Queenstown to Dunedin

Hope there are some of you out there still following this and I'm not writing just for my own sake!

Queenstown
I believe when I last wrote we had arrived in Queenstown but not seen that much. Well it is the High Octane capital of New Zealand, and I believe the birthplace of bungee so Mum and I decided to ......................... shop! Well what did you expect??? We walked into town from our hotel ,which had a lovely view out over the lake, and spent the day just browsing. We even walked back again, and I can assure you it needed adrenaline as our hotel was at the top of a very steep hill. At least we were getting some exercise.

Queenstown was also good as the computers in the hotel had webcams attached and Stuart and I managed to get these working complete with sound - much cheaper than a phone call in the usual way. A quick text to say I was going to the computer and before you knew it we were chatting away. Lyra seemed very confused to hear my voice but didn't seem able to tell it was me on the screen.

Milford Sound
We were up and off early on Tuesday to get to Milford Sound as the guide books all said it was about a 5 hour drive and we were booked on a cruise at 1:15. The start of the drive went very well as we managed to get away before all the coaches we saw were leaving from Queenstown also for Milford Sound. We got to Te Anau by 9 and decided we would find our motel and drop off the luggage. This was not a problem as Te Anau was not that big. Then we continued on our way.
The scenery was once again breathtaking. We passed a sign informing us we were at Latitude 45 degrees south, also another that warned of a film crew although we didn't see one. We then started to go up, and up, and up until we reached the snow line. Just as we did we noticed a queue, and then realised it was a queue for the tunnel through the great big mountain in front of us. Whilst waiting for the lights to change we saw Keas in the car park opposite just walking around the cars looking for food. A Kea is a mountain parrot and whilst fairly dull in colour when walking, when in flight you can see the magnificent red of the underside of the wings.

Passing from the bright sunlight into the darkness of the tunnel was not fun and it took a while before I could see and as the road inside the tunnel was also a steep slope down this made it even less fun. On the other side was a very narrow windy mountain road. Mum was taking lots of photographs and telling me that there were numerous waterfalls where the snow was making it's way as rivers and streams down the mountainside (I got to see for myself as she drove us back).

The cruise at Milford Sound was good and took us right to the mouth where it met the Tasman Sea. Again lots of waterfalls and we also got to see fur seals and the smallest penguins in NZ which were very cute.

The motel was lovely and as we had the facilities we decided to make our own dinner. The omelette and salad was delicious - eating out actually gets a little tiring.

Invercargill
After a lie in we were off to the most southerly point of our trip. The hotel we stayed in was the first in NZ to have ensuites. I know this because we were picked up by a nice lady, Lynette, who drove us around Invercargill and the surrounding area telling us all about the history and showing us the sights. There is certainly more to it that Lonely Planet suggests. We were even driven right onto a beach from which we could see Stewart Island.

After the tour ended we decided to go and find the local pool and I treated (the now senior citizen) to a swim. Actually we also got a steam and spa pool as these were included free at the side of the pool for adults only.

That night we ate in the hotel and what a meal it was. We had to go for a walk afterwards just to help it all go down. I started with the dozen mussels, followed by the salmon pasta and ended with the almond and chocolate torte. Mum had the crab cakes, the roast lamb and the sticky date and fig pudding. We even had a free glass of wine each!

Dunedin
Continuing the Scottish theme we are now in Dunedin. We walked through town but I think we are almost shopped out! We did then go looking for the pool and found it but discovered that although a big pool with lots of flumes there was only parking for about 50 cars!!! So rather than go round the car park with everyone else we decided jsut to go for a drive to the Otaga Peninsula. We chose the coastal road to start with and this meant driving along a main road that was just feet from a few feet drop into the sea. When I saw a sign to the castle decided to take that road. This meant a narrow road up the mountain which again was very windy and then the castel was hidden in grounds and cost a fair bit to get in so didn't get to see it.

We changed back to Mum driving and decided to go back via Highcliff Road over the top instead. And there was the Pacific. We didn't quite manage to find a beach to paddle from but found a nice chippy and brought blue cod and chips back to the room for dinner.

That's it for today I think. Sorry it's not a lot, this computer is not the best. I promise once back in the UK and not watching a countdown timer at all times I will put on more photos for you all to see and fill in the bits I missed.