Wednesday 13th May-

It rained the whole time we were in Dunedin, but we still managed to do some great things. We spent some time in STA and managed to eventually decide on a 4 day Kruger safari, and it had a bit of a discount on it too which was good. We also booked a flight from Jo'burg to Port Elizabeth, and managed to change the dates of our Qantas flights so that we now get home 6 weeks early.
On Monday we went to the Cadbury Factory. We went on a little tour around the factory, led by Cocoa Joe. It was pretty good; we got quite a few free chocolate bars (mostly crazy NZ ones), and you also got some extra mini chocolates if you answered a question right- Chris got 2. The tour ended with a 'chocolate waterfall', but it was a bit of a disappointment as it was in a small dark room and was basically just a metal trough on the ceiling and chocolate poured out of the bottom of it into a big thing that looked like a skip. We then went into the shop and bought a couple of things as they were quite cheap.
We did the Elm Wildlife Tour on Tuesday. We were picked up from our hostel and taken to an albatross centre where we could learn about marine animals and we managed to spot 1 or 2 albatross's flying overhead. We then drove on to a fur seal colony at a reserve on the beach. We had to walk over a big steep hill in the pouring rain but it was worth it. There were loads of seals and pups sat on the rocks, and they were quite close to us so we got some good photos. They were very cute and fun to watch. Then we had to walk over another big hill and down onto the beach where there were some sealions. We saw about 3 of them on the sand and a couple were lying in the long grass further back. We walked within 5 metres of them. There were a couple of hairy moments though- when we were walking through the grass we suddenly heard a roar behind us and a giant sealion had jumped out at the lady at the back of the group and obviously didn't like us being so close, we hadn't even seen him there, he was like a metre away, so we had to hurry along. Then, on the beach, another sealion we were photographing slowly started sitting up and moving towards us, then it moved a bit faster with it's mouth open and we all had to run away while the leader tried to shoo it away! It was quite funny but also scary. Apparently they only want to play, but that involves biting. We then took shelter in a little hut and watched some yellow-eyed penguins (the rarest in the world) come out of the sea and make their way up the beach and hillside. Some of the sand had fallen away in the bad weather so it took one of them a long time to work out how to get up to the hill and he had to enlist the help of a friend. They were very small and cute. The trip was very good despite the weather.

Sunday 17th May-

We left for Lake Tekapo on Wednesday and on the way we had a few stops- the world's steepest street in Dunedin, a picturesque lake, and 'the church of the good shepherd' by Lake Tekapo which is apparently the most photographed in NZ and holds over 600 weddings a year. The hostel was OK- it had great views but our room was very cold. Wednesday evening we went to the pub for dinner and just chilled out. On Thursday we finished finallising our Africa safari, we looked around the shops, and we went out for lunch. As it was a nice day we walked around the lake and took some photos. That night it became very windy and stormy. Annoyingly, the rain started dripping in through the air vent in the ceiling in our room, so we had to put a bin and towels underneath it.
The next morning we were heading for Christchurch and it was still raining. The weather improved along the journey and eventually became quite warm and sunny. We were staying with Carole and Antony (Chris's family friends) for a few days in Oxford. We were dropped off by the bus in town and Carole came and picked us up. We drove for about 45 minutes to their house. The house is lovely and in a pretty area. That night we had a yummy home-made casserole and some wine and we all got to know each other. Our room was nice and cosy with electric blankets on our beds. It was great to be in a house again with homely comforts.
Saturday was nice and sunny so us 2 went for a wander into town. We looked in some craft/gift shops, and we looked around an old jail and stocks. We went to Seagers- a cafe owned by Jo Seager who is apparently a famous cook in NZ. Helen had a hot chocolate and it was very fancy- it was a big glass of hot milk and you had to add your own chocolate sauce out of a little glass and there were some chocolate buttons on the side. Chris's coffee was very posh too. After lunch we went for a walk up to a lookout point up a steep hill. There were some nice views from the top. That night we went out for a meal, kindly paid for by Carole and Antony. We both had pork stuffed with pinenut stuffing with garlic roast potatoes and veges, and a dessert and wine. It was all delicious.
The next morning we got up early and went to church, as Carole was the minister and Antony was playing the organ. After church we had some tea and biscuits with the parishioners and had a chat with them. In the afternoon we went with Carole to a church in Christchurch to see a concert of a singer and a man on guitar. They were very good but we only knew a couple of songs. We had a relaxed evening in that night. We are leaving tomorrow for a couple of nights in Ch.Ch. town.