cafesg>10 February: We left Waimate and headed south. Our first stop was to see the 55million year old Moeraki Boulders. We had been to this beach in 1973...not much has changed, just more tourists. You can take a ten minute walk along the beach to get to the boulders (free), or you can take a shorter walk on a boardwalk and stairs ($2/pp). We walked on the beach. At noon we met Anne and Michael in Oamaru and set off to see the city. We had lunch at the Whitestone cheese Factory cafe...delicious...and took a walking tour around the old Victorian buildings which were the heart of the city when it was built. These buildings once housed wool and grain and shipping merchants and are now filled with art, antiques, souvenirs, etc. in the evening we had a lovely meal of the blue cod famous in these parts and went to the Blue Penguin Colony to watch these amazing little birds return from a day of fishing. No photography allowed; so you just have to take my word for it that it is quite a sight to see them returning in groups of ten or twelve after having been as far as 30km out to sea and back. They return to the same colony and the same nesting box every evening around dusk. While we were there, we say 56 returning penguins. 
 
11 February:  This morning Anne and Michael headed north! and we continued south. We stopped briefly in Dunedin, but, truthfully, we're not much for cities when we travel...especially Buzz. The central area of the city, known as the Octagon, was once filled with charming ships which have been replaced by upscale cafés and souvenir shops. We continued south landing to stay the night in Balclutha, but there was no accommodation available. Once again the iSite was great, and we drove a bit further to. Kaka Point, the gateway to the Catlins, the southernmost route to travel. We stayed at Rata Cottage. It is just charming. The bonus was that buzz noticed woodworking tools through the basement window. When he enquirer, the proprietress told him the workshop had belonged to her late husband. She invited us in to see some of his work. You can see from the photos why we were impressed.

12 February:  Intermittent rain the last few days meant the waterfalls along the road through the Catlins were quite spectacular. We stopped along the way at Nugget Point, Purakaunui Falls, McLean Falls, Porpoise Bay (didn't see any), Curio Bay (to view the petrified forest remains), and Fortrose ( for much needed petrol). We arrived at the iSite in Invercargill to find every room in the city booked because of the South Island Field Days - a high agricultural show - going on in Gore, the next city north. We were able to get accommodation in Colac Bay, about 45 minutes west. What we got was a private house across for the beach...lovely.  

13 February:  We awoke to driving rain and a howling gale this morning, but that did not deter us for going too the field days in the rain became intermittent as we drove north. The venue was a huge paddock...muddy and slippery and cold. Fortunately the first vendor tent we stopped in was giving away warm knitted hats..I wore mine for the first hour or so we were there. We saw all kinds of farm machinery and equipment! and the usual country fair hawkers trying to sell slicers, dicers, pots, pans, and cure-alls. The bank we use here, ANZ, had a huge tent and served lunch. We ate there and sat and chatted with some interesting local folks. After three hours, we found our way back to our car and headed for Queenstown. We got to Elliot and Bridget Goldman's home at Jack's Point while they were still at work. We let ourselves in, did our laundry, and had a rest.  We are so grateful for friends who let us make their homes ours. Bridget and Elliot made a delicious dinner of chicken tacos with all the fixings, and we relaxed and watched the Olympic skiers for the evening,

14 February:  Bridget left very early for the gym, but we saw Elliot for a bit before he went to work. We thanked him again for the wonderful hospitality, packed up our stuff and headed off. Our first drive of the day was to Glenorchy and Paradise. We had been to Glenorchy many years ago. It was a sleepy village with a hotel and one small motel. Now there is quite a bit of lodging and many cafés. We were happy to see that Paradise is still pristine...no touristy stuff...just a beautiful view. We drove back through Queenstown (tourist central). And headed north through Across the Crown Range Road through Wanaka and Lake Hawea to Makarora. The scenery is magnificent on this route. We had intended to drive through to Haast, but the road is closed from. Makarora beginning at 6:30 each evening due to a huge slip (landslide) that happened in 2013 and is still being repaired. We stayed in a little chalet at the Makarora Tourist center.

15 February:  We had a beautifully warm, sunny travel day today. We stopped at Fantail and Thundering Creek waterfalls on the HaastPass Highwayy, and Haast village for a quick look around. At Fox Glacier we stopped and walked to path that goes to the viewing platform. We chose the path to the lower viewing area because I wasn't sure I could make it to the top one. The path is rocky, and uneven...I had to be really careful. It was a good hour of walking, and the trail was mobbed with tourists. Unfortunately, the glacier is receding. We stopped at the iSite in Franz Josef (where there is another glacier) and booked a room in Hokitika for the night. The Birdsong Backpackers Lodge was a good choice for our overnight.

16 February:  Guess what??? More clear sunny weather. We drove north stopping just before Greymouth to call in on Garth Wilson. we first found this young Maori carver of New Zealand Jade Greenstone (Pounamu) four years ago. His work is finely crafted, only of genuine NZ Pounamu, and fairly priced. In many of the tourist shops, the jade is from china. You can see examples of Garth's work at his website When we called in to his shop, his wife was there. Since buzz really wants to talk to Garth, we booked a room at the Duke backpackers lodge in Greymouth and set off for a day trip on a loop road to Lake Brunner, Mitchells, and Kumara. We had our picnic at Moana on the lake, enjoyed the quiet rural road, and checked into out lodging mid afternoon. I think we are getting too old to travel all day, every day! We will see Garth tomorrow morning, and then head north. We have one more week on the South Island.