The primary hunt for this New Zealand trip was for red stag. It's an animal between a big deer and an elk in size. These are awesome creatures who "roar." It is a sound much louder and deeper than an elk bugling. An amazing sound to hear out in the wilds and remoteness of New Zealand. It really carries, too, and you can hear it from miles away -- literally.
We were about 1 1/2 hours from Blenheim, a total of 5 hours from Christchurch. In the middle of nothing. Lots of scruff, rugged and beautiful country with mountains, rivers, gorges, canyons and some steep, hot hiking. It's near Mount Gladstone, sort of.
The weather was perfect: blue skies, clear, crisp in the mornings but really heated up as the day went on to about 65 degrees. Which for us, seemed really freakin' hot. My pores were definitely cleaned out from all the sweating. Did I mention it was hot and steep?
We had spotted this fellow the night before, and were hoping he was still around. We were about to pack it up and head to another ridge, which I really did not want to do. (The sun was beating down and the climb was steep.) But, then I spotted him. I called attention to the guys ahead, and they got into position immediately. Good thing, too, because it all happened so fast.
Robin ranged him at 300 yards, set up and took the shot. Drilled him and down he went! We could hardly find the bullet hole -- that's how thick his hide was -- we had to find it from the inside. We also had to get through these prickly bushes, but all in all, he was pretty easy to reach.
He was around 450 pounds, and made really awesome burger!
See the photos from the red stag hunt.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
New Zealand Hunting at Glen Dene, Lake Hawea
Wow, what a stunningly beautiful place. Here are some of our hunting photos at Glen Dene station. If you're interested in a hunt at Glen Dene, talk to Robin first because we want to go back. Check out their website.
Our hosts Richard and Sarah Burdon were phenomenal and have a phenomenal station. They even had us for tea. What great people! She didn't even mind that Robin wanted to cook ... but who would? :-)
We camped at Lake Hawea Holiday Park. Boy, was that a beautiful, fun and friendly place to be. Well worth a stop if you ever go to the South Island.
Robin shot an arapawa ram at 225 yards. He is a cracker shot!
See our hunting photos.
(More scenic photos to come later..we're still rooting the 1,400!)
Our hosts Richard and Sarah Burdon were phenomenal and have a phenomenal station. They even had us for tea. What great people! She didn't even mind that Robin wanted to cook ... but who would? :-)
We camped at Lake Hawea Holiday Park. Boy, was that a beautiful, fun and friendly place to be. Well worth a stop if you ever go to the South Island.
Robin shot an arapawa ram at 225 yards. He is a cracker shot!
See our hunting photos.
(More scenic photos to come later..we're still rooting the 1,400!)
Friday, April 26, 2013
New Zealand Oddities
Sometimes pictures speak louder than words.
Enjoy these photos.
- Weird bathrooms.
- Weird roadkill.
- McLamb = McNot
- Predicaments
- And more....
Enjoy these photos.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Lucky Camping in New Zealand
While in New Zealand, we rented a campervan, the Lucky Cruiza.
What an awesome and amazing way to see the country. We drove about 1,400 miles in that thing, averaging around 30 miles to the gallon. We freedom camped (pulling over wherever we wanted). Tip for all you New Zealand bound campers: rent the porta-potty. This gives you "self-contained" status. Well worth having it along and opening up all these scenic, secluded opportunities to camp.
We also stayed in established campgrounds from time to time. These were great, and not like KOAs in the U.S. They were complete with showers, grills and laundry facilities. Of course, all in scenic places.
The scenery was fantastic. The weather was perfect: 65-70 degrees, sunny, clear, dry -- very different than Kodiak weather.
We were able to cook our meals, which is a significant savings. Eating out in New Zealand is very, very expensive. Although, they did have a great deal of gluten free options wherever we went.
Most of our meals were stag burgers or wild pork, all shot by Robin when we were hunting. We found a butcher along the way in a little town, who ground the stag into burger for us. It was awesome!
See some camping photos.
What an awesome and amazing way to see the country. We drove about 1,400 miles in that thing, averaging around 30 miles to the gallon. We freedom camped (pulling over wherever we wanted). Tip for all you New Zealand bound campers: rent the porta-potty. This gives you "self-contained" status. Well worth having it along and opening up all these scenic, secluded opportunities to camp.
We also stayed in established campgrounds from time to time. These were great, and not like KOAs in the U.S. They were complete with showers, grills and laundry facilities. Of course, all in scenic places.
The scenery was fantastic. The weather was perfect: 65-70 degrees, sunny, clear, dry -- very different than Kodiak weather.
We were able to cook our meals, which is a significant savings. Eating out in New Zealand is very, very expensive. Although, they did have a great deal of gluten free options wherever we went.
Most of our meals were stag burgers or wild pork, all shot by Robin when we were hunting. We found a butcher along the way in a little town, who ground the stag into burger for us. It was awesome!
See some camping photos.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
New Zealand wildlife
Wildlife in New Zealand was spectacular.
(We took 1,400 photos!)
- Penguins: We saw lots of penguins, little blue and yellow eyed, in several different areas. One was near Omaru, others near Dunedin, Curio Bay and places in between. Awesome viewing and we also have some awesome video.
- Birds: Royal albatross, one of the only places in the world you can see them on land. Shags (cormorants) spoonbills, herons and swans, to name a few.
- Four legged creatures: All imported, including a 140 year old taratoura lizard, sheep, red stag, fallow deer, rabbits and more. We even had to stop several times driving down the road because of sheep herding.
- Marine animals: Seals, sea lions, including one wrestling match for sea lions going for the best napping space. We even saw some dolphins jumping in the ocean while we were driving down the road.
(We took 1,400 photos!)
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
New Zealand: Quote of the Day
"We don't give change."
What the ?!?@#? This was the response from the campervan rental agent . Exact change required, or they get to keep the change?
Sunday, April 14, 2013
New Zealand: Quote of the Day
"Would you like ice cream in your milk shake?"
Server in response to Karen ordering a milk shake, which is really just flavored milk. If you add ice cream, it's $1 more and still just like flavored milk.
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