What a long day! We left Dunedin at 7.30 this morning, aiming for Invercargill - a mere 170km away. What time did we arrive? 8.15pm! Crazy! There weren't any traffic jams or anything, apparently it was all part of the plan because there's a lot to see in the Catlins between the two cities. People were so fed up with all the stops that towards the end of the day, half of them didn't even bother getting off the bus anymore. I was just glad of the opportunity to stretch my legs. (But no mum, we weren't delayed due to penguins and sea lions in the road!)

So today was mostly spent on the bus unfortunately, but there were some highlights along the way, including Nugget Point (see photo), big ugly sea lions lazing around on an empty beach, and a short walking track to MacLeans Falls. We also stopped off at Curio Bay which is at the very south coast of South Island, just across the way from Antarctica! There we saw Hector's dolphins surfing in the waves and just around the corner, some yellow eyed penguins! They were quite small but still, really cool to see.

When we finally arrived in Invercargill, naturally, I was desperate to go for a run, so I followed a popular track along the canal for a few miles. Not the most scenic run ever, and not the most exciting town either! By the time I met up with my friends again at the pizza place across the road from Tuatara Backpackers, our hostel for the night, I was gutted to discover the kitchen had just closed! I managed to persuade them to make me a salad at least and I actually enjoyed it to be fair, although I can feel my ears growing already...!