• Janet TaylorNew ZealandJanet Taylor
    Muddy quadding
    Nana quadding!!1Waiho River bed.Top of the Okarito Trig TrackAnother view from the top of the trackWetlands in OkaritoLittle Blue PenguinsMost of these little guys only have one flipper but they manage!

    Franz Josef

    January 26 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    After breakfast at our Airbnb, we set out for Franz Josef, a 25 minute drive away. The day before, we had booked a quad bike ride. We arrived at the office, got kitted out and set out for our 2 hour ride. We were slightly disappointed with the ride as we didn't go very far from the village. We had hoped to see more of the area. It was still fun though.

    The next morning we hiked an out-and-back trail in Okarito that went fairly steeply up for about 500 feet. After the hike we went to town for lunch and then visited a Nature Centre where there is a hatchery for endangered kiwi birds and a sanctuary for little blue penguins. Many little blue penguins get hit by boats or attacked by dogs. Several of the ones at the sanctuary were missing one flipper.

    We ate supper for the second night in a row at Alice May and had another very good meal. The restaurant is owned by Alice May's granddaughter and is dedicated to telling Alice May Parkinson's very interesting story!    Read more