Jeff Buick

Tag: New Zealand

  • NZ Adventures – Hair Raising Tours Crime Walk

    NZ Adventures – Hair Raising Tours Crime Walk

    What to do in Dunedin? Well, one thing you do NOT want to miss is the Crime Walk (Hair Raising Tours) with Andrew Smith.

    This was such a highlight of our time in the city – fun, spooky, and very memorable. I can’t seem to shake Andrew’s tale of the young man who perished in Black Dog Alley (this one has a tragic love angle). You get the sense of what Dunedin was back in the crazy days of the gold rush, when bodies showed up in alleys and dark spaces more than you can imagine. Andrew gives you the creepy side of the city’s history, with a flair – his stories are NEVER boring.

    Then there’s the cherry on top – a tour of the Dunedin Gaol. Andrew’s the only one with a key, so if you want to slip inside this now-abandoned relic you need to take the tour. Once inside the prison, you can feel the place in your bones. Nothing else like it. This one is 10 out of 10, don’t miss it.

  • NZ Adventures – Claremont Castle – The Traitors

    NZ Adventures – Claremont Castle – The Traitors

    In general, I’m not into reality TV, but I will admit to watching The Traitors (UK). It’s a fascinating study of human nature – how we react when thrust into intense, adversarial situations.

    So there we were, February 2025, in Timaru (a quaint town on the south island in New Zealand), when I learned the grand old house we were staying at was the location for the 2nd season of Traitors New Zealand.

    Rob owns the house, and he would come down most evenings, sit with us by the fire and regale us with some really crazy stories. One of them was that they had filmed the whole season right there. Three weeks of film crews, traitors and faithfuls, and a promise to not say a word about who got banished or murdered.

    Things in New Zealand are always fun and often unexpected, but this was over the top. Loved it.

  • NZ Adventures – Six60 Concert

    NZ Adventures – Six60 Concert

    Six60 are a cultural treasure in New Zealand (sort of like The Tragically Hip in Canada). The band were starting a new tour and playing just north of Wellington while we were there, so we snagged some tickets, not having a clue what we were getting ourselves into.

    These guys are an incredibly tight band, with Matiu Walters up front belting out some of the richest vocals we’ve ever heard. We figured the concert would be a couple of thousand fans – maybe. What a shocker to show up and be surrounded by around 12,000 Kiwis of every age and description. We fit right in – our son and daughter-in-law plus the grandkids. Everyone knew the words to the songs, and there were moments when the entire crowd was singing. OMG, seriously, what a rush.

    All this is not surprising, I guess, given their first album back in 2011 hit #1 on the NZ charts (and was certified gold) in its first week. They’ve played to over 50,000 fans in Auckland on more than one occasion. Well-deserved success, indeed.

    The band came together in Dunedin, and the Six60 house on Castle Street is one of the most photographed locations in possibly the most photogenic country in the world. I felt no trepidation in stopping by and getting a shot in front of such an iconic setting.

    Six60 – download a song or two and give them a go

  • NZ Adventures – Little Blue Penguins

    NZ Adventures – Little Blue Penguins

    Dunedin, what a beautiful city – tucked into the lush hills of south New Zealand, it was built on massive wealth from a gold rush in the 1860’s. The prosperous times hit a wall when the gold ran out, then the city got smacked down again when the Panama Canal gave ships an alternate (and much shorter) route. But the grand architecture survived, and with its fascinating history, Dunedin is worthy of a visit.

    But this blog is about our trip down the Otago peninsula to the Royal Albatross Centre to see the little blue penguins. The drive is typical NZ, twisty roads with water on one side and steep hills on the other, but once you’re at the tip of the peninsula it’s a different world.

    The scenery is stunning – towering cliffs, waves crashing on the rocks, an endless view over the ocean as the sun sets. And the viewing platform is scant meters from the only mainland royal albatross breeding colony in the world. We were standing at the cliff edge, and an albatross came soaring past, maybe thirty feet from us. So close we could see him staring at us, giving us a what-are-you-doing-here look.

    Then off to see the penguins – they come in after dark from a day of feeding in the ocean as the trek across the beach to their burrows is pretty scary. Most things probably are when you’re only 8 inches tall. It’s a safety-in-numbers thing, and they arrive on the beach in “rafts” – groups of up to fifty penguins. They’re all flippers and waddle once they hit the sand, moving at top speed, heading for the safety of the dunes and tall grass.

    Cuteness rating – 10 out of 10.

    We definitely recommend this if you’re anywhere near a penguin colony. We loved it.