Kia Ora

Kia Ora (pronounced Kee-Aura) is the Māori-language greeting which is commonly used across New Zealand. It means “have life” or “be healthy” but is also used as a salutation, a farewell, or as an expression of thanks.

Flying into Christchurch, we were treated to beautiful views of the fjords and glaciers of Western New Zealand.

On the ground, in Christchurch, we were frequently reminded of the impact the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 had on the city. While a lot of the city has recovered, many buildings, like this cathedral, are still being restored. A series of tremors started in September 2010, with many aftershocks. The worst one occurred on February 22, 2011. It was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, and was centred 10km south-east of the city at a depth of 5km. 185 people died, 164 people were seriously injured and there was major, widespread damage.

Driving south from Christchurch, we were amazed at the beautiful blue waters of the Rakaia river, a result of the reflections of the floating glacial sediments. But we didn’t tarry long as we wanted to get to the town of Geraldine, excited about our night’s entertainment.

We were shown around the southern sky by Peter Aldous, an amateur astronomer who has discovered five super novas and takes the most amazing photographs of objects in the night sky. He has two very fancy (and expensive!) telescopes and his equipment is used by NASA and the University of Canterbury. He made the southern sky come alive for us!

And then it was on to the city of Dunedin and the nearby Otago peninsula….

…where we saw wonderful wildlife, including the endangered yellow-eyed penguins, called hoiho, which are endemic to New Zealand. With only 225 pairs left on the New Zealand mainland, it’s said to be the rarest penguin in the world. At 2 1/2 feet and over 5 kg in weight, they are also New Zealand’s largest penguin.

And nearby on the beach, these two young sea lion pups put on a great show for us! With mama not too far away, we kept our distance as they can seriously hurt a human if they feel threatened.

While this large fur seal was just enjoying hanging out on the rocks. You can tell the two apart because seals have more pointed noses and longer whiskers and are usually found on rocks by the sea.

But the highlight of our trip to the Otago Peninsula was undoubtedly a visit to the Royal Albatross Center.

Where Ken was lucky enough to capture this albatross in flight. The northern royal albatross has an average wing span of nearly 3 meters (3.3 yards). It needs a strong wind to fly as it glides along and doesn’t have the strength in it’s wings to actually flap itself up into the sky.

And of course all this made us hungry!

So we indulged in some fresh seafood like these New Zealand green lipped mussels which are among the largest mussel species, and certainly the largest (and tastiest!) that we have ever eaten.

Have you noticed how many things I’ve talked about that are ‘large’? They grow them big down here!!