Tuesday and Wednesday

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Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." Douglas Adams

Well it kind of felt like one of those days. The destination for the day was the Catlins. This is the southeast “corner” of the island. It’s roughly 3 hours from Wanaka. I was up fairly early had coffee and breakfast at the backpackers and was on my way. First stop was Cromwell for gas and a look around. Nothing special. On down the road to Clyde and then Alexandra. Clyde is actually where I will end up on my Rail Trail ride next week. At Alexandra I cross the Clutha River, which I will follow for more or less the next two hours to Balclutha. This is a very pretty drive through the heart of some of the best orchards in the south. My objective was to get to Balcluthe by 2:00 so I could Skype Carla. The town has a free wifi and keeping with the quirkiness of the day the best “hot spot” was the Subway. That’s right Subway as in “a spicy Italian on wheat bread for $ 5.00” (actually here it’s $7.50). Seemed kind of weird but we connected and I had a great time talking to the Rev and Heather while Tobin made faces into the camera. You gotta love it! With my home “fix” I’m on my way the see Kaka Point and Nugget Point, two of the must sees on in this area. I was particularly impressed with the lighthouse setting at Nugget Point. From there I decided it was time to find the Lodge where I’m staying the next two nights. Well, lets just say it was a bit of a cluster f#&*. I got lost twice, had to go back to a little town to get gas because I didn’t want to run out and finally arrived. Carla will recall a similar event from Costa Rica. Fortunately the result was the same, which is to stay, I ended up at a most stunning remote eco-lodge. I have my own nearly new “cabin” with a fantastic view. Its just Iksulant!! Tomorrow some exploring.

Wednesday 23rd.

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons." From the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

A good day to go find some dolphins, actually some seals, sea lions and penguins. Mostly I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves. First stop was Cathedral Caves. There was a 20 minute walk through the bush to get to the beach. You can only do this at low tide so I timed it perfectly. After that I back tracked to Owaka and went down to Surat Bay. You can see Sea Lions here without the risk of a head on collision that is common on the road to Cannibal Bay. That of course would be a head on car collision not with a Sea Lion. Had to walk nearly two miles to the end of the beach to get the shots you see. Well worth it! Last stop was Purakaunui Falls. As you can see, this was really cool and not just one of those single strands off a mountainside. I took the pic of the road sign in Owaka because I thought it was funny that they pointed out everything including the toilets. Although they did fail to say how far they were, a critical bit of info! Dolphins tomorrow

HAVITN PROBLEMS ITH CONECTIVITY - PHOTOS TOMORROW

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Photos

from inside
the main cave was actually a big U shape so you could walk in the one side and out another.