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Behind the wheel!
Entry 49 of 97 | show all | print this entry |
An early car collection and we were off (well once the agent had explained how to drive an automatic)!! First stop was Natures Wonders - a wildlife reserve, on the peninsula of Dunedin where we did an hours tour in the wierdest viechle ever - sort of mini open air tank with wheels! This tour showed us stunning views, took us to a fur seal colony inc. babies - WOW, a beach that hadn't had a human footprint on it for 7 years and was home to yellow eyed penguins (incredibly rare, incredibly shy so we didn't actually spot any just their tracks) and blue eyed penguins which we saw nesting under the cliffs! Oooo and we spotted an albatross!
We had then planned to drive up the steepest street in the world, but both agreed we had rather lost intrest in that idea!! So after a few wrong turnings we found ourselves on the catlins scenic route and were enjoying the advantages of DIY travel being able to stop anywhere you liked and being able to control the temperature of the vehicle!!
First stop Kaka point a pretty beach we then started bumping along the unsealed road to nugget point....but wait....stop...kathryns seen a seal on the beach...reverse....leap out the car....creep along the beach...so as not to disturb the large brown rock! Ahhh wel back in the car, a quick stop at a place where we were in with a chance of seeing those elusive yellow eyed penguins, again no luck! So up to nugget point, pretty light house, lots of real fur seals, very windy, run back to car! We spent the night in Owaka sharing an enourmous hostel with 3 other people!
The next morning we went to cannibal bay and to my great excitement found SEA LIONS lazing around on the beach!! Onto Purakunui falls, very pretty, very cold, then lunch at Purakunui beach, then onto Jacks blow hole - more walking, more sheep!! We then realised that we needed cash to see Cathedral Caves which you can only see at low tide which meant we only had a chance to see it today which meant back to Owaka - no cash machines there, we consulte Lonly Planet which warns us to take plenty of cash to the Catlins as there are no cash points there so we shoot back to the start of Catlins stock up on money and shoot back to cathedral caves in time to power walk through them and back to the car before we get locked in.....they were huge by the way - the caves!! We then head for curio bay planning to stay there - curiously there is no room in the inn so we drive to Slope Point - rather further away than Kathryn had realised but room in the inn - phew!! Up early the following morning to go back to Curio bay to see a petrified forest (it really was very frightened - what whitt), actually it was amazing you could see fossolised tree stumps and logs very strange! Then it was back to niagra falls which was a dribble over a rock! We then went out to Waipapa point which was so incredibly windy and cold we power walked out round the light house and back trying not to catch hypothermia! And there ended the Catlins which were so breathtakingly beautiful i don't think i've done them any credit whatsoever in my account of our whistle stop tour!! Anyway on we drove to Invercargill where we stocked up on supplies before heading on for our night time destination of Manapouri stopping for a quick stomp in Tutapere - we read about the walk didn't realise it was 9 hours long so did our own 40 minute version!! Manapouri is situated by Manapouri lake - quelle suprise - and it was cold, discovery of the electric heater in our dorm was too late!!......
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