A whistle-stop tour of The Catlins (the area south of Dunedin) where we saw (apart from lots of rain), the Purakaunui Falls; Wilkie Lake; Curio Bay and it's 160-million-year-old fossil forest; and Slope Point, which is the South Island's most southerly point (which means we have now offically travelled from one end of NZ to the other)!

Another pretty city and one that is very proud of it's Scottish ancestry - did you know that Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinbourgh?! (Did you also know that Dunedin is the world's 4th largest city - in terms of land area, not population)?!No? Shame on you!Anyway, more importantly, Dunedin is home to both a Cadburys factory and Speights brewery....so we HAD to visit those! I'm still eating the chocolate that I brought at the factory shop. (Did you also know that NZ get...

This country continues to amaze me with it's scenery - and I know the best is still to come (Milford Sounds).Although the weather has been a little iffy is this area, we were treated to one day of sunshine and (eventually) the summit of Mt Cook appeared from behind the clouds, in all it's snow-topped glory! Great stuff!

Just here for a night, on our way to Mt Cook....and still some b****** managed to nick some of our food!Anyway, a short but strenous walk up Mt John to the observatory soon made me forget about that (because of the views and not the fact that I was completely knackered....I definitely can't wait to get home and do some exercise)!!There is also a cute little church (of the Good Shepherd) right by the lake, complete with a statue of a collie dog - a tribute to the ...

It's not hard to see why this place is often described as the most English of NZ's cities - walking around the botanic gardens, along the Avon River with the trees in their wonderful autumnal colours - you certainly feel like you are back in Blighty!Highlights included the International Antarctic Centre where we were able to get a first-hand taste of -18°C wind chill (it's rather cold since you ask); going up the gondola which had great views of Christchurch...