Dunedin

Dunedin was our next port of call and we travelled along the coast road through an area called The Caitlins.
We called in at a couple of places on the way and saw a solitary male fur seal hauled up on some rocks. Tony said it was one of the windiest roads he had driven along, it seemed to go on forever, glad it wasn’t me driving.

Our main reason for coming to Dunedin was to travel on the Taieri Gorge Railway; apparently it’s one of the world’s great train trips.
The train took us on a 77km trip to Middlemarch, crossing magnificent stone and wrought iron viaducts and bridges, through tunnels with the rock just inches from the side of the train, and sheer drops to the rivers below. We crossed the Wingatui Viaduct which is supposed to be the largest wrought iron structure in the southern hemisphere.
The train journey lived up to its claim, once again amazing scenery, so different from what we have already in other parts of both the North and South Island.
Middlemarch was, well think of one horse and town and put them in same sentence and that says it all. We wandered about for two minutes, had a coffee and headed back to the train where it was decidedly warmer. What they expected us to do there for an hour I will never know.
The temperature has dropped; it has been as low as 13 degrees and a bit wet.
A trip to the Otago peninsula was our next destination. It’s where there is a colony of breeding albatross. We got there to find we had just missed one of the guided tours. You are not allowed to go and see them without a guide. The next tour was an hour away so we decided not to bother; it was again a bit chilly. The drive out was worth it though.
The Botanical gardens next, another aviary was beckoning. The birdman of Hyde was in his element with the talking cockatoos, makes a change from me asking who’s a pretty boy.
On to the Otago Museum, (it was warm), very modern and interesting with amazing artefacts.

We leave for Christchurch tomorrow, it’s hard to believe that we have been in New Zealand for nearly seven weeks and it will be our final destination before leaving for Australia on 19th December

Fiordland

The trip from Queenstown to Te Anau was a bit wet to say the least; it seems that whenever we have a distance to travel the weather is always bad. Thank goodness Tony does the driving. We arrived in Te Anau and the lake was shrouded in mist, we couldn’t see a thing which makes a change.
Next day dawned and we had beautiful weather again and we set off for Milford Sound which was a 120km drive.
Once again the scenery was outstandingly stunning; along the way we saw masses of lilac, purple, white wild lupins, just beautiful. It also seems that yellow broom is very abundant here, it borders the roads everywhere.
Once again the roads were very winding, Tony has definitely driven me around the bend many times since we got here
We drove through the Homer Tunnel which is a one lane tunnel through the mountain and came out at The Cleddau Valley, an amazing sight as a very twisting steep road took us down to the Valley.
We had booked a boat trip along the Milford Sound which would take us out to the Tasman Sea and back, a trip lasting about two hours. It was one of the smaller craft which meant we got a closer look at the many waterfalls cascading down along the way, sometimes a bit too close.
There was even a cruise liner anchored in the Sound and it looked tiny against the massive sheer rock face, we got neck ache looking up and still couldn’t see the sky.
We saw fur seals sunning themselves on the appropriately named Seal Rock, and we also saw a small pod of Dolphins. It’s hard to describe the magnifigance of Milford Sound and pictures do not do justice it’s size and splendour.
Once again it was another memorable day.

After another overnight stay in Te Anau we left for Invercargill, for once I drove, the roads were very straight for a change.
We decided to take a walk around Queens Park which is in the centre of the city; it was so peaceful, beautifully laid out, with an aviary and small animal area in the centre.
From there we headed for Bluff where Stirling Point is the New Zealand equivalent of Lands End in UK. Another high point was Bluff Hill, where another 360 degree view of the surrounding area could be seen, which included Stewart Island. Unfortunately it was a bit misty so not as clear a view as we have had in the past.
The weather this far south has been a bit chilly and we have had to resort to wearing some of our warmer items of clothing.