After spending two days at sea cruising from Tasmania, we arrived in the South Island of New Zealand. Our first stop was the beautiful fjords of Milford Sound. Known for towering peaks and waterfalls which plummet down its sheer sides. Our captain said it’s prettiest when it’s raining. We got lucky that morning as it was pouring!

The next stop along our cruise was Dunedin, the Scotland of New Zealand. It’s a college town with Victorian and Edwardian architecture. The city is home to colonies of albatross, sea lions and rare yellow-eyed penguins.

The beautiful beach town of Akaroa was next on our cruise. Akaroa is about an hour drive to Christchurch. My hearts goes out to those of Christchurch who lost so many in the attack in February. Christchurch already had its hands full with the earthquake of 2011 that left many structures still in ruin.

Moving up the coast we arrived in Napier. A lovely coastal town that was rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake in art deco style. The downtown streets reminded me of Disneyland. We spent two days in Napier. One of those days we went white water rafting on the Mohaka River. That was a blast.