Welcome to the Catlins was the sign we saw entering this area. We are off the beaten path (literally) as we've driven gravel roads today while we traveled through farm land, along the sea, and into a rain forest.  We first arrived in Fortrose which is situated at the mouth of the Mataura River. This is a good fishing area, and there were many "cribs" or fishing huts situated on the river side.  We stopped for coffee when we reached the coast at an interes...

Before we left our campground, Bob noticed an interesting machine trimming what we called hedges, but here are called "shelter breaks." The breaks are all along the roadsides to protect against the winds; we wondered how they were kept so tidy.  On our way to Bluff, we passed field after field after field of elk. When I stopped to take a photo, an inquisitive girl peaked over the fence at me. Bluff, which is 27 km south of Invercargill, is at land's end ...

Before leaving Te Anau, we stopped at the Te Anau Wildlife Centre where enclosures house birds enabling close up views. Our driver yesterday told us that they are incubating eggs from the Takahe which was once thought to be an extinct flightless bird, but was discovered in Fiordland.  We weren't able to get photos of the birds through the cages, but I did get a couple of photos of Bob in his new All Black Rugby shirt which we found in Wanaka for much less t...

Today was our most expensive activity, Discover More with Go Milford, but it was actually the best value. The trip was a total of nine hours: 5.5 hrs. of a narrated bus trip, 2.5 hour narrated cruise on Milford Sound, which included a wonderful buffet lunch, and 45 minutes at the Milford Deep Underwater Observatory.We were picked up by our tour company, Go Milford, at 8:15 at our campground and driven 121 km to Milford Sound. The Milford Road heads into the Sout...

Before leaving town in a sparkling clean van this morning, we visited Queenstown Gardens which are located on a promontory into Lake Wakatipu. The Gardens were founded in 1867 so the trees are now enormous and include oaks and massive sequoias. We walked around town and window-shopped and then headed south. We followed beautiful Lake Wakatipu for 40 minutes to Kingston, situated at the southernmost end of the lake. It is a great place for water sports, but it...