Today, despite the howl of the wind and rain around my 'Friday 13th horror movie end of the world' hostel I woke up before dawn in the hope that I might see penguins down at the beach. It was still very dark when I got down there, like last night I could barely see anything! As it became lighter I walked along the beach and only found penguin tracks, from the sea to the grassy sand dunes :(

The sunrise was beautiful, and the wind and rain had finally stopped making way for an equally beautiful rainbow, so clear!

I headed back to the hostel. Since I'd be spending most of the day in the car heading to Te Anau I decided to treat myself to clean jeans - yep I know how to live!! (those of you who have travelled will be familiar with the limited opportunity to wash & dry clothes when in a dif place every night!)

Before I left I went down to the beach again, this time in hope of seeing dolphins which are also popular at Porpoise & Curio Bay. The girl who runs the hostel said they were often seen - in fact she's learning to surf & said they'd swim under and around her! However because it was so stormy she thought they might have gone further out to sea - however I was in luck - there were 2 swimming amongst the waves!

My first stop was Slope Point - the furthest southern point of New Zealand, just 4803km from the South Pole and 5140km from the equator - no wonder it was so cold! Esp when it started raining!

I then went to Waipapa point, the site of a remote lighthouse which basically had to be self sufficient growing their own food/keeping their own farm animals be jade it was so remote. I'd already got quite wet walking the 20 mins across a boggy field between the car park & slope point, but the rain was lashing down here. Within 5 mins I was soaked through. The excitement of clean jeans had worn off - they were now soaked wet & stuck to my legs (though my new waterproof jacket did prove its worth - the top half of me remained dry). I did manage to see seals / sea lions (am not sure what the dif is? Perhaps sea lions are bigger but unless you see them together how can you tell which is biggest?)

After changing back into my not so clean jeans I made my way through the fields, hills and mountains to Te Anau. I stopped a couple of times, once for food (yea!) and once in a place literally called wilderness to admire the views! The scenery is stunning, like the Peak District but much much bigger! Is a shame I've only been able to drive through the hills & not had time to go walking but I've only got a week in the South Island so am trying to cram in seeing as much as possible

I arrived in Te Anau around 3.30 and checked into my motel. Seems all the rain has resulted in some flooding - I was suddenly wondering it if it was wise to have booked 'Lakeside motel'....

I went for a walk round the lake, learning that it is normally 396m deep (!) and due to the hydro power station they are able to control its depth (therefore preventing flooding - phew!). I also stopped at a souvenir shop to buy a hat and gloves (the wind and rain at Waipapa point reminded me how miserable it is to be cold and wet & am going on a boat cruise tomorrow!) and I stopped at least a supermarket to buy superglue (seems my walking shoes are falling apart!) and a bottle of wine (it is sat night afterall!)

So here I am, having a wild sat night in my motel drinking wine, eating take out pizza and watching the corra omnibus (Peter is currently in jail for murdering Tina - it's v exciting even if it is over a year old!)