east coast

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at the mo we are in invercargill on the south island. we have been in our
van for 2 weeks now, and have been out and about seeing lots and lots:

NZ sealions and seals. lots of yellow-eyed penguins, and a blue penguin -
really close up. also saw lots of spotted shags - birds with
mohecans! and saw royal albatrosses - big birds that glide.
we have been from christchurch down the east coast, occasionally darting
inland to see things like mount cook (NZs highest mt) - all covered in snow
and very impressive. lake tekapo - huge blue lake surrounded by mountains,
also v impressive.

also done plenty of walking along some of the most beautiful beaches. as
people told us, it really is a great country and one you could never tire of
looking around. BUT we havent put our feet in the sea as it looks a bit too
cold (plus we are wimps!). in fact walking, looking and driving make up
most things. we havent done anything mad yet like bungie jump (philpa will
do that later penny - dont worry mum i value my eyeballs!). might go on a
boat ride or two in the fiords (possibly jet boating - hold onto the hats!).

the weather has been mostly very good to us, with more sunny days than
cloudy. have had a little rain but mainly bad weathers been when we've been
doing most driving. its fairly cold but notas we expected! one girl told us
it was the mildest winter they'd had in years! then again, when we arrived
at a campsite the other day the guy said that it was the first day it had
rained in a month (back to our australia days).

we've also had our 7 year anniversary. had a lovely meal out and phil had 2 puddings (well half of each) - it was a special occassion ok!

off next to the fiords and te anua / milford sound (if the roads open as they've had to close it due to averlanches - we saw one or two of these at mount cook from a safe distance). then into queenstown and up the west coast.

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