So we left Mt Cook in the distance having had a great couple of days in the mountains and headed to our first town since Christchurch, Oamaru.Oamaru, more hamlet than town, full of Victorian buildings and not a huge amount else.A relaxing little hostel though so perfect for a good nights sleep.While we were there we drove a short way to see the Moeraki Boulders on the beach.We then headed straight up to the look out point to try and spot some yellow eyes penguins which luckily we did as it was a very steep walk!

Next stop was Dunedin, based on Edinburgh, the only place with a castle in NZ and has an impressive railway building that is the most photographed building in NZ - having said that, we didn't get a photo. We then drove a short way (short if we hadn't got lost) to a beach called Tunnel Beach which was very cool, some dude in the 1930's built a secret tunnel down to a beach so that his daughters could sunbathe in private - glad they weren't there yesterday as they would be getting on a bit!An impressive beach though and a huge rock that we climbed to the top of to get a great view of the ocean and beach.

We then drove back with our mouths watering as we had promised we would treat ourselves to a beer.We found a cool little pub, I had a pint and Lizzy a mulled wine and then got back to the hostel for supper and a movie.

We woke early for our drive to Te Anau from which we would go and see the fiordland.On route Lizzy raised concern that when I was singing along to the radio, I was closing my eyes when I got a bit too in to it, meaning my eyes were not on the road - highly amusing for me but less so for Liz! We arrived in Te Anau, checked in to the hostel and went to the visitor centre to book our boat trip.There was the tough choice between Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound and with them being #1 and #2 in the AA's "Top 100 things to do in the South Island" it had the potential to cause us a problem.We asked the lady in the centre and she gave the usual blurb about one was bigger with rounded mountains and the other smaller with jagged mountains but when she cut to the chase and told us the price it became a very easy decision.Milford Sound was $200 cheaper each so we booked up for the next day!

Today's trip was brilliant, despite the weather being less so.We did the drive up to Milford Sound stopping at the Mirror Lakes (great reflection shots!) and also for a walk at the Chasm that has a waterfall so powerful it has carved the rocks into their present shape and then arrived to get our boat around Milford Sound.Some amazing scenery and impressive waterfalls that the end of the boat went into so we got a bit wet but it was fun and managed to get some good pics.Then possibly the highlight of the trip was stopping and having three or four dolphins swim and jump around the boat (the other highlight obviously being free tea and coffee, oh and I nicked some sugar sachets!).

With it being our two-year anniversary we agreed that we would let someone else cook for us, no, we haven't asked a fellow traveller to chuck some more super noodles in a pan, we have a little restaurant booked called The Redcliffe for tonight.Fingers crossed the lamb we have our eye on from the menu is as good as we hope it will be.

Oh forgot to mention, someone called "Ian" in the hostel shoved our food in the fridge right to the side so he could fit his in, bloody Ian!I have realised I know all the words to Gangster's Paradise (it was on the radio twice on the journey to Milford Sound, such a treat for Lizzy on our anniversary) and our car has a worryingly strong burning smell when we drive on mountain roads, hope it survives the next 2 weeks!

Sam