The Catlins/Dunedin

May 24, 2011

What a long, but wonderful day!  I woke up in Stewart Island.  We watched the sun rise from Oban and caught the ferry to Bluff.  The ferry was beautiful because the sun was still coming up so there was light all around.  The ride took an hour.

Once in Bluff the five of us drove to Invercargill.  We had a quick stop there to pick up the other Stray passengers.  Only about twenty minutes out of town I got carsick and had to move to the front of the bus.  Carsickness affected me most of the day, but fortunately we had so many stops to get out and get fresh air that it wasn’t too bad.

Our first stop we saw the last wooden-built lighthouse in New Zealand and a couple live Sea Lions.  I’d never been so close to a Sea Lion before.  They are huge and kind of scary.  I just stayed behind other people.  I figured they’d get attacked first if the creature decided to get violent.  But it was a lot of fun!

We also stopped at the southern most tip of the South Island.  For those who hadn’t gone to Stewart Island this was the southern most point they would reach while in New Zealand.  We had photos there.  Again beautiful.  I don’t think there are words to describe the sky.  Or at least I don’t know the words to describe it.  It never got completely bright out.  There were clouds over our heads but all around at the horizon there were open patches. But the sky at the horizon line never looked blue.  It was always pink or purple everywhere we went today.

The area we traveled through is called the Catlins after the man who first owned the land, Mr. Cattlin.  It’s very remote and mostly farmland.  Sheep and green rolling hills as far as the eye can see.  And sometimes beyond the sea.  

We next stopped at Porpoise Bay, where normally you can see the smallest dolphins in the world.  We didn’t see any, but I still got some lovely photos.  We went to a petrified forest nearby.  That was a lot of fun too, mostly because Spike, our driver, got excited about them like a little kid.  We went to a couple waterfalls too that were mostly forgettable. 

But then we went to see yellow-eyed penguins come up out of the sea and onto shore to feed their young.  We had to stay really far away because they get easily scared and go back to the sea.  If they go back to sea then they can’t feed their young.  Even from far away they were really fun to watch.  They hopped and wobbled on the sand and rocks.  They even climbed right up the hillside into the grass.  

The sun was setting as we watched the yellow-eyed penguins so we drove to Dunedin in the dark.  The whole bus sang along to Queen songs as we sped through the night.  Spike was into it more than anyone else.  It was a fun drive!

We are staying at a hostel that is a very old hotel.  The name is the Leviathan Hotel.  It’s pretty nice and the whole bus is taking up the dorm rooms so it feels very safe and comfortable.  I’m rooming with Fiona and Hannah again.

I took a short walk around the city center.  I saw the “Octagon” at the center of town and took a few photos of the buildings.  They have some great architecture here.  I walked past the Cadbury factory and it smelled like chocolate!  Yum!  Too bad I’ll be missing the tour.