Dunedin to Queenstown

We woke up after a comfy nights sleep at the Barnsley's, said our goodbyes to Mike and Emily as they were off early, but sat the whole morning talking to Christine. A few cups of tea later we headed in to Dunedin to buy some bits for the recently received GoPro. A quick lunch then we began our journey to the Catlins. With little of the day left we we only stopped once after detours along gravel roads at Nugget Point. A short walk along the point gave great views of a small lighthouse, seals and spoonbills. The reason for its name is the jagged nuggets of rock that jut out from the sea beyond the point. We could tell that we were in for a change in weather as there was a divide along the point with one side calm and sunny and the other grey, with swirling winds and rough seas. On our way down from the point we bumped in to Paul and Sarah, the Aussie and Swedish girl we trekked up a mountain with the day before. We continued on finally reaching the Catlins, driving through scenic reserve after scenic reserve. The Catlins is an amazing place dominated by large hills and native bush or podocarp forests. After miles of forest and twisting roads we were met by a tropical freeze frame where the forest meets the sea. At the top of a hill we had a clear view of the native bush being halted by golden sands, the white waves and blue sea.

We arrived at our nice little hostel and the owner recommended that we go and see the local yellow eyed penguin colony. We were their to witness the penguins come in, slowly making their way over the fossilised forest to their young. It was incredible to see this process and it was like being in an episode of Frozen Planet!

After a good nights sleep we left for a days exploration of the Catlins. Our first stop was the Cathedral Caves, the walk down to the beach through the native bush was a great opportunity to test out the GoPro. In all the excitement, of the GoPro and the the vast caves I (Charlie) realised that I had forgotten my SLR battery and that it was still on charge back at the Hostel. We decided to head back to the Hostel via the Niagara Falls cafe for some lunch and wifi to make contact with the outside world. Their is virtually no signal at all down this far!

The sunny skies quickly turned grey and, inevitably it began to rain. As we quickly found out, when it rains in the south of the south island, it sure does rain! We spent the afternoon in the car watching Hectors Dolphins in Curio Bay and chilling in the Hostel where Laura almost finished a puzzle, if it wasn't for a missing piece and we recharged our batteries after a busy, non-stop start to our trip.

We woke up to silence, the rain had finally stopped, so we packed the car and got on our way, in the wrong direction. After missing out on the famous Purakaunui Falls the day before we had to go back to see them before heading to our next destination, New Zealands second largest lake, Te Anau. The trip was definitely worth it, the falls were flowing fast with all the rain and it was another great photo opportunity. After a long, rainy drive to Te Anau, stopping only once to see Clifden Suspension Bridge (woo Bristol!), we had time to book our Milford Sound cruise and do some food shopping before an early night.

With the Lonely Planet guide recommending to leave by 8am to dodge the tour buses, we were up and on our way to Milford Sound in high spirits. As we drove closer to the fiord (New Zealand spelling of fjord), the skies grew greyer and for the third day running it rained. The drive was still spectacular, passing through glacial valleys, in awe of the landscape the last ice age had created. By leaving early and dodging the tour buses, we arrived with two and a half hours to spare! A snooze in the car and a cup of tea/hot chocolate passed the time, but the rain didn't want to pass at all. The rain and fog created an eerie atmosphere as we started our cruise down the Jurassic Park-like fiord. With literally thousands of waterfalls cascading down the monstrous cliffs, of which two are rated within the highest in the world, we forgot about the Devon-like weather and stood outside for the duration of the cruise until the boat captain drove so close to a waterfall that it thundered onto the deck. Being young, crazy travelers we decided it would be a great idea to get as close as we could....and got drenched!  We returned back to the car looking like drowned rats and headed back to Te Anau, not before stopping at the Chasm, an amazing waterfall that had blasted its way through the rock making a hole in the cliff face (no picture could do this justice). At the car park and at the Homer Tunnel we were glad to see the mountains local cheeky chappies the kea, a large mountain parrot known for stealing food and pulling anything and everything off of peoples cars. 

Sunday was the day we moved on to the adventure capital of the Southern Hemisphere, Queenstown. Of course, the first thing we did was head for Fergburger. Purely by chance Matt Laurenson and Sophie Lawrence from UWE were arriving on the same day. After spying them arriving on the Kiwi Experience, we caught up on the lakeside with some beers and later headed into town for our first night out of the trip, drinking cocktails out of teapots. 

We woke up to blue sky and sunshine, a perfect day for shotover jet boating and luging with Matt and Sophie. Jetboating was incredible with Laura getting the best of it being behind the driver, passing within inches of overhanging rocks in the canyon, and Matt getting soaked on the other side. Luging was an epic GoPro moment, making use of the helmet attachment. We were joined by Le France (French David from the Kiwi experience) and it was race on for the boys and a leisurely potter down for the girls. After taking in the amazing views over Queenstown, we headed back to the hostel for a quiet nights sleep. But, being Queenstown, this was not the case with our hostel being more like a nightclub! 

We have spent today chilling and writing this. We have learnt a lesson, if we want to keep this up...(and keep Robert off our backs...haha joking Dad)...do it more regularly!!!