Hector's dolphins in the Sounds

Hector's dolphins are small dolphins that are only found in coastal waters around New Zealand. I've been lucky to see these rare and endangered dolphins in a few places, but none as good as in the Queen Charlotte Sound. In other parts of New Zealand I've experienced these dolphins to be quite shy and elusive, but in the Queen Charlotte Sound there is a small population of Hector's dolphins that are curious and even playful and times. One individual that stands out is a very curious female who seems to to enjoy the odd scratch against stationary boats. We called this curious dolphin Georgina.

A curious dolphin called Georgina

Exploring Picton's wildlife

Some of the local wildlife in and around the Picton township:

Juvenile bellbird

Chorus cicada

New Zealand woodpigeon/kereru

Fern frond

Silvereyes

A walk in Waikawa

My current home - Picton in the Marlborough Sounds. This was just another day, going for a walk along the marina to check out the birds the bees, and the boats on this stunning sunny Marlborough day.

Black-billed gull. One of the rarest gull species in the world

New Zealand fantail

Bellbird feeding on a kowhai flower

Routeburn Track - a great walk

The Routeburn track is one of the 10 great walks in New Zealand and often the highest rated. This great walk is located in Fiordland National Park, one of the most wild remaining areas of New Zealand. The area is well known for its high rainfall and changeable alpine weather. We started and ended the three-day trip with rain but got lucky right in the middle of it when the views were the most stunning on day two!

Hooker Valley visit

The Hooker Valley track is a short and easy walking track in Mt Cook National Park. Luckily on this beautiful spring day the very popular track wasn't too busy, so we could enjoy mostly uninterrupted views over the Mueller Glacier and Hooker Lake with Mt Cook as the backdrop.

Back in New Zealand

After more than nine years living abroad it was nice to return to New Zealand to settle down, but not before doing some sightseeing. First port of call - Dunedin. No matter how long I've been away, I always feel like I'm returning home when I visit Dunedin. A diverse range of wildlife is just on the backdoor and I can't get enough of the wild beaches along the outer edge of the peninsula.

Kereru/New Zealand woodpigeon

Redpoll

Architecture in Dunedin

Safari in South Africa

A trip to South Africa isn't complete without a safari. It's one of those bucket list activities, to be travelling the African plains in search of some of Earth's largest mammals (as well as other animals and plants). These photos are from some of my encounters in Aquila private game reserve.

African elephant

Zebra

Springbok

Too hot for hippos

Sleeping lion

Sleeping lioness

Baby rhino

Cape eland

Ostrich

My best whale breaching moments

This post is dedicated just to Southern right whale breaching behaviour. These are by far my best whale breaching moments that will stay with  me forever. The size, power and beauty of these whales is incredible!