Hello, sunshine :)

One benefit of the rainy days is that I was graced with rainbows while driving on two different days, Timaru to Dunedin, and Dunedin to Invercargill. There was even a full one, from horizon to horizon. I'm not sure where to begin regarding the last few days. The sun was a welcome sight. Invercargill is almost on the tip of the south end of the South Island. Not a whole lot between it and Antarctica. I stayed with a couple that have a sheep and deer farm. It was educational hearing their stories about farming. And the smells reminded me of the dairy farm in western NY. Does anything smell quite like silage? They have a bit of native bush on their land as well, so one morning we went tramping out there for a bit. I went down to Bluff, which is really on the edge of the southern tip (Bluff...where the highway begins is on their welcome sign). The sea was choppy, but so pretty with the sunlight sparkling off of it. The blues of the ocean are incredible here.

The wildlife is awesome to see down here as well. I've already mentioned the Hector's Dolphins (I heard them clicking) and the yellow-eyed penguins, but they also have blue penguins (also known as fairy penguins; they're the teeny tiny ones). I haven't seen the blue ones yet, but I may either here or in Australia. The birds are unique as well. Because there were no native predators, some of them lost the ability to fly, and others will only fly for a short distance. I saw some keas today while stopping on my way back from Milford Sound. They're medium sized birds, green feathers on the outside, but when they fly, you can see the red feathers that are under their wings and on their back. They have a sharp beak and some serious claws. While out on Milford Sound, we saw a couple groups of New Zealand seals. It was mid-day, so they were mainly just sunning themselves as they lounged on the rocks. One of them must have heard or felt the boat, because it popped its head up, took a look around, and they went back to basking in the sun. The do have cute faces. We did see a few diving/playing in the water. These were hunted almost to extinction, but have bounced back since they are now a protected species. Here's a conundrum: the yellow-eyed pengiuns are also endangered, but the NZ seals often feed on them, and they tend to live in the same areas.

I did forget to mention that I stopped at the Moeraki Boulders (thanks for the suggestion, Mindy). They are pretty awesome to see. Basically, they are these huge, almost perfectly spherical boulders on the beach near Moeraki. At high tide, they are partially coverd by the sea. I arrived as the tide was coming in, so it was a quick run at times to avoid getting wet. The waves were again impressive, and I definitely would not have ventured into that water. The undercurrent appeared quite strong. The Maori legend is that a returning boat capsized, and all the food baskets were lost. The boulders are believed to be these food baskets. The scientific explanation is not as fun; something about limestone formations. I'll have to look it up to remember all the details.

Today, I went to Milford Sound. But, before I could leave, I had to defrost the car's windshield. Oh, the things I never thought I would deal with in July :) I took the scenic route from Invercargill - lots of winding roads with views of snow-capped mountains in the distance and waves crashing into the shore. Yep, especially with the sunshine, it was a feast for the eyes. No rainbows today as there hasn't been much rain down here. Milford Sound (actually a fiord) is impressive. We boarded the boat, and they took us through the fiord while pointing out various interesting aspects of the it. There were a number of waterfalls cascading from the cliffs. We headed out to the Tasman Sea. It was a gorgeous, sun-drenched day. There was just a slight loll to the sea which increased a bit as we left the fiord. The water color, again, is just amazing. A deep, deep blue with just a tinge of green. The fiord is mainly sea water, but the top layer is freshwater due to rain and glacial run-off. If my cloudy and rainy days meant that I had a gorgeous day at Milford, I'm quite happy with that. Tomorrow, I'm taking a tour of Doubtful Sound. I've heard both Sounds are fabulous, just different. I'm looking forward to being able to compare. I hope tomorrow is as gorgeous as today was.

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