On the road: Milford to Mt. Cook

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island
October 15th 2006

Published: October 15th 2006

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RTW2006

Otago Peninsula

Dunedin

Driving in NZ is such a pleasure - gently rolling hills dotted with lego-style trees, snow-capped mountains and ice-blue rivers enhance the whole experience....however the only catch is that you have to have a clear day to enjoy it, and when you are driving in a country where the cars only have two speeds on the wipers - fast, and very fast - you know those days are going to be few and far between!

And what is the fascination that Kiwis have with the song "Forever Young" by Alphaville Lyrics? If you don't hear the song at least 3 times a day, on different radio stations, you're sure to hear it playing in the supermarkets or hostel receptions... I'm mystefied.

And so our journey continued along the southern coast of NZ from Milford Sound, through many tiny towns such as Gore (Brown Trout Capital of the World..allegedly)...followed by Clinton...I'm not sure who had a hand in naming these towns side by side, but like a lot of places named in NZ , it sounds vaguely familiar.

After suffering 4 consecutive days of rain, we made it to Dunedin where they were experiencing a heatwave of 26degrees! The

What's our vector, Victor?

weather here truly is crazy - it was snowing in Dunedin 3 days previous to the sunshine. Like any devoted chocoholic, I had to make my pilgrimage to Cadbury World of Chocolate....and Dunedin proved to be my Mecca for one full 75min tour! All those unanswered questions... now I know why Dairy Milk in Thailand doesn't taste the same as in Ireland, and how they make hollow Easter eggs (we even got to see the making of Creme Eggs in the factory)! After the exertions of Cadbury's, took a quick trip out to the Otago peninsula for some more wildlife watching with seals, albatross and shag bids.

After Dunedin, we made our way inland towards Mt. Cook, NZ highest mountain and (supposedly) the site for some great views and walking.....alas it was not to be, as the cloud of rain finally caught up with us again after the respite of Dunedin, and we could barely see 5 yards in front of us in the driving rain, let alone attempt some walks to lookout points. After 2 days of rain, we decided to cut our losses - we took some pictures about where we guess Mt Cook would've been, had