Giant Strawberries@Julians Berry Farm

We drove from Rotorua to Whakatane District in gloomy weather. I was hoping to stop by the coast and photograph Oystercatchers but that was not to be. My nephew was getting restless and I suggested to my uncle that we pull into Julians Berry Farm that I had seen as we were driving into the Whakatane District. My nephew was initially not keen on this but it was an excuse to stretch our legs. Inside, the large warehouse shop, there were berries of all types. Then I discovered that they allowed people to pick strawberries. I inquired at the counter and picked up the smallest plastic container.The little boy was overjoyed and ran all the way to the plot and started picking strawberries. It was his first time picking strawberries and the berries were huge. Can't blame the boy for shoving some into his mouth as he grabbed fat juicy berries as big as his fist.To ensure that we had no wastage, we didn't pile our box up. We then walked back into the building and paid $11 for the box. We then sat in the cafe as I wanted to have lunch. While placing my order I noticed that they were also selling chocolate sauce. Whoop!!! the kid is going to get another yummy experience.This was my nephew enjoying the fruits of his labor and chocolate sauce.He then proceeded to polish off half my lunch as well. This was my order of grilled chicken and banana, which was really good. If you're ever in that area do drop in on this place as it was a fantastic experience for us.

Queenstown: The Cow

This is an Italian restaurant that had rave reviews. It took a while to locate The Cow on Cow Land, and even more effort to figure out how to get into the place. The entrance to the restaurant is through a small door that is closed. Once I figured out these things the next challenge was to get someone's attention within the dark restaurant that was very busy.
Interesting menu that included a little history of Cow Lane, Queenstown. I settled for a mushroom and chicken soup and a plate of spaghetti. I enjoyed the soup. However, the napolatana was average. May be I should have ordered pizza. The place was very busy and people who came after me had to wait sometime for tables.

Queenstown: Fergburger

The burger joint had a queue when I passed it a couple of times and I had to go in to sample the food. Fergburger started out as a hole in the wall operations in 2001 but has since grown to take a store front on the main street.This is the menu that was on the outside of the eatery. One was truly spoilt for choice. Okay, I went to a burger joint but I didn't order the traditional beef patty. Instead, I zeroed in on a Sweet Bambi, wild Fiordland deer patty served with Thai plum chutney, lettuce, red onions, tomato and aioli.

While I sat at the counter and waited for my burger, it was interesting to see how the burgers were prepared. The meats are char-grilled to order on a hot plate.While that is happening the crew work on the buns by slathering half a bun with aioli (mayonnaise with garlic) and adding the rest of the condiments. The hamburgers are then wrapped and placed in a bag. Yes, all food is served in a brown bag.Each burger weighs 250gms and the finished product was huge. I eagerly took photos and then dived into my Sweet Bambi.It was yummy but half way through the burger, I started to struggle and laws of diminishing returns started to set in. The only complaint I had was the Thai plum chutney was a tad too sweet for my liking.

Pāpango or The New Zealand Scaup

The New Zealand scaup is a pretty little diving duck. They have glossy dark-brown plumage and it was interesting watching them dive. They swim about underwater to depths of 3 metres, feeding on aquatic plants, freshwater snails and other invertebrates. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the ducks under water, too much glare off the water.Among the smallest New Zealand ducks, scaups are around 40 centimetres long. The male has yellow eyes and are darker. All my photos are of male scaups but here's a pair.Scaup numbers declined since European settlement, but have been fully protected since 1934. Their numbers have begun to recover in some regions. They are sparsely scattered across the North and South islands, the total population being about 20,000. Yeah! for conservation efforts. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had a chance to see these delightful birds around now.

Queenstown: Aggys Shack

Found Aggys Shack by chance while walking around the waterfront. This small outlet that specializes in seafood had lots of people eating by the road, and waiting around for their orders. This is another must try for me.This was the chalk board menu at the stall.As I didn't want to eat fish&chips again, I settled on scallops but without the chips as they usually go to waste. The six battered scallops were huge and well worth the $12.I removed the batter on the last one to show how fresh and succulent the scallop was.If you are ever in Queenstown, do give this shack a try.

Queenstown: Patagonia Chocolates

Queenstown was one of the town that I really got into the food because it had a thriving food scene. Having three days in the town was fantastic as I had a chance to explore some of the well know eateries.
First stop, ice cream on the pier. My aunt, uncle and I had promised our 5-year-old traveller we would buy ice cream for him in New Zealand. Patagonia Chocolate makes fantastic gelatos and is quite popular with both locals and tourist.
Not only did they serve home-made ice creams but they had chocolates, and pastries. I had their ice-creams on two consecutive days. Yums! They sell them in cups or cones pretty much like any other ice-cream outlet. However, these cones hide a secret the base of each cone is filled with chocolate.Then I discovered their divine croissants when I walked in one morning to buy breakfast for the family. They were awesome. The next morning, I made it a point to head back there for breakfast. Hot chocolate and a freshly baked croissant.That was sheer indulgence and it was pure comfort food on a cold morning. Before leaving Queenstown the next day, I took another walk very early in the morning to the pier and enjoyed the peace before we headed out.

What's a Shag?

Spotted a similar bird sitting on a jetty at Lake Te Anau and here it was again on Lake Wakatipu in the early morning while walking to the pier. See the little fish or eel in the bird's mouth.It then disappeared underwater as it was busy catching its breakfast.The next time, I spotted the bird was in the afternoon. It was sun bathing.So what is a Shag? It is just another name of the Cormorant. The bird that I photographed is the Little Pied Cormorant or Little Shag. It is a common Australasian waterbird, found around the coasts, islands, estuaries, and inland waters of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and around the islands of the south-western Pacific and the sub-Antarctic (I didn't know that till I did my research).

Anyway, this bird tolerated my presence for a good 5 mins before it decided I was in its personal space, and put more distance between us.

Meeting the Kea

I've watched a documentary on Keas on Animal Planet and my first encounter with this bird was at the aviary in Dunedin Botanic Garden. The captive bird looked sad and very bored. The Kea is an endemic specie of parrot to New Zealand, it is one of seven parrot species.
The Kea is found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. We were driving from Te Anau to Milford Sound and were waiting for the traffic light to change at Homer Tunnel, when I spotted three birds loitering at a stop area that was covered in melting snow.Wohoo! wild Keas was all I could think as I climbed over my uncle to grab some shots of these precocious birds that have intelligence like no other bird. They can solve logical puzzles, such as pushing and pulling things in a certain order to get to food, and will work together to achieve a certain objective.It didn't take me long to realize that the three had learnt that people going through the tunnel will stop and feed them. They were there for their daily handout.
I would have loved to have pulled over to the side of the road and observe the birds but we had a boat to catch.

Birds of New Zealand

It was at Kaikoura that I started to notice some of the native birds such as the Red-billed Gull.This gull is a native of New Zealand, and is found throughout the country and on outlying islands. It is such a pretty bird.Then at Lake Te Anau, I got introduced to more bird life around the lake area. The Black-billed Gull is another species that is endemic to New Zealand.As I walked around the beach, more birds started to pop out like this Starling.This bird is an introduce species and it got its name from the tiny white stars that gleam, only in summer, against its glistening dark feathers.

Then came these birds what I initially thought were similar to Little Grebes. They turned out to be Black Teal or New Zealand Scaups. They are diving ducks that live on large bodies of clean water. These ducks can dive to a depth of 2–3 metres in search of fresh water snails and aquatic plants. I managed to capture this synchronized dive.As these weren't as shy as the Little Grebes, I have a lovely photo collection of these ducks.

Chocolate Heaven? May Be Not...

We made a stop at Cadbury World in Dunedin for the benefit of my five-year-old nephew. The kid's eyes nearly popped out when he saw the mountain of candy at the reception.However, his grandparents vetoed the idea of a factory tour so we just hung around the visitors centre that had chocolate themed displays where you can learn about the history of Cadbury and chocolate through the ages.The company had a strict policy, they wouldn't sell products to visitors who do not buy their tours. Hence, we ended up just browsing the merchandise much to the disappoint of a five year old who had his heart set on buying all the chocolates he wanted.

The Riot of Colors@Dunedin Botanic Garden

From Christchurch we drove to Dunedin and stayed only one night in this delightful city. I'd like to spend more time here. However, I did manage to squeeze in a couple of hours at Dunedin Botanic Garden after we got settled into the motel and before we left for our next destination. My whirl wind excursion into the park didn't see me go very far into the garden as I got royally distracted by POPPIES.I was initially surprised to see the plants in the garden and then I thought why not they have such beautiful blooms. Hence I went crazy with poppies and must have snapped hundreds of shots of these flowers from various angles, buds and pods.Including the busy bees that were within the poppy flowers. I just could not resist the brilliant colors.The next plant to catch my eye were the Irises as Vincent Van Gogh's Irises popped into my head.In Singapore, we don't get the change in seasons nor the riot of colors that each season brings. There were just so many types of different blooms. I simply got carried away by colors of summer. A small section of the garden was enough to keep me occupied for hours.