Continue reading
We arrived in Hokitika late afternoon and easily found the Assure Annabelle Motel, located at the far end of town in the shadow of the Westland Milk Products factory. Well, we’re only here for two nights, so the view is not of huge importance. The motel room turned out to be quite spacious, with kitchen, … Continue reading
The morning sky did not look promising but we decided to head out for some hiking nonetheless. A couple at the restaurant suggested we go to a new attraction that just opened up nearby: the West Coast Treetops Walkway. This excursion turned out to be nice but overpriced at $38 NZ (Irv got the senior … Continue reading
Yesterday, we left Nelson in our rearview mirror and headed to Hokitika, which is on the west coast of the South Island. Due to a navigation error, we missed the turn to the coastal road where we hoped to enjoy some scenic views during our drive. Once we reached Greymouth, we turned north so that … Continue reading
Wines and Wetlands 