Asure St Johns Court Motel Milton

Milford Sound

According to the AA's poll – 101 must do things in NZ, number one is a visit to the Milford Sound (which we actually were told is a Fiord, not a Sound - something to with one being formed by water and the other by ice?-I've forgotten!) There is a three day hike called the Milford Track which ends up at the Milford Sound, and is New Zealand's number one great walk. But, it is closed in winter and so, we couldn ...

It took us a couple of days to travel the Catlin Coast which was definitely worth the effort. It's a whole menagerie of waterfalls, forests, beaches and amazing wildlife. It seems there's something fantastic to look at around every corner.

From Curio Bay we drove to Kaka Point, stopping at various points on the way including McLean Falls, Purakaunui Falls, Jack's Blow-Hole and Florence Bay. We finished up sitting in a penguin "hide" at a place called Roaring Bay ...

Well as you can see by the map since I last updated we have been to quite a few places. First we caught the ferry to Picton and caught the bus to Nelson, sunniest place in New Zealand. We needed a bit of a break from one-night stopovers so stayed there for a few nights. We didn't actually do much there though other than take a local hike up to the center of New Zealand up on a nearby mountain with some great views. Next stop was the Franz Josef ...

Die Betonung liegt auf HATTE. Ich weiss wieder wie sie aussieht. Gross und gelb und rund. Und wenn keine Wolke davor ist, dass wird einem ganz warm auf der Haut. Es hat leider nur eineinhalb Tage angehalten, aber immerhin. Ich habe uebrigens zu Nr. 9 noch ein paar Fotos hochgeladen. Auf meinem Weg von Mt Cook nach Oamaru habe ich bei lustigen Felsformationen angehalten. Lustig, weil ...

... made us change our mind in a BIG way. Martijn especially didn't want to leave them and he alone ended up taking 60 pictures of them in the end. During all of this other tourists came and went and we just hung around enjoying them and being mesmerised by the gorgeousness of it all. Luckily we brought the tripod with us so that we could take many pictures with the 'soft water' effect and it also allowed Martijn to get a bit more adventurous by ...

... us, and we scrambled to get out of their way and not get too close. At the top of the dunes, we observed two families of sea lions that seemed to be arguing. Well, it is hard to tell when they argue and when they are playing as both involve yelling and biting. The family with the really young pup were on the beach and it was cute to watch the baby sea lion. Finally the tide was really coming in and we rushed to get back to the car ...

... that everything was great, life was wonderful! Of course, David was fantastic and spat on a tissue and wiped my face!! (David: That wasn't spit) and so we got a bottle of wine and some beers and went back to the B & B to snuggle. So, last night was a wash out but today was better. We got up early and walked down to the magnificent train station for our day's outing. Dunedin's famous railway station is a beautiful 100 year old Edwardian building with turrets and ...

this past week I was finally able to get away for a couple of days, do some sight-seeing and take some new pictures. yaaay! it's about time, right? about two weeks ago, I had mentioned to my friend Vincent that I really wanted to visit The Catlins before I left the south island. a few days later he tells me that he and a friend of his from work, Ross, were planning an overnight trip to The Catlins and I was welcome to come if I wanted to. UM, YEAH! I was so excited ...

... I never have and here I got to try such exciting delicacies as moro, perkynana and choco-fish. (if you don't know what they are, you'll just have to come to New Zealand yourself) also I got to see a free fall of 1 tonne of liquid chocolate and smell my way round the whole place. Mmmmmm. I also found out why dairy milk does not taste nearly as good at is does at home. Apparently it's all about the milk. I may have to visit Cadbury World in Birmingham when I get home.

Our final tramp on the Routeburn Track had the coldest temperatures, the most trampers (and most Americans), and the most waterfalls of any we've done. A hut warden thte first night at Routeburn Falls Hut told us it is now vying with Abel Tazman for the most popular of the Great Walks. Of the 48 bunks in the hut that night, not one was empty. We camped the second night, and all 9 tent sites were taken ...