The Catlins in a day and on to Milford Sound

We have been taking a break from the internet(only because we refuse to pay for it and we seldom find it for free).  The weather has made a turn for the worse and the papers are now printing headlines about the lack of summer here in NZ on the South Island...I guess the weather has caught up to us, as the foul weather always seem to follow us I'm sure this will be the worst summer in 100 years around here!  But we are having fun anyway and meeting some great people.

We drove The Catlins in a day(or maybe two) because we were looking for blue skies but we made a few essential stops including the Niagara Falls of NZ, E Hayes and Sons Hardware Store in Invercargill where we saw the real "Fastest Indian" from the movie, Slope Point(the southern most point of NZ) and we even took in an afternoon of golf when the skies opened and the sun shone(it didn't help my game but is was a nice walk around the course).  We did all this on the way around the south of the island as we made our way to MIflord Sound.  

From Bookme.com we purchased a day tour of Milford Sound including a round trip bus tide from Te Anau to Milford Sound and a cruise in the sound with lunch...for half price, less than $60 each, what a deal.  The day of the cruise was perfect, raining cats and dogs so the waterfalls in the sound were overflowing.  On the drive back the weather cleared somewhat so we where able to see the mountians around us, it is always nice when Ken can sit back and let someone else do the drivings so he can look around.

Yes, that is Niagara Falls in the background.  Apparently,  some had a sense of humour!

 

We are trying to hit all the north and south spots of as many countries as we can.

The racer from "The Worlds Fastest Indian", a favourite of ours starring Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro, who held motorcycle speed records for many decades.  Ken is really missing his motorcycle, and it is only getting worse!

A round of golf in Tuatapere, $10 each for 18 holes, including clubs...and we found a few balls along the way!!!

Ken enjoys the view of Lake Manapouri, we found a great little campsite 'Possum Flats' on the lake.

Ken likes the NZ ladies.

Spectacular waterfalls on the Milford Sound.

A Kea, they are beautiful but they can cause problems when they eat the rubber around the doors and windshield wipers on the cars.

Yes, the weather is not that HOT...new snow in the mountians around Lake Manapouri.

700 km in 7 days

It is soooo nice to have the luxury of time.  We have been averaging less than 100 km a day but seeing a lot.  As it has become my habit, I am looking for good walking trails for Ken and I to enjoy every day and not having a hard time doing it.

There are a lot of farms or stations(as they call them here) in this region, with sections divided up by huge tree fencelines.   Not far off in the distance though, you can almost always see some evidence of volcanos and as we traveled farther south taller mountians with glaciers.  The Southern Alps lay on the west coast which is not very far away as this area is close to the narrowest on the South Island.  We visited Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki with their amazing aqua coloured waters, the Hooker Glacier and Aoraki/Mt Cook all located at the foot of the Southern Alps.

We have found some great campsites both DOC and locally owned but unfortunately the tent has not seen that much use as we have started to use Deep Purple more because of the rain and the WIND(the tent just about got flatten again one night and needless to say not much sleep was had).  Sleeping in Deep Purple is cosy though and we are starting to enjoy it more and more as the weather gets worse and worse.  We have high hopes that all rain will stop when we get to the Milford sound, which is in about 4 days, the waterfalls will be full and the fiords will be calm.

A drive up the very windy Mt. Hutt gave us a great view of the surrounding farmland and in the far off distance the Rakaia River.

At the foot of Lake Tekapo the water is a beautiful aqua blue colour and the lupins grow along the edge.

Looking down, from the Mt John Observatory, at Lake Tekapo on the right, and Lake Alexandrina on the left.  The lakes are different colours because Alexandrina is formed from rain water and Tekapo is formed from glacier water.

A tracker is harvesting lavender alongside the road.

Early morning blue skies allowed us to see Aoraki/Mt Cook(in the far background) and Hooker Lake(formed by Hooker glacier, directly behind us).

What we came to see...Aoraki/Mt Cook and the amazing colours in Lake Pukaki.

Enjoying a 'happy hour' along the river in the Te Akatarawa Recreation Reserve.  Really if you didn't know, wouldn't you think we were around Kamloops???

Yes Brian, pigs do fly here in New Zealand!

We love to ride bikes but this one is a little harder than it looks!

The Moeraki Boulders, started being formed over 55 million years ago by small pebbles or shells which became covered by lime deposits intermixed with crystal and now lay on the beach with some having a diameter over metre.

The Moeraki Boulders as the tide comes in.

We like to mix with the locals, even if some are a bit BOARING.

Trotters Gorge was a steep and muddy hike that was worth doing, with a view like this.

A skateboard park behind the old Dunnedin train station mixes a little of the old and new...this guy was getting a little air time.

Ken is still looking for those penguins...this nature hide, at Roaring Bay off Nugget Point just south of Dunnedin, gave him a chance to go unseen and hopefully not scare away the penguins returning to their borrows after a full day of fishing.

As luck had it a few endangered yelloweyed penguins showed up, unfortunately at this distance it was hard to tell that they are one of the tallest penguins, measuring in at about 75 cm.