Blogs from Southland, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 8

After a surprisingly good sleep in the Larnach Castle stables, we cleaned up in the shared showering facilities (not exactly the Four Seasons) and took on a “cooked breakfast” (in the English sense). Even after several weeks in this country, I am still unable to fully embrace the cooked breakfast concept which most often involves rather more grease than would appear to be healthy. Surprisingly for a Castle, there was no espresso machine. I made do with a plunger coffee which provided the necessary caffeine without resort to instant which would of course have been intolerable. Before departing the Castle, we took the Tour. The place is certainly grand but not on the scale of other “castles” (it has only three main bedrooms). The finishing details (carvings, stained glass, tiling, wood and stone work) are what ... read more

The Day after we arrived in Te Anau, me and Rich managed to get a 'hot deal' on the Milford Sound Cruise. So we headed up the 'Milford Road' rated the most scenic road in the world! A bold statement that I honestly can't agree more with! We drove through some amazing views! Beautifully clear lakes, dozens of waterfalls, together with being surrounded by beautiful towering snow capped mountains! Wow. it was amazing! The pics cant show just how good the road is through Milford. Ace! During the drive up there is one pint where you pass under one of the mountains its called the Homer tunnel. This really small tunnel that goes straight through! Its really freaky inside because theirs almost no lights in it and it has a really steep decent down! After ... read more

The Catlins coastline, apart from being sheep country, which pretty much define all of New-Zealand, and maybe Lord of the Rings filming location, kind of reminded me of the shire, is mainly known for it's marine life. Seals, sea lions, penguins and dolphins are among its most sought after residents, present on some beaches and bays, along its long and winding coastline. I've mentioned it before, when I met seals up in the north, that despite the fact that I am no animal hugger, I do see the appeal of spotting those animals in the wild. This time I got to see sea lion in some bay called Canibal bay, and it was pretty impressive. Big hunks of sea mammals, laying on the beach, rolling on the sand or even yawning. Most interesting was the mother ... read more

Rach... We headed further south from Dunedin to an area called the Catlins, passing through green, rolling countryside which, to me, had the character of mid Wales. However, the good weather did not come with us. As we put on our walking boots and rain proofs in preparation for visiting the monumentally disappointing Lake Wilkie, I felt a chilly dampness in the air of the kind I associate with our holidays in Llanfendigaid! The overcast sky, and an intense, penetrating drizzle made me wish that we could somehow ‘magic’ the all Wales gang over here for a night, and have a good ol’ knees up that evening. It took longer to get our walking boots on than it did to complete the allegedly thirty minute walk around Lake Wilkie. To the lake’s credit, it was surrounded ... read more

We've been staying with Marianne and Geoff since the 8th of Feb, and on the weekend they took us up to their holiday home in Te Anau. Te Anau is only an hour north of Winton and 2 hours away from Milford Sound so it was a good place to base ourselves for things in the area. Te Anau is a nice little town that despite being a tourist spot is not that touristy. The first night there (10th Feb) Geoff and Marianne took us out on their boat for a cruise around the lake. Lake Te Anau is the second largest lake in NZ, it is 352km2, 61km long and the deepest part is 417m; and with that much water you'd think you'd be able to find at least one fish! Although Geoff assured us ... read more