We had an amazing walk to the top of Mt Arthur (1795 metres) on the weekend.  Mt Arthur is set in Kahurangi National Park ( NZ’s second largest) and occupies a large part of the northwest of the South Island. Winter has the perfect walking conditions and the light and colours are spectacular

Mid - winter is the perfect time to photograph seal pups. We found these 50 playful seal pups hidden in the bush under a waterfall near Kaikoura.

Rough and Tumble Lodge is one of our favourite wilderness lodges in New Zealand. If you are looking for an Ndutu Lodge style experience in NZ  - this is it. Great hosts, incredible food and the most stunning wilderness location.

Have a look at their new website: www.roughandtumble.co.nz

May is a stunning month for photography with  clear sunny skies and perfect lighting for so much of the day

A lot of fun was had leading a group of Land Rover owners on a tour of the Golden Bay area. A big highlight was  the Devil’s Goldfield track in the Kahurangi National Park

There are certainly not many more stunning places than this to have a sheep farm. We recently visited the Harwood farm south of the Anatori River. Just hope the sheep appreciate the beautiful scenery and exciting trip to market across several tidal rivers!

There is nothing nicer while travelling around NZ than finding a deserted beach for a sun-downer.  On the West Coast you can have miles of empty beach to yourself anytime, just pull over and enjoy!

We’ve had the most stunning weather throughout February and even the wet West Coast has hardly had a drop of rain! So couldn’t resist this dramatic sunset with NZ’s native Nikau Palm near Punakaiki on the West Coast

I love the Farewell spit gannet colony as it is unique to the planet. Not only is it the South Islands largest gannet colony it also lies on a couple of sand dunes, surrounded by sea, only a few metres above the normal high tide level. Normally a colony would be on high rocky cliffs well out of danger of the tides.

The Colony started with about 70 pairs in the early 80’s and now has over 3000 adult birds. It’s a perilous location as shown in 1997 when a huge storm crashed over the colony and wiped out most of that years chicks on their dune nests.  All is back to normal now and it really is a must see location at the far tip of Farewell spit

]]> http://www.nigelperksnz.com/bushdiary/?feed=rss2&p=87 http://www.nigelperksnz.com/bushdiary/?p=82 http://www.nigelperksnz.com/bushdiary/?p=82#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:36:06 +0000 Nigel http://www.nigelperksnz.com/bushdiary/?p=82

Nelson has regained its title as the sunshine capital of New Zealand.

The city clocked up 2,571 hours in 2008, 31 hours ahead of Tauranga’s 2,540 hours. 2008 winner Blenheim came in third with 2,466 hours. As a comparison London gets on average 1,500 hours a year!

A great reason to live here – or come for a visit!