Oamaru to Queenstown
Pete Writes: We headed south from Christchurch along the south east coast to Dunedin (which we thought was pronounced Dune-Din, but quickly learnt it was dun-Eden). Dunedin is known as little Edinburgh, with all the street names having a Scottish theme and the only Castle in New Zealand you can see how it gets the name. We spent an afternoon wandering the castle and grounds which were immaculate, but being built in 1871 I suppose it has not had the same past as a lot of our castles! The previous day we decided to don on our anoraks and board the Taieri Gorge railway for the day, the line was saved by a group of enthusiasts in 1995 after being closed for more than 5 years. They spent the next few years restoring the 30km of line and now it is open for the public to enjoy the numerous tunnels and viaducts as the line cuts into the mountains of Central Otago.
Next we headed towards Milford Sound (rated #1 attraction in NZ) a beautiful conservation area, with the most breathtaking scenery, as the road on route winds along the river with snow capped mountains on either side. When we arrived at Milford we went out on a boat to experience the sheer scale of the place. The boat also took us under a couple of waterfalls for a quick shower, amazing, shame I did not think about my non waterproof shoes and trousers! I spent the next hour trying to dry off!
So onto Queenstown for some Ski action 
I had been looking forward to this part of the trip for some time and I have to say I was not disappointed. Although a lot of the runs were closed we both managed to get 3 days of good skiing in and also met some really cool people (that came to Chloe’s rescue as she fell for the umpteenth time!) We even managed to play a round of the craziest golf I have ever played, every hole had moving pieces from a very impressive ski lift to a thunderbird style rocket that took off… CRAZY!
Chloe Writes: Before we landed in Dunedin, the Oamaru region was a must see, as it is home to some of NZ’s biggest mainland blue penguin colonies. At around 5pm you can witness a handful of the 400 plus penguins come in from a days fishing in the southern ocean. The little penguins leave at around 5am and come back to their little homes (often with their partners waiting for them and calling them from the rocks or outside their nests), having covered around 70k. The next morning at 7am we went to another beach around the corner to watch the rare yellow-eyed penguins make the short journey into the sea to start their day of fishing.
While in Dunedin, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to walk (or should I say climb) up to Baldwin Street, reputed to be the world’s steepest. And pay a visit to the Royal Albatross center, to learn about these huge birds with an average wing span 3.3 meters. Unfortunately they were all out fishing but we did manage to get a rare glimpse of a mother coming into land to feed her giant chick. From Dunedin we moved on to Te Anau to see some glow worms in their cave environment. One of the shortest experiences of our trip so far but unique and interesting none-the -less, they reminded me of the glow in the dark stars and planets you put on your bedroom ceiling as a kid.
The Milford Sound scenery was spectacular, although I didn’t quite fancy standing directly under the waterfall as it was freezing cold out and I was wearing Jeans. Although a boasted experience of a lifetime, I was happy to sit this one out. We did meet an English couple on the boat and spent a night in the pub watching the Rugby (Ireland vs NZ) and playing Ludo, Yup another one of our other games. Queenstown is a really nice place to spend a few days, meet people, ski and enjoy an infamous Ferg burger or two! Skiing was cool although a bit too icy (being the very start of the season), and I spent the first day and a half on my backside only to be rescued by a London couple who helped me find my feet after a nasty fall and gave me a few lessons, although my 4th time skiing, I’m not a natural and was missing a few basic techniques. I finished the skiing on a high (although extremely sore) and will probably invest in some more lessons on my next ski trip. We also got the opportunity to see just how many people you can fit in a camper and a night in on the beer with 5 other people worked quite nicely.
Page Gallery
Birds on Jetty…lots of them
Some of the Penguins have to cross to road to get home at night… cute!
For those who like geography.. some interesting facts!
View from the top of Baldwin St
Kea, native bird of NZ
The road to Milford
Waterfall
Watetfall & a boat
Pete after standing under a waterfall
Mirror lake
On the slopes
Mini Golf
7 in the van!
Tags: New Zealand
