We headed back on the Southern Scenic Route and stopped off at Sinclair Wetlands.This is home to some of the rarest birds in NZ, but unfortunately most of them seemed to be hiding whilst we were there!It was a really nice place though and we did get some fantastic views when we walked up Lonely Hill, and a great rainbow.

Next we headed for Dunedin city centre.We spent an hour walking around, taking photos of the historic buildings.From the little time we spent there, we got a great feel about the place.It seemed quite a vibrant city with a mixture of the old and the new and is a place we would like to go back to.Apparently it used to be called New Edinburgh, but then changed its name to Dunedin, which is Gaelic for Edinburgh.It did have quite a British feel to it - I think it was the old buildings that made me think this.

We checked into the Dunedin Holiday Park, and then headed up the Otago peninsula towards Taiaroa Head, in search of the Royal Albatrosses.Unfortunately, to get to the best viewing area at the very point you have to pay $40 an hour (nearly 20.00GBP each) so we stood in the'cheap seats' and waited in hope.We think we maybe saw a couple in the distance, but after taking some photos and zooming in we realised that the ones we had pictured were Gannets!I'm sure the others we saw were albatrosses though.Still, the gannets were quite cool as they stopped mid air and plummeted down in to the water to catch a fish.The first time I saw this happen, I thought the bird had been shot dead, as he fell so fast!We also saw lots of Stewart Island Shags, coming in to land on the cliffs.

We also took a walk down to Pilots beach, in search of the Blue Penguins.We were a little too early though, but did see a fur seal, relaxing on the rocks.We took the low coastal road back to the campsite, as we had taken the high road there, and watched the amazing sunset over the water and Dunedin as we drove home.

Next morning we took the SH1 and stopped just before Henley to see the Moeraki Boulders on the beach.These are septarian concretions, up to 3 metres diameter, formed in ancient sea floor sediments.Lime minerals accumulated on the core (either fossil shell, bone fragment, or a piece of wood) and over time grew.The sea bed eventually formed the coastal cliffs and then erosion of the cliffs has released some of the 3 tonne boulders.The Maori's have a different version of events, but this one is much more plausible!

We then drove through Oamaru and took the SH83, stopping just before Duntroon to see the Maori rock paintings.We saw the limestone overhang under which the Maori's sheltered, but the pathway up to it to see the drawings was closed, due to rock fall.It seems that the importance of preserving Maori heritage was left a little too late as the access was closed to the drawings further down the road too.Luckily I had read my Lonely Planet guide and found that just down the road were the Elephant Rocks.So, as there were no Maori drawings to look at, we headed to these, and they were pretty impressive - not sure about then looking like elephants though!They are huge limestone boulders, just sitting in a farmer's field, which have been sculpted by wind, rain and rivers.Apparently they were the setting for Aslan's Camp in the movie 'Narnia'.

We then continued up the SH8 to Twizel, where we set up camp for the night, ready to take the short drive to Mount Cook the next day, and do a long walk.

Maggie x