Fush and Chups in the Deep South

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So, Tuatapare would rank right up there with B arrytown in my books, except swap the beach for millions of sheep. This town is known for being the sausage capital of NZ and also the flast town in NZ to see the sun set (on the south west corner of the country, opposite of Gisborne, on the north east, where I'll be moving). Luckily we arrived late, and were able to press on to Stewart Island in the morning.

Stewart Island lies 40km south of Invercargill and is accessible by a small passenger ferry. Now this is no BC FVerries, these guys mean business. Crossing the Foveaux Strait (where the South Tasman Sea, South Pacific Ocean and Southern Ocean meet) is no easy feat. I've never felt sea sick before boarding this vessle, which I'd like to name "The Spirit of Losing your Lunch". I'd like to say I enjoyed the views and beautiful day, but it was quite an unpleasant hour that I could have done without (and the way back was much worse)! Anyway, all complaints aside, seeing Stewart Island was definitely worth it. We took a 3 hour walk along the coastline and had some Fush and Chups (kiwi pronounciation emphasized), even though a German lady served us, down on the beach. Some slightly less than charming, very intoxicated and equally entertaining locals invited us to have a beer with them at their picnic table (keep in mind this was about 6pm on a Sunday evening, they'd been drinking since about noon and had to work the next day), okay, so not much different than a Sunday session at the Normanby in Brisbane - but throw an isolated small town community of 400 into the mix and what you get is something akin to a reality TV show hey, I might be on to something here) - complete with brother who has moved to Australia to make a life for himself and is home for a visit, and buddy who has been kicked out of the one and only pub in town (one and only town) for fighting a guy he's now friends with. Did I mention the pub forgot to renew its liquor licence at one point and had to shut down for 3 1/2 weeks. The whole town came to the party to celebrate its re-opening! Am I painting a picture here? I hope so. I love Stewart Island!

The next day brought a long drive on windy, often un-sealed roads on an already upset tummy from the boat ride - through the Caitlins to Dunedin. All in all, it was a great drive though. We stopped to see some yellow-eyed penguins (endangered, with only 3000 breeding pairs left in the wild). We also saw some dolphins - a species that are the smallest in the world. 2 crazy dutch guys stripped down to their scibbies (in horrible weather) so they could swim with them. We saw a petrified forest - fossilized logs and stumps from a volcano that erupted eons ago. It was quite a busy day. By the time we got to Dunedin, we all looked like a bunch of war horses trodding into the hostel. More site seeing was the last thing on anyone's mind, so we opted for showers, food and a quiet one at one of the uni pub(they're all uni pubs here, as the town seems to exist solely for university students). They do have a Cadbury Chocolate Factory though, which we eagerly checked out in the morning before heading back to Queenstown - which while enroute, I might add that I had to sing the National Anthem because I was late coming back from lunch.

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Photos

The Cadbury Factory
I knew there was a reason to go to Dunedin!