Well its back to just the three of us Chris, me and Norman are about to set off for the Catlins.
A quick stop off in Invercargill for supplies and we are on our way.
The journey
Described as a rugged sparsley populated area with a scenic coast and dense rainforest. The Catlins are home to many endangered animals such as the yellow eyed penguins, fur seals and sealions. Its exposed on the coast meaning it is known for wild weather and good waves.
So it sounded right up our street and a chance to get up close to sealions. We headed for Fortrose and explored some of the bays and back roads of the Catlin coast. The roads are bumpy and dirt track and my hands are buzzing when I pull over from all the vibrations.
We searched so many beaches for sealions and penguins. Its the wrong time of year for penguins so think we are out of luck but we are determined to find sealions let the hunt continue!
We head for Slope Point the Southern tip of the South Island no sealions here but lots of sheep they give us a wide berth as we cross their field and get our photos.
Next waterfalls something New Zealand is not short of is waterfalls. We took the climb to the falls only 40mins walk and had some lunch.
Still having no luck with the sealions we headed for Surat Bay rummor has it they might be there. We walked along the beach for a while and saw nothing then in the distance we see the sand moving. could it be?
Sealions everywhere there must have been about 15 or so. Males massive cooling off burried in the sand. The smaller females sunning themself by the water and one sitting up giving us a bit of a show. I didnt appreciate just how big they are until I was next to one.
We bunk for the night in a small campground near Kaka Point. The locals this time are cats and cheeky cats at that, who want not only my dinner but a space in my bed for cuddles.
Washed, fed and rested we are ready for our next leg of the journey. The Catlins is small so after a few days we have seen all we wanted to and are heading back to civilisation in the form of Dunedin. The Scotland of New Zealand named and designed after Edinburgh itself!
We arrived a Mosgiel a town on the outskirts of Dunedin and stayed at a horse racing track. We were the only ones there apart from one other van and managed to park under the stands and get some power. Its the little things you find on the road like power or hot water that make you smile. So we plugged in a watched the first whole film we had seen in months. My laptop is really old and only holds power for 45mins so this was a treat.
Next morning at 5.30am a fitness class started above our heads in the hall so we made a break for it to the other side of the field and went back to sleep.
We planned to do a few days in Dunedin and enjoy the city we spent the day on the peninsula and drove to the top to get a look at the Royal Albertross a coastal road takes you up the peninsula curving slowly through little fishing villages.
There is a castle but we gave it a miss instead opting to see the city before heading to our accomodation for some relaxation and a real bed sleeping in the van is great but sometimes a hot shower and a comfy bed is needed.
Having spent a few days here it was time to get moving we had missed our travel buddy Mark and it was time to catch up and see how life on the farm was treating him. There's not much to see on the east cost between Dunedin and Timaru so we took the long drive to Marks in record time.
Mark is on a dairy farm which means 4am milking and lots of dirt and cold mornings better him than me.
We arrived at the farm just as it was getting dark, Mark has a really nice place here his own house with garden, bedroom and separate living room. After months cramped up in Norman it was like a palace.
We planned to stay for a few days and sort ourselfs out we are nearly at the end of our road trip and really should be looking for a job. Mark said we could stay as long as we wanted to we ended up there for a few days just catching up. He has one bedroom so we slept in Norman in the garden but it was comfy and warm.
We got a call back from a hostel job we applied for and were told we start in a few weeks that didnt leave much time we better get moving. We needed to be in Christchurch for the start of April and still had a few places to see.
So the next morning it was time to say goodbye to Mark and set off for Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo that's right star gazing was up next.
A quick stop off in Invercargill for supplies and we are on our way.
The journey
Described as a rugged sparsley populated area with a scenic coast and dense rainforest. The Catlins are home to many endangered animals such as the yellow eyed penguins, fur seals and sealions. Its exposed on the coast meaning it is known for wild weather and good waves.
So it sounded right up our street and a chance to get up close to sealions. We headed for Fortrose and explored some of the bays and back roads of the Catlin coast. The roads are bumpy and dirt track and my hands are buzzing when I pull over from all the vibrations.
We searched so many beaches for sealions and penguins. Its the wrong time of year for penguins so think we are out of luck but we are determined to find sealions let the hunt continue!
We head for Slope Point the Southern tip of the South Island no sealions here but lots of sheep they give us a wide berth as we cross their field and get our photos.
Next waterfalls something New Zealand is not short of is waterfalls. We took the climb to the falls only 40mins walk and had some lunch.
Still having no luck with the sealions we headed for Surat Bay rummor has it they might be there. We walked along the beach for a while and saw nothing then in the distance we see the sand moving. could it be?
Sealions everywhere there must have been about 15 or so. Males massive cooling off burried in the sand. The smaller females sunning themself by the water and one sitting up giving us a bit of a show. I didnt appreciate just how big they are until I was next to one.
We bunk for the night in a small campground near Kaka Point. The locals this time are cats and cheeky cats at that, who want not only my dinner but a space in my bed for cuddles.
Washed, fed and rested we are ready for our next leg of the journey. The Catlins is small so after a few days we have seen all we wanted to and are heading back to civilisation in the form of Dunedin. The Scotland of New Zealand named and designed after Edinburgh itself!
We arrived a Mosgiel a town on the outskirts of Dunedin and stayed at a horse racing track. We were the only ones there apart from one other van and managed to park under the stands and get some power. Its the little things you find on the road like power or hot water that make you smile. So we plugged in a watched the first whole film we had seen in months. My laptop is really old and only holds power for 45mins so this was a treat.
Next morning at 5.30am a fitness class started above our heads in the hall so we made a break for it to the other side of the field and went back to sleep.
We planned to do a few days in Dunedin and enjoy the city we spent the day on the peninsula and drove to the top to get a look at the Royal Albertross a coastal road takes you up the peninsula curving slowly through little fishing villages.
There is a castle but we gave it a miss instead opting to see the city before heading to our accomodation for some relaxation and a real bed sleeping in the van is great but sometimes a hot shower and a comfy bed is needed.
Having spent a few days here it was time to get moving we had missed our travel buddy Mark and it was time to catch up and see how life on the farm was treating him. There's not much to see on the east cost between Dunedin and Timaru so we took the long drive to Marks in record time.
Mark is on a dairy farm which means 4am milking and lots of dirt and cold mornings better him than me.
We arrived at the farm just as it was getting dark, Mark has a really nice place here his own house with garden, bedroom and separate living room. After months cramped up in Norman it was like a palace.
We planned to stay for a few days and sort ourselfs out we are nearly at the end of our road trip and really should be looking for a job. Mark said we could stay as long as we wanted to we ended up there for a few days just catching up. He has one bedroom so we slept in Norman in the garden but it was comfy and warm.
We got a call back from a hostel job we applied for and were told we start in a few weeks that didnt leave much time we better get moving. We needed to be in Christchurch for the start of April and still had a few places to see.
So the next morning it was time to say goodbye to Mark and set off for Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo that's right star gazing was up next.
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