Heading South....

Tuesday 2nd November: We headed west out of Fairlie over Burkes Pass to Lake Tekapo. Traffic was again close to non-existent and what there was comprised mainly coaches full of Japanese tourists and a good number of campervans. We admired the beautiful Lake Tekapo and headed on to the shores of Lake Pukaki which is absolutely stunning, and turned north to head towards Mount Cook. The road follows the shore of the lake and after a few kilometres we came across Peter’s Lookout where we parked up for coffee and to enjoy the incredible views across the lake which included Mount Cook. We met a couple of Australian girls here who recommended the walk down to the lake which they had just arrived back from huffing and puffing, and with a healthy glow! After chatting to them for a while we felt compelled to visit the shoreline and duly scrambled down; the perspective from the shoreline was certainly worth the climb we faced to get back to the van.... While on the shore we met a couple from Guildford (!) who had left the UK in June and were not sure when they would be returning – so, all those who thought our holiday was long.....





After returning back to the lookout we stayed for lunch and experienced a number of tour buses which came, let the passengers off, got them back on and wended their way onwards in very short time. We timed one: six minutes!

Presently we made our way to Mount Cook. With views of the lake to our right and the mountains ahead it was an amazing drive, though it was a case of better to travel than to arrive as the end of the road at Mount Cook is a collection of facilities including restaurants, hostels and hotels but you are so close to the mountain itself that you fail to get its real impact which had been far better from a few kilometres away.

We had to return by the same route but by now the sun was high in the sky and the flat calm on the lake enabled clear reflections of the shoreline and the mountains – today was turning out to be another ‘wow!’ day.

We steadily wended our way south through Twizel to Omarama where we found the campsite and parked up by a stream where I think once again we will awake to birdsong.

The following day we were away by 0900 and headed south-east following the shores of Lake Waitaki (more stunning scenery). After a short while we had a brief delay while a flock of sheep blocked the road as they were transferred, but we were soon underway again and we were in no hurry in any case. Lake Waitaki then turned into the Waitaki River, passing through several dams on its way to the sea. We followed the river as far as Duntroon where we took the minor road via Ngapara to Oamaru on the coast. This road follows the ‘Vanished World Trail’ which gives the appearance of having been formed through a fault line opening and then refilling over many years. Along this road we stopped at the Anatini whale fossil site where a number of fossilised bones are on view where they were found, still embedded in the limestone. It was during this part of the journey that we crossed the 45th parallel, the point at which we were equal distance from the equator and the South Pole.

We had coffee at Oamaru where they have a ‘Steam Punk’ exhibition: steam artefacts ‘enhanced’ with additional objects such as steel coils and missiles.... we also visited the penguin colony but they usually return to shore late afternoon so we were a bit early and expected other opportunities later.

We then hugged the coast as closely as possible to Shag Point where we parked up in the hope of sighting shags, seals and perhaps yellow eyed penguins, though it was still only mid afternoon. The seals were active in the rocks with six sighted in total, there were plenty of Shags and then after a walk along the coast path we sighted three yellow eyed penguins, claimed to be ‘probably the rarest of penguins’. We were very grateful for binoculars as otherwise identification would have been challenging at best, assuming we had spotted them at all!

It was then time to wend our way to Dunedin and find (with a little difficulty) the coast road which took us to Brighton (!) where we camped for the night at a campsite mainly populated by 1950 style ‘static’ caravans.

Wednesday started dull and a bit misty as we headed along the coast heading south past the mouth of the Taieri river, coffee at Milton, through Clarkesville to pick up the scenic route through the Catlins at Balclutha. The Catlins are reminiscent of the South Downs only much bigger and with small windy roads with no traffic. We diverted off the main route to Nugget Point; this entailed an unsealed road which was mainly single track with passing places. At Nugget Point we saw a large number of seals playing in the water, basking in the sun and generally being seals! By now the sun was out though the wind was still keen, but our vantage point was fairly sheltered and we spent a couple of hours watching the seals and admiring the view before a picnic lunch and making our way back to the ‘scenic route’.

We meandered on now heading west as we reached the southern-most coast of South Island, stopping off at Matai Falls and Horseshoe Falls (which entailed an energetic walk with some serious climbing!) before stopping for ‘afternoon tea’ at Niagara Falls which are little more than a burbling stream – somebody had a sense of humour!



It was then time to press on to Invercargill where we were booked into the Amble inn campsite as tomorrow we’re off to Stewart Island to make sure we go as far south as we can!