Dunedin
After partying hard in Queenstown we headed south for a couple of days of R and R while exploring The Catlins. We noticed that the southern coast of New Zealand tends to be a tad colder (not surprising because the next stop is Antarctica!) and we were welcomed into Dunedin by rain. Again this is not surprising because Dunedin is the Edinburgh of the south, ie. the street names are the same and the rain made it seem even more like home! We dragged ourselves up the steepest street in the world (Baldwin Street) before running to the Cadbury factory just in time for it to close. Apparently we missed a chocolate waterfall. So after that disappointment we made a huge curry with a couple of friends and spent the night swapping travelling stories with our dorm buddies, which we have to admit is one of the great things about travelling.
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Cadbury Factory
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Not quite the same shopping as home
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Invercargill
The next morning was an early start so that we could make the most of the Catlins before reaching Invercargill for the night. We stopped for more than one walk along the coastline to see rock features, a mirror lake, a petrified forest, lots of fur seals, dolphins and a penguin. We had been promised more than one penguin but he was all by himself so we left him to it. Another stop was to visit a beach that was home to a few unexpected animals. As we wandered along the beach we suddenly noticed quite a few big rocks...only they weren't rocks, they were in fact sea lions! It's recommended that you stay at least 10m away from them but that is pretty difficult to do when they are camouflaged with the sand! We stayed and watched these magnificent creatures for quite a while before one spooked us and we ran to catch up with our bus mates.
Milford Sound
On our third day it was time to visit Milford Sound, supposedly the most beautiful place in New Zealand. We drove for hours on the only road through the Fiordland National Park and lets just say that the glaciers did an amazing job in this area! The sheer valley sides and rugged peaks seemed much closer than they were because the expansive valley floors made it difficult to comprehend distances. We even stopped at Monkey Creek to fill up our water bottles with the coolest, crystal clear glacier water. Then we reached Milford Sound which is actually a misnomer because it is actually a fiord. We jumped onto the Pride of Milford, a huge catamaran, and drove out into the sound while munching on an awesome buffet lunch. We spotted even more seals and went right up close to a waterfall so that we got soaked. To be honest though, a picture tells a thousand words so just take a look at these!
After partying hard in Queenstown we headed south for a couple of days of R and R while exploring The Catlins. We noticed that the southern coast of New Zealand tends to be a tad colder (not surprising because the next stop is Antarctica!) and we were welcomed into Dunedin by rain. Again this is not surprising because Dunedin is the Edinburgh of the south, ie. the street names are the same and the rain made it seem even more like home! We dragged ourselves up the steepest street in the world (Baldwin Street) before running to the Cadbury factory just in time for it to close. Apparently we missed a chocolate waterfall. So after that disappointment we made a huge curry with a couple of friends and spent the night swapping travelling stories with our dorm buddies, which we have to admit is one of the great things about travelling.
The next morning was an early start so that we could make the most of the Catlins before reaching Invercargill for the night. We stopped for more than one walk along the coastline to see rock features, a mirror lake, a petrified forest, lots of fur seals, dolphins and a penguin. We had been promised more than one penguin but he was all by himself so we left him to it. Another stop was to visit a beach that was home to a few unexpected animals. As we wandered along the beach we suddenly noticed quite a few big rocks...only they weren't rocks, they were in fact sea lions! It's recommended that you stay at least 10m away from them but that is pretty difficult to do when they are camouflaged with the sand! We stayed and watched these magnificent creatures for quite a while before one spooked us and we ran to catch up with our bus mates.
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