Otago Peninsula April 21 2006 Probably the most beautiful place we have seen in Nz thus far which is quite a statement. Possible to do with the light in the sky which for the whole day bordered on the bizzarre. It was kind of like day-break for the entire day until dusk. Overhead the sky threatened rain but on the horizon where the cloud stopped and didn't quite meet the landscape the sky was red and it formed almost an entire giant circle of fire around us. We start the day by going for a walk to 'lovers leap' and 'the chasm' with beautifully still sea-inlets giving crisp reflections of the hilly landscape all around. The views are simply stunning. We drive to the tip of the peninsula to see the only land based Royal Albatross colony in the world. We take a tour and learn that the baby birds actually grow to be twice the size of their parents (12kg) before the parents put them on a forced diet. The fluffy white 'baby' albatross that we can see from the hide can't fail to hide his/her rolls of flab. We don't see any adult Albatross as there's not much wind. We drive on further south to the Catlins in the evening and stay in a very dodgy campervan park where the facilties are not up to the usual standards. It's also very dark down here near the bottom of the South Island and the views of the stars in the evening are absolutely amazing, we can easily see the Milky Way and the skies are just so bright! Fantastic. All the best and keep the messages coming, Lots of Love Stu & Amy.