Week 9 - 19 & 20 Nov

Dunedin
Friday Nov 20th, 2009

We are up at dawn and off on the scenic tour towards Dunedin. The Catlins is the area we want to visit as it is suppose to be beautiful.

The first stop is a river leading up in to the Catlins. On the river are hundreds of little huts with nets out front. Fishing must be popular and it is white bait season.

Our next stop is tunnel hill to see the hand built railroad tunnel. In 1891 this area was prosperous with the lumbering industry cutting in the area.

Heading down the road again, our next stop is Nugget Point. This nice feature includes a beautiful walk to a little light house and some spectacular seaside scenery. Off the point we can see interesting rock formations, seals, a large sea lion swimming around and shore birds. What an amazing view.

On the way back we find another narrow gravel lane and there we can view the penguins. One couple on the way out say there are no penguins to be seen so they are heading out but I has spotted something unusual on the hill about(10 metres up off the beach, so we head down to check it out.

For the first few minutes there is no sign of any penguins, and then out of the brush emerges two yellow eyed penguins. They hop down a steep slope to the beach then over the stones and swim away. Once they are in the water we think that is the end, but we waited a few minutes anyway. Five minutes later, one little bird emerges and stands on the shore to take in the sun. It is there for about 15 minutes when finally another emerges from the water then they both stand and sun for a while. Eventually then begin their uphill journey to the nest where this all began. What an amazing sight.

Dinner was at the historic restaurant, downtown Dunedin, the Wig and Pen. This is the law district by the courts. I had the best lamb shanks ever!

Our last stop for the day is the Dunedin Rail Station. This is a beautiful, majestic building built at the turn of the century. Inside the floors and walls are all covered with ceramic tile and what a beautiful sight.








Invercargill
Thurs Nov 19th

We packed up this morning and had a leisurely scenic drive from Te Anau to Invercargill. We stopped at this unusual cave. We couldn’t go down it as it went along the hill side for quite a distance before you came out the other end. You were required to carry two flashlights per person and we only had one tiny one.

Here we met a school trip that was exploring the cave. They were taking 22 grade 10 boys to camp in the bush. On their trip they were going were caving, shooting 22’s, orienteering,, abseiling through the trees, trapping, skinning, cooking and eating possums. They take them every year when the senior students are writing their exams. Sounds like fun!

The drive quickly led us out of the mountains to a very hilly landscape. Eventually we ended up on the southern coast that was windswept. As there are no bank machines in this part of the country we cannot stop for our flat whites…we had forgotten to get money this morning. It is very important in this area to always have a full tank of gas…and cash!

Tonight we are again in a very nice cabin. They don’t have the regular type of accommodation so it is costing us $18 NZ extra a night. The cabin we are in has bunk beds a queen bed, small fridge, kitchen utensils, plates etc., along with a table and chairs and a tv. Tonight we will stay in rather than compute in the tv room.