Wet & rainy morning, and a very slow start to the day (I'm looking at you Matilda!). Eventually got everyone fed, dressed & educated, then over to the shearing shed again, to watch a team of 7 or 8 shear, collect, pack & bale the wool (450kg bales!). Had a nice chat with Anna's mum about running both a farm and a BP's business, plus having 3 small children. Finally set off, at 11ish, to Slope Point, the most southerly part of South Island. 10 min walk from car park to coast, and the inevitable photo with the Slope Point signpost!

Back in the car, J persuaded us to go on a hunt for Hector's dolphins, that (he had read) were often seen in Porpoise Bay. We retraced our steps, past the fossilised forest and Curio Bay, & ended up at North Head beach, Waikawa. There weren't any dolphins to be seen, but a very helpful display board informed us that they were most often spotted in a completely different part of the bay! At this point, we decided to give up, and re-retraced our steps to try to fond Waipapa Point. After an initial mis-direction by our tourist map, that took us down several km of gravel road - only to end up at someone's farm gate! - we found the Point, it's lighthouse (put in place in 1884, following NZ's worst ever civilian shipwreck), and half a dozen NZ sea lions - our first confirmed sighting of the species, this holiday! We watched 3 males half heartedly argue about who's beach it was, while a female and 1 or 2 pups lazily watched on! We walked around the Point, had a quick look at the lighthouse, then had to rapidly head back to the car park, for various people to make use of it's (vary basic) amenities!

Ate lunch in the car (too cold & windy to sit outside), then drove for an hour or so, into Invercargill. Made a half hearted attempt to find a BP's that had an interesting review in the book, but it wasn't there! Soon gave up, & after a brief refuelling stop, left Invercargill, heading west. Got to Riverton at ~4.30, & D went into the i-site to enquire about accommodation. The most likely option was a BP/cabin site ~9km out of town, at Colac Bay, & the i-lady phoned to enquire about the availability and price, describing us as "a very nice British family"! $75 later, we were in a basic but functional "terraced" cabin, with a large shared kitchen, in which D befriended a local lady, who taught him about whitebait and paua! There was also a good sized lounge / TV / internet room, with a real fire that was soon ablaze, and the room turned into a sauna! L & kids did their diaries & homework in the baking heat, while D retreated to the kitchen, to prepare bean stew & pancakes!

After tea, D wandered over to the tavern attached to the campsite, only to discover that the kids were more than welcome! We were all soon sat around a small table in a corner of the busy pub, and D went to the bar & asked for whatever the bloke next to him was having! This turned out to be a large jug of local beer (Speights), approx 2 pints in capacity. At this point, the (very nice) bar lady picked up a large coin, and tossed it. "If it comes down tails, you only pay me $2 for the beer", she said! Tails it was, and ditto twice more for the kids colas (free!). Later on we bought another jug, this time paying $10 for it!

D&L had a very long chat with the chap collecting for the Salvation Army, about Britain, 1960's pop music & recent political figureheads!

Another late night for the kids, but a great night out at the pub! Put kids to bed, & watched rubbish TV in front of the fire for a while.