Dolphins!

One of the most incredible experiences I have had so far was getting to swim with Hector's dolphins in Akaroa. The dolphins are incredibly playful and are really intrigued by humans...the more you swim around and sing/talk to them the more they will swim by to have a close look at the weird humans in snorkel masks and fins. They took my breath away, both from the surprise of seeing them come within 3 feet of your face out of the very murky water, and also because of their grace and beauty. I wish I could say I personally took these photos, but that would be a lie...these are my roomate Kalinka's who works on the boats every summer taking people like me out on trips to swim with the dolphins. But this is actually what I got to see...amazing.

Just to give you a sense of how close we got to the dolphins...

Tunnel Beach

We had a perfect weekend with no clouds in the sky for 2 whole days this weekend so we went on an excursion to Tunnel Beach which is a 15 minute drive from our house (and then a 20 minute hike down a steep hill) and truly incredible. You have to climb through the little tunnel (hence its name) to get down to the beach, and can only access it at low tide.



The tunnel you have to climb down to get to the beach...

Find the real hedgehog

Completely unintentionally I took this amazing series of photos.

This is my roomate Kalinka demonstrating how large sheep actually are by putting her sheepskin on her back and crawling around the room.



This is the hedgehog that eats our cat's food at night...see any resemblance?

Queenstown

We took a trip over to Queenstown for the weekend with some friends and got a chance to go for a hike overlooking the Remarkables and Eyre mountain ranges.

The gateway to the hike....I thought this was really cool.

The inland scenic route

On our drive back from Akaroa we took the inland scenic route and stopped at a few incredible places along the way. Here are some photos from Peel Forest and the Rakaia Gorge.

Mt. Cargill and the Organ Pipes

The 10 million year-old lava formed Organ Pipes


What we had to climb up the get to the organ pipes

Looking over the North East Valley where I live - our house is somewhere in that middle clump in the valley.

The photo below is the view from the top of the organ pipes

This was a pretty incredible hike Keira and I took one weekend - the base of the trail is only a 10 minute walk from our house. However, it was also "make me feel out of shape day" as we got burned by 3 really jacked women who were RUNNING up the 2 hour trail as we slowly worked our way up.

Views of Dunedin

Keira standing on top of the lookout over Dunedin city and the harbour...

Adventures with an underwater camera

Jumping off the dock on lake Wakatipu, Queenstown

The photo below would have been a cool photo except for that I look evil and terribly upset in it...however, despite how the photo looks I was actually having an amazing day.