The past two days are best discussed by all the places we have traveled through. Here's the full list in sequence.
Curio Bay: Stayed here in that house with the cats. Headed off early in the morning to look at the petrified forest at the end of the road. The rocks were interesting but very slippery. There were signs everywhere with information about penguin sightings but no penguins were to be found.
Slope Point: We had to backtrack along a dirt road again to get to this place. We parked, walked across a large sheep paddock, and arrived at the southernmost point on the south island. Good signpost there proving that we arrived at the right place.
The Catlins: Went along the road again heading westward. There are many random places to stop along the way but we chose the few that seemed quick and interesting. Niagara Falls was awesome. Cathedral Caves promised to be excellent at low tide but the entrance was closed off so we were not able to explore. The countryside is just like Point Reyes, with winding roads through pastures, forests, and rugged coastline.
Kaka Point: We arrived at 2 in a town definitely set up to accommodate the few tourists who venture into the area. We arranged to stay at a motel that offered us a huge cottage to ourselves, complete with full kitchen and ocean views. The owner, who was much in need of a nose-hair trimmer, was overly helpful and gave us all the information on seeing penguins that evening. Vero took a nap and then we went out to the very neat lighthouse (similar to Point Reyes but with no stairs!). We then went to the set-up Penguin blind and got to see a total of 24 penguins. They would come in from the surf, wait for their friends, and then waddle across the beach and climb up the hill we were watching from. They are extremely cute and do everything you would expect a penguin to do. That was quite exciting.
Balclutha: The next morning we headed out of the Catlins and northward. We went through Balclutha, which appears to be abattoir capital of the region. Nothing very spectacular and it started to rain.
Dunedin: Originally we were planning to spend the night here but we changed our plans as we saw that our driving distances were very short and that there wasn't much to do in the places where we were intending to stay. Also, it started raining quite a bit. The town looks like an excellent college town but we drove straight through. And it was raining.
Moeraki: We drove out of the rain and arrived at Moeraki to investigate the famous boulders. They really are just random spheres in the ocean. We walked all around and found some very interesting sea shells. The place was also surprisingly busy and we had to avoid being in many people's pictures. While being there didn't seem terribly spectacular, the photos I took make the place look much more impressive and strange. As there's not much along the road in those parts, we had lunch at the cafe and then headed on our way.
Oamaru: Where we originally planned to spend tonight. We instead decided to keep heading inland so that we would be in a good position to attack Mt. Cook tomorrow. We did stop to get cash and groceries for our last few days here. Oamaru is a very lovely town, fairly large, and is very friendly to people with special needs. The grocery store had several people in motorized scooters and another woman who was definitely not normal. Everyone was very calm and considerate and it seems like a very well maintained place to live.
Highway 83: We headed inland toward Mt. Cook. The scenery looked very much like California and the towns we drove through were rather peculiar. There were very few people on the roads.
Twizel: We arrived just before 5pm and arranged to stay at a hotel/backpackers that used to be a hydroelectric workers camp. The person at the desk was the least friendly of all the people I have encountered so far but the accommodation is fine. We went for a run on a path that encircles the town and then cooked dinner in the huge former mess hall. I tried roasting some beets which we had bought earlier from a veggie stand, but they took an exceedingly long time and they didn't end up being ready until nearly 9pm. Tomorrow: Mt. Cook
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