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So after getting on the "Bottom Bus" (a company affiliated with Kiwi Experience that does trips to the deep south), I headed off to the southern-most point of New Zealand extremely tired after my late night saying goodbye to the Rays and watching world cup football!
We first of all stopped and went for a short walk to a place called Nugget Point which had a very picturesque lighthouse overlooking some rock outcrops coming out of the sea. It was apparently called this by Captain Cook in the late 1800s because he noted that when the sun reflected off these rocks in the early morning they looked like golden nuggets! It was actually a very beautiful place with gorgeous beaches on each side.
After here we stopped at a beach called Cannibal Bay, where we saw about 5 or 6 big fur sea lions! A couple of them were small youngsters who were playing together, then there were a few huge males who were just lazing about in the grass next to the beach! It was really cool to see sea lions for the first time only 10m away, playing in the sand then swimming it off and such. We were there for about 45 minutes just taking it in, and it was a really beautiful beach on top of that so it was all good! I was thankful that my Scottish friends Neil and Jess also came on the bottom bus trip because I thought I'd have to make friends with a whole new group of people!
After Cannibal Bay we headed to a local pub for a backpackers deal on fish and chips, which was very yummy, whilst getting to know each other a bit better. It was cool actually because there were only 12 of us so it was a lot easier to bond than on one of the Kiwi buses were there are 50 people!
We then drove past the southern-most point in New Zealand on our way to a place called Curio Bay. By this time it was pouring it down with rain and hail, so in the short break that we got we dashed down to the beach where we saw a fossil forest, which was fairly interesting although I can't particularly say that I myself am a fossil enthusiast! The most exciting thing about this part of the trip though was seeing penguins!! The breed was called Yellow-Eyed penguins, and apparently they are the second most rare penguins on the planet! We had to wait about 20 minutes in the cold to see them (it is very much a game of patience to see penguins, much like badger watching!), and it was cold, but it was worth the wait! We saw one dive onto the beach from the ocean after a day's fishing (by this time it was dusk, about 4.30/5pm), and another come out from the bushes at the edge of the beach to meet it. It was so cool! and really funny to see them waddling about.... I love penguins!! haha.
After this we were all pretty tired as I think the majority of us had had quite a late night the night before, so we headed down into Invercargill where we were to spend the night. A group of us went out for a delicious T-bone steak meal at the pub next to the hostel with our driver in the evening, which was such a treat! It probably cost more than I should have spent on one meal, but it was so worth it; absolutely delicious! Then we just chilled out together for the rest of the evening. A good day down south!
Lots of love,
Joelle xxxxxxxx
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