Cheese and Penguins

"What's that Cadbury's bar that you can't get in New Zealand?"

01 - Soph and the hostel dog

"Twix?"

Jaysuz, it feels good to be back on the road. There are still no problems with the car and the weather has been kind and everything is just super.

Sophie and I have bought a tent and are saving money by camping around the country. I'd forgotten how much I love it. It was kind of strange camping without Mike this time at first, but I've gotten used to it. Mike's a beautiful man and all, but it is alot more pleasing to the eye and nose waking up next to Sophie instead. Of course it's balanced out by her conveniently disappearing every time I'm taking the tent down. And she sent me out at one o'clock in the morning the other night to get some Arnott's Mint Slices from the car.

02 - On the steepest street in the world

It'd be great to check out the camping scene back home. It would be cool to find out there's loads of tenting and caravanning back in Ireland. I wonder if there are many people who travel around Ireland? Travellers, if you will. Some sort of community. A "travelling community"? I imagine they would be such happy people and make a signifigantly positive contribution to society.

The relationship is going real good. I'm adapting. The first notable change is not checking out the potential talent on arrival at a new place anymore. Now I check out the facilities. A sandwich toaster? I'm laughing. A dog that we can take for a walk? Happy days.

Dunedin was nice enough. A bit industrial, but some very nice parts once the sun came out. We visited the steepest street in the world (as you do) and did the obligatory Cadbury's Factory Tour, which was excellent. Lots of free samples and some interesting stuff. Our guide seemed to be on the verge of an orgasm now and then. There was a chocolate waterfall at the end, which everyone had told me was shit (not literally), but I actually thought it was kind of cool.

03 - The penguin

The southern scenic route is lovely, and there's some nice random walks. People had warned me there were some very long drives, but after Outback Australia it seems like nothing and we seem to be speeding around the South Island faster then I'd expected, despite having to pause for Sophie to play with every cat we see. A cat-lover...would you believe it?

We stopped at a random beach the other day and found a lone yellow-eyed penguin who was real cute. I managed to get right up to him and tried to hug him, but no luck. Still, it was very very cool.

Continuing the fascination with lighthouses, we managed to visit the most southern lighthouse in the world. Saw some seals.

04 - The Penguin and The Penguin

Milford Sounds was pretty good and the cruise around it was fun. Some nice mountain views and a couple of excellent waterfalls. We camped there in part of a very touristy complex. They have a little warning that, because it's part of a National Park, there is a 5% surcharge on to all prices. So even if you're just buying a Cadburys Twix (which some guy seems to think exists), you have to add 5% to the price because The Department of Conservation run it.

But that's great...it's all for the environment. Sure, we're pitching our tent on gravel instead of grass. And we're paying about 50% more then at every other campsite. And we just paid $6 for some biscuits. But wow the environments great isn't it? Yeh, super. Trees, huh? Wow. Shame New Zealand has completely destroyed its Ozone layer and skin cancer is at an all time high. Nevermind, I'll buy some sunscreen. 5% surcharge? No problem.

05 - The Prayerhouse

06 - Me and Girlfriend

07 - Arty shot on the way to Milford Sounds

08 - The tunnel on the way to Milford Sounds

09 - Milford Sounds

10 - Me and Milford