11th May,

Stayed at Dunrobin for a night with my cousin Yvonne, and caught up with the  news.
From here we went into Gore to visit the Hokonui  Museum. Yes we sampled some of the Hokonui whiskey . Very nice.
From here we travelled to the Catlins . We visited the Waipapa Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse was the last wooden one built in NZ and was erected at the point after the disaster in1881 when the SS Tararua sank with the loss of 131 lives. It first beamed in January 1884. John Frederick Ericson, a native of Sweden, was the first keeper. The light house was automated in September 1976.

Then visited the Fossilised Forrest . We were lucky to be here at low tide and wander around the fossils . While there we saw the Yellow-eyed Penguin (Hoiho) returning to their nest in the evening. They wait on the rocks for their mates to return before going to there nest. It was wonderful to be able to get quite close to these  Penguin. We camped at the beach camp at Curio Bay.



Yellow-eyed penguin



Yellow-eyed penguin looking for his mate

Fossilised Forest

Pete & Marg looking at the fossilised forest

Sunrise at Curio Bay

Sunrise at Curio Bay

Florence Hill Lookout

Catlins area a steep descent

McLean falls

Pete, Mel, Marg, John McLeans Falls

Pounawea

Pounawea

12th May,

We made our way to Balclutha then onto Waihola. This is where we got the strong gale force worth west winds. With the winds so bad we decided to camp at Waihola lake for the night.
The next moring we made our way to Dunedin to visit Heika and family. Heike's daughter Danelle had just had her baby a little boy . It was lovely to see him and catch up with Heika.
We had a look around Dunedin but the weather was not good a lot of rain and winds so it was  to the camp at St Kilda Bay we stayed the night, with fish and chips for tea .

14th May,
From Dunedin to Naseby via Middlemarch. We all wanted to have a go at Curling in the indoor Curling rink. It was a lot of fun, and no one fell over. The ice is only 3 " deep but it is -30 deg. the rink itself is only  2.5.deg . You sure needed to have warm clothes on and wear warm gloves.
We stayed at Naseby Motorcamp for the night . Very quiet there I think Mel and Pete John and I were the only ones there.
From Naseby to headed to Ashburton for the sunday night.


John having a rest in the sun



Coffee break Mel, John & Peter



Mel & Marg having a laugh



View over Middlemarch



John and Mel Curling




Marg and Pete playing curling