South Island trip - part 1: Dunedin & Te Anau

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Last weekend, I got back from the South Island trip with my mother and my brother Michiel. It was very nice, we had such beautiful weather (so lucky, cause now it’s raining all the time) and we saw some amazing things. I will need a couple of blogs to tell you about it, mainly because I have too many pictures for one blog!

So, my mum and Michiel arrived two weeks ago in Dunedin, it was really nice to see them again! We did not do much that day due to jetlag, but the next day we did some sightseeing in Dunedin. I showed them the university buildings, introduced them to my supervisor, and we went to the Otago museum (including butterfly garden, see pictures). In the afternoon, we went on the Otago Peninsula tour. We drove in a small bus first to the albatross colony, which was not that spectacular (although we did see one albatross flying just as we were about to leave). Then we went to a beautiful bay and we walked downhill to the seal colony. After a rather tiring walk back uphill, my mum decided to stay at the bus and Michiel and I went down another hill. We were walking down to the beach, when we had to take a detour because there was a yellow-eyed penguin on the road! It allowed us to come very close, so we took some nice pictures. On the beach we saw a lot more penguins (a couple of them “kissing”!) and several sea lions. After some climbing and descending we went back to the bus, and drove back to Dunedin.

The next morning we picked up our rental car and left for Te Anau. The way there was very beautiful, and Michiel and I both liked driving very much, even on the left! It took some getting used to in the beginning (e.g. turning right and ending up in the wrong lane, using the windscreen wiper instead of the turn signal blinkers), but it did not take long to get used to and it was not as hard as I had expected. When we arrived in Te Anau, we went on a boat trip to the Glowworm Caves, which was fun but not super-special. The next day we had a bus/boat trip into Milford Sound. The views were amazing there, and it is such a beautiful place, but we got very annoyed by the many many tourists. You had to stand in line to walk through the rainforest, had to push your way through people to take pictures, etcetera. So that was really a pity, because I can imagine how much more impressive it would be if you were there without the crowds…

After spending two nights in Te Anau, we went to Queenstown. We mostly relaxed that day, sat in the sun a little, read, went out to dinner, and just chilled. Michiel and I had been planning to go out in Queenstown, but we both did not feel like it so we just went to bed early. Luckily I’m going back there in two weeks anyway to go out with my friends, so I’ll get another chance at tasting the Queenstown nightlife!

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Comments

[Melina]

Hallooooow!!
hee annelies.. leuk verhaal, je schrijft echt leuk. die foto's van die pinguins en zeeleeuwn zijn schattig :-P xx melina

[Michelle]

whahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, sorry weas me ff jouw in de auto aant visualiseren met je ruitenwissers ipv je knipperlicht. haha te vet, ff wennen zo aan de andere kant he en die kussende pinguins, hoe schattig zijn die!!! (alhoewel ik betwijfel of pinguins kussen maar ok) wat jij wil. hoes met mn brief? ben je al bijna klaar??? haha ik ben even benieuwd als jij was naar mijn brief. haha ik verwacht een boekwerk, dat je dat maar weet! haha o serge is er, ik kap, we spreken elkaar snel! kusje, mis je, hou van jou