Down under

Greetings from the wonderful country of New Zealand. We arrived Wednesday morning none the worse for the trip. In fact, it was easier than we had anticipated. 12 hours from San Fransisco to Auckland, a two hour layover in Auckland and a hour and a half flight to Christchurch. Then we picked up a rental car and drove for a hour and a half to the little town of Akaroa.

We drove to a little farm house about 5 kilometers from town and were met with this great view. The owners Hugh and Katherine were there to meet us and get us settled.

We had this view from our bedroom window. The hills and gardens are the most green I have ever seen. We spent many hours talking with Hugh and Katherine and Katherine made us breakfast two days and dinner last night.... lamb chops, potatoes, Asparagus and salad with cobbler for desert and a good red wine.

We walked out of the house and found Katherine feeding a orphaned lamb. Coombs farm is truly a working sheep farm with 850 acres of grazing land (steep) and 1500 head of sheep. Katherine is using a wine bottle and I inquired if wine helped the lamb grow.

Yesterday we took a two hour boat ride on Akaroa harbor. The name Akaroa means "long harbor" in Maori. The harbor is 18 miles long and was formed when the seaside wall of the volcanic caldera collapsed allowing the sea to rush in. We saw some Hector Dolphins which are native to this area . They are about 4 feet in length making them much smaller than the Dolphins we see in the states.
What a great way to spend a afternoon.

After the harbor boat ride, we drove to the rim of the caldera some 2500 feet above the harbor. As you can see the view was spectacular. The entire area was formed from erupting volcanoes some 6 million years ago and time has only enhanced the beauty of the place.

Today we left Akaroa and headed for Dunedin about 400 kilometers south. We were driving down a really nice asphalt road, came around a corner and were met with a herd of sheep in the middle of the road. The Shepard ( a woman) and her dogs were driving the sheep down the road. We stopped the car and waited while they moved past surrounding the car as they went.

Along the way we stopped to see some man made stones. These are large ( about 5 feet in diameter) and hollow. They are thought to have been used as ballast in a sailing vessel that was shipwrecked here many years ago... but no one really knows for sure. Tonight we are a Deacons court B&B in Dunedin. We'll be here two days exploring the area before moving on. All for now... Time for a pint and fish and chips!