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Published: March 29th 2015
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Well since Dunedin we have done a serious amount of miles, but OMG what a journey. We travelled down the Catlin coastal road and called in at Kaka Point which led us down an unmade road to Nugget Point. There is a lighthouse there and fabulous views out over the ocean and the bays on either side, one of which was cannibal bay, didn't bother visiting this one!! Next onto Purakaunui Falls which apparently are the most photographed falls in NZ, don't really know why this is. They were pretty and the walk to them down the boardwalk was short but lovely. It was like being in the jungle. From there is was back in the car and off the the southern most point on the South Island which is Slope Point, we visited porpoise bay where you can wade out and slap the water and the Hector dolphins which are a small dolphin native to NZ will swim right up to you and allow you to stroke them. This unfortunately we didn't get to do as it was freezing cold and very windy. Next it was Waipapa Point and another lighthouse followed by a blustery walk along the beach looking
at the sea lions and fur seals. Off we go again and inland to a place called Gore. Small town but it was a good point for us to stop. The B&B we stayed in was lovely and we had a great meal in the local pub.
Refreshed and off we go again, our stop over this time is Te Anau where we are staying for four nights. The place is on the edge of fiord land so as you can imagine we are surrounded by mountains and a very large lake. One problem we have encountered already is that there are sand flies which bite you. They may be tiny but flipping heck you can proper feel it when then chomp on you! We have a bug spray in the car and one in the bag but knowing they are around makes you really itchy! Even writing this I am scratching! We look like a right couple of chimps walking round itching and checking each other for bugs.
Well I don't know how or what to tell you about today. It has to be one of the most magical, epic, wonderful, gob smackingly fantastic days. We have
been for a cruise on Milford Sound and the whole day has just rendered us both speechless. From the minute we got in the car to drive to the departure point the sun shone and the mountains were mesmeric. It was a two hour drive and we had a map of all the points of interest to stop at so we did pull in a couple of times and did little walks upto waterfalls etc. On arrival at Milford we found where we needed to go and had our picnic, what a spot. We checked in and I had booked our cruise on a smaller boat and all I can say is what a good plan. There were only 12 people on the boat, we felt as though we had chartered the boat for ourselves. The captain and the girl on the boat were fantastic, very knowledgable and because there were not many people they took loads of photos for people and the captain came out and chatted to everyone which I thought was a nice touch despite his jokes about the England cricketers!! We sailed down the sound and the waterfalls, mountains and blue skies were spectacular. When we
came to the Tasman Sea we were greeted by a pod of dolphins who stayed with us whilst we turned round and headed back up the sound, they kept us company for quite a while and put on a mega display of acrobatics. You just can't be anything but elated when you are accompanied by these mammals, it is just fantastic watching them playing in the bow wave and leaping in and out of the water, it's like they know they are putting on a show and that they are the stars. They made an already fabulous experience into one of life's totally exhilarating moments to be kept in the memory box. Absolutely blown away, awesome! Rounded the day off with a roast Lamb dinner in the pub and guess what the cricket was on. The New Zealanders are getting so excited at the final between them and Australia, I think it may be a bit of a frenzy on Sunday. They are definitely a sporting nation, in fact it was said the other day that when they had the last big earthquake in 2011 it shifted NZ 30cm closer to their neighbours Australia which they said they didn't mind
as they would be able to teach them how to play the game of Rugby!
Tramping today, we had a bit of a lazy morning, caught up with a few emails and Skype calls then after a leisurely stroll into town and a must have coffee we jumped in the car and headed for the car park at the beginning of the Kepler Walk. The walk itself is a tramp of between 3-5 days and is a distance of 60km. The part we did was through a forest and next to the lake so there was nothing too strenuous involved but just a really nice walk. The pathways are fantastic and the forest looks quite jungle like and tropical, it's hard to imagine that in May/June it will all be covered in snow and the track will probably be shut to trampers due to avalanches! The leaves on the trees are just beginning to change in colour so I am expecting some wonderful scenes in the next 2-3 weeks of all the autumnal shades. Back to the ranch, quick blog update, shower and probably a Chinese tonight. Then we will be packing up in the morning ready to head
over to Queenstown where we have booked an apartment for a week. Apparently Queenstown is the capital of fun, excitement and daring pursuits so we will see what we can rustle up for the Bennetts.
Love love love Queenstown, it's a mega fantastic town. The views are just sublime. The town is on the edge of Lake Wakatipu so there are all the water sports you could think of. The town itself has plenty of really nice bars and restaurants and a mixtrue of outdoor shops and boutiques. There is a gondola up the mountain and we have just walked around the gardens and down by the lake. It's beautiful, we are here for a week and may even extend our stay. Our apartment is lovely but it's the view that you cannot stop looking at, it's awesome in fact we never want to go out it's just so incredible. Its the World Cup cricket final today. Baz is settling down in front of the telly and I will be oh so very glad when it's over. It's like watching paint dry, I may do something fun like our ironing.
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