My 2014 Adventure: Travels to Singapore, Australia & New Zealand: Tuesday, May 13

After breakfast and a walk on the beach we drove from Okains Bay south to Timaru. It was a good stopping point between Christchurch and Dunedin, as well as being home to my former boss at St James Winery, Andrew. His parents still live there, and I was able to call them up to arrange a lunch date. They were so kind to take Paul and me to a brewpub by Caroline Bay. That afternoon we set out further south to Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula. Part way there we experienced the first hiccup in our van rental…a flat tire. It wasn’t just a small flat, but a total blow out. We were on a busy highway and had to drive a short distance on the rim to get to a safe place to try and change it. By now it was dark and we were relieved when a nice dairy farmer stopped to help us. It was determined that we did not have the proper tool to lower the spare tire from under the van. We had to have roadside assistance (they call it AA here, Automotive Assistance…so funny) come to help us. It took Coran the mechanic exactly 20 minutes to coax the spare tire out from under the van. We were very happy to be back on our way to Dunedin.

I was very excited to go to the Otago Peninsula due to it being home to many different kinds of wildlife including albatross, fur seals, sea lions, and penguins! One morning we parked our van on a gravel road and hiked to Victoria Beach to try and see some sea lions. Since it wasn’t breeding season there were none to be had, so we had lunch on the beach and continued to the Royal Albatross Center. We saw one albatross fly overhead as we were down by the water watching a seal nap on the grass. That evening we waited until dusk to watch the little blue penguins come ashore. They were adorable, and could probably fit in my hands. They would come ashore in pairs or groups, hop from rock to rock until they reached the top of the hill, then waddle away to their nesting areas in the grass. They were quite vocal, and called out to each other to give the all clear before swimming in. One penguin was alone on his journey to shore and got nervous with all the people waiting and watching him, because he ran off a rock and jumped into the tall grass like it was a diving board. The next morning we saw the Dunedin First Presbyterian Church, Railway Station, and had delicious coffee at the Octagon (city center part of town).

In the afternoon we started our drive to Milford Sound across the South Island. We are kind of taking a clockwise approach to seeing the sights, because there is generally one road around the whole island. It makes it easy to plan the trip though, not so many decisions to make about the itinerary. By nightfall we had reached Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound.