A beautiful clear morning, crisp & cold & sunny! Stunning mountain views - snow-capped, against light blue skies! Reluctantly left at 10am, after booking Milford Sound cruise for tomorrow at 9am, and reserving the self contained cabin for tomorrow night. Brief stop at Manapouri Lake, then headed north, into the mountains! Paused at Te Anau to find an ATM & buy a few groceries, then followed the shores of the lake, stopping a couple of times to ad...

Better day, still a bit cloudy, but dry. Kids enjoyed looking at the animals before we left (chickens, goat, pony).Drove back into Riverton for a little food shopping, & to be at the museum for 10am, when it opened. First we watched a 15 min film about the local Maori, & the first Europeans in the area, then walked through displays about the local area, people and gold mining - all together, a really good, little museum. The lady there told us about ...

Wet & rainy morning, and a very slow start to the day (I'm looking at you Matilda!). Eventually got everyone fed, dressed & educated, then over to the shearing shed again, to watch a team of 7 or 8 shear, collect, pack & bale the wool (450kg bales!). Had a nice chat with Anna's mum about running both a farm and a BP's business, plus having 3 small children. Finally set off, at 11ish, to Slope Point, the most southerly part of South Island. 10 min w...

D woke early, to blue skies & sunshine, & set about sorting out breakfast and packed lunch (with limited supplies!). Once everyone was fed, & the morning chores done, drove south to Nugget Point & walked up to the lighthouse. Saw more seals, mutton birds & spoonbills. Then walked to a hide above the beach, but no yellow eyed penguins (wrong time of the day!) Short, sunny, drive to Owaka, & a supermarket stop for food supplies. Then on...

Overcast start to the day - jobs done & ready to leave camp on the stroke of 10am! Picturesque drive out of Dunedin - nice view of the bay as we drove up, onto the Otago Peninsula. Mostly coast road to Taiaroa Head, & the albatross colony. "Free entry" to the gift shop & information centre, but only very expensive tours available, to see the historic fort & gun emplacements (not interested!), plus a video about albatrosses & a brief stop in ...