As we left Waipapa point we checked the map and saw that Slope point, new Zealand's most southern point on the south island, was en route to dunedin an both agreed that we should visit there as it may well be the most south we ever go. After a short and bumpy ride along some gravel roads we arrived. We were greeted with a great ocean view and a sign telling us just how close to the south pole we were, just 4803 km over 300 km closer than we were to the equator! No wonder it was so cold. We walked back to Percy to find that someone had left the key in the ignition and locked all the doors, but we both take responsibility and don't blame anyone, Neil. Fortunately a helpful Frenchman, Gael, and his girlfriend were on hand to assist in breaking in. We managed to pick the lock after some trying and after a quick thank you we were back on the road. Our next stop off point was Niagara falls, wow we both thought as we were on our way, this was going to be spectacular! Oh..wait...is that it? We arrived and were met by a little stream and a massive disappointment. Not to be disheartened we hopped back in the van and decided to give any more stops a miss and carry straight on to Dunedin. We arrived at Dunedin and discovered a new whining noise that percy had started making, we both hoped he was just tired so decided to park him up an and take a walk round the octagon. The octagon is the main centre of Dunedin where the majority of restaurants and bars are, however as we are backpackers the restaurants were a little pricey so we indulged in a subway. After our luxurious meal we stumbled upon a pool bar near our hostel and thought we should check it out. Pleasantly surprised by the size and music we decided to spend a few hours in there sampling some of NZ's lagers and as we had a flickering light on our table is very much like our own private, annoying, disco. We then decided to call it a night and went back to the hostel, both unaware of what would be waiting for us in our dorm. Snorlax was in there! Never had we both heard such a noise! After a while we managed to adapt the surroundings and as we knew we were up early to head to the peninsular the next day we were motivated enough to eventually fall asleep. We were back in the van before we knew it and even though percy had rested his whine had got even worse! The steering had pretty much completely gone, but we just saw this as another challenge thrown our way and continued on to the peninsular. Neither of us really knew what to expect from this but it didn't take long to realise we had stumbled across a gem! A winding seafront road took us along the peninsular with great bay views, we aimed towards the point where there was an albatross sanctuary and possible penguin sightings. We arrived at the sanctuary to realise it don't open for another hour so we got back in the van and headed back along the road to find a good spot for lunch. We sat ourselves on a bench facing out to sea and tested ourselves to crisp and ketchup sandwiches. YUM! We really know how to live the life. After we'd eaten we thought it would be a good idea to share our last slice of bread with the onlooking seagulls. Big mistake that proved to be! They flocked over in the thousands, ok may be a slight exaggeration, but there was a lot. This did give us a good opportunity to take some good action shots of them swooping in though but when they bread ran out they don't look happy so we ran back into the van and gave the sanctuary another try. Success, it was open, and we entered not really knowing what to expect. There wasn't a great deal in there and we had to pay to take the walk out to see the baby birds in the cliff and they couldn't guarantee you'd see the larger birds coming in to feed so we both agreed it wouldn't warrant the money. We had a quick look round the museum they had there and made our decent back down from
the point and made our way back along the peninsular. We were heading for Allans Beach, where we informed by a Maori lady in the sanctuary you could possible see seals and penguins. Here we stayed for a while as it was a very nice sandy beach and we tried to hold out at the possibility of seeing something but eventually we had to call time and leave as we were planning a long drive up to wanaka that night and the day was starting to come to a close. We hopped back in the van and began our long north western drive.