New Zealand

Feb. 6th - The Catlins

While wandering on a beach that is a fossil forest we noticed some rare Yellow Eyed Penguins, the rarest kind with under 2000 in the world!  And we found 5!  It really was amazing to see that up close in their natural habitat!  We watched an adult feed two adolescents some yummy sea grub!  When I get home I will upload more pictures and videos to my web site!

We also came across some seals at the next beach we stopped at... there was a bunch of them peacefully sunbathing covered in sand!  So cute!  Didn't want to bug them too much as the big males will bite if you disturb them!

That night we got lucky and rented(for cheap) a beautiful place overlooking the water with the front side all being windowed sliding doors... a king sized bed... private bathroom(yes something rare to us)... a BBQ and a big balcony!  It was a private house converted into 4 units.  It rained all evening and all night, so we were extremely happy to not be camping!

The next morning we headed out, the rain had stopped again... We hiked to 3 different waterfalls, all very nice!  I will put all the pictures up when I get home!  We also went to Cathedral Caves... they are beach caves that you can only access during low tide... 7 or 8 caves!  The first one was HUGE and it looped back to exit in a different spot... then the next one we had to climb around to as the tide wasn't out enough yet... and in it we came across some seals!  then the next there were penguins!  Very cool!  Only 2 people had got down there before us, so the beach was nearly untouched and beautiful!  By the time we were heading back up there was endless people and footprints... once again we were lucky!

That night we were lucky and got the very last place in the area to stay at!  and only because a local had called ahead and asked the lady to save it for us!! When we got there there was another traveler praying we didn't show up!  So lucky!  We were pretty tired by then!

The next day we walked out to Nugget Point Lighthouse where we could see seals playing in the waves and on the beaches far below us!... Could have used some binoculars, oh well!  After here there was not much left to see before returning to Dunedin... and only an hours drive away!  Upon arriving to Dunedin we drove out the Peninsula to see New Zealand's only castle!  Beautiful gardens and architecture!  Too bad we couldn't take pictures inside... oh, and the views were amazing!  It is set way up high on a hill.

Tim still wasn't home, it was a holiday here and he was out having some fun!  So we went back to town and had some dinner then checked out the famous boutique casino... Michael won $30 and I won $1 playing the 2 cent slots... if you are not used to the machines over here they will just eat up your money!  Luckily Michael knew how they worked and I watched him and won back what I had initially lost!  Of course we both only went in with $10 max to lose!

Today we are getting some laundry done and giving our legs a rest from the endless steep hills to climb up n down to get to anything worth seeing!  It is really windy today, lets hope our laundry doesn't blow off the line!  Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, so I guess we better head out hahaha... we are heading north next, then across to the west(WET) coast.