Castle Hill

This little lamb was only a couple days old.  I was surprised how quickly they are up and running around.  I was also surprised that she wasn't as soft as she looks.  Her tight little curls were rough!

Finally getting up close with some sheep.

Laundry day.

We painted a beehive and this gate.

Chris explored the treehouse.  This is a walnut tree.... I wish our walnuts would hurry up and get this big!

In the afternoon we explored the area.  This is Ashley Gorge.

Chris is determined to swim somewhere, but this was too shallow.

I tried to get some sun, but the have an equivalent to our black fly, called a sand fly.  Annoying little things.

So we kept driving and found another gorge... Waimakariri Gorge.   (That's the single lane bridge we crossed to get here.)

Chris got his swim trunks up and everything, but in the end he determines it's too cold.

We still have a few hours of daylight, so we keep driving towards the mountains.

Saw this crack in the hill, and wondered if it was caused by last year's earthquake.

Castle Hill, as seen from the highway.

The pathway to the rocks.

Castle Hill.  I think Chris is in this photo somewhere...

Some rock climbers taking a break.

Almost to the top!

Elk?  Wasn't expecting to see this on the way home.  They looked quite magestic in the sunset.

Fact:  NZ only has one native mammal, the bat.  All others were introduced.  Any deer or elk you see are in a paddock, just like the sheep or cows.  They seem so wild... doesn't seem right to have them on a farm.