New Zealand - Week 5

---

---

Catlins, Dunedin, Christchurch, Mount Cook, Twizel

I set off east from Invercargill into the Catlins, a scenic area of rolling hills, forest running by the southern coastline of the South Island. My passengers for the journey were Sam and Alisha, who had just finished their housekeeping stint at Sparky's and were looking make their way to Dunedin. For music, I chose three CDs from a second hand shop based on their album covers alone. Predictably, the quality wasn't great, the pick of the three being "The Beangrowers". We stopped at Slope Point, the most southerly point of the island, from which Stewart Island ("the third island") was visible, then travelled on to Curio Bay. Sam and Alisha set up camp in the woods, while I booked into the idyllic Catlins Beach House overlooking the bay. Just down the road there was a petrified (fossilised) forest, where I spotted a my first yellow-eyed penguin, a rare breed which nests in this area.

The next morning, I set off for Dunedin, where I spent three nights. I judged it to be the nicest city on the south island, with some interesting 19th and early 20th century stone buildings and an attractive central "Octogan". The city is home to the world's steepest street, which I managed to walk up but was grateful for the drinking water fountain at the top. I also made use of the car to drive along the Otago peninsula, taking three others from the hostel on the ride. We stopped at the Albatross Centre, where a disobedient albatross left the "fee paying" area and flew over the car park, and so we saw it for free! We also saw seals and later, more yellow-eyed penguins and an aggressive sealion on Sandfly Bay.

I headed north from Dunedin for another visit to Christchurch, where I swapped the car for a campervan and met my new travel companion for the next couple of weeks, Gordon (my dad), who had undertaken his own round-the-world trip to visit me. We stayed at a local site in Christchurch to give my dad some rest and work out how to use our new transport/life support machine. The next morning, we headed south past Lake Tekapo and called at Mount Cook village, where the clouds were just high enough to give us a tantalising view of the mountain glaciers and the valley leading up to Mount Cook. We stayed at a campsite in a village called Twizel and ate at a Western/Thai restaurant, where we pondered with the bar owner why New Zealand lamb is cheaper in the UK than New Zealand.

---

Photos

Otago Peninsula
Yellow-eyed penguins on Sandfly Bay

Slope Point
The most southerly point on the South Island, with Stewart Island vaguely visible.

Otago Peninsula
On Sandfly Bay with Chinese Faye and a German called Gordon.

Comments

[Neil]

Hello
Hi Graeme another great set of pics.....love the shot of the albatross a lot closer one than I got. Looking forward to your next blog with your Pa. take care in South America......Neil