Throughout the night, I woke up numerous times to pelting rain and by morning it was still going. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take a “rain day” because we had a schedule to keep. Solemnly we headed down the Southern Route and when we reached our first scenic stop – Waipapa Point, the rain had miraculously stopped. It was a beach where fur seals came to rest, but our expectations were not too high since we had been unlucky to see many animals on our trip. We were pleasantly surprised to see quite a few fur seals, and I had never seen the animal so up close and personal before.

By the next stop, Curio Bay, it was partly sunny.  It was a petrified forest and it was not only interesting for the fossilized wood but also for the many penguins which lived on it.

Right next to Curio Bay was Porpoise Bay, where ironically there weren’t any porpoises but the bay was famous for Hector’s Dolphins which came to play there. They didn’t come to close but we were able to spot their fins occasionally popping out of the water. We did see another seal there to which we got a bit too close, and he chased us away barking. It was pretty scary to see an angry seal.

One angry fur seal

Again ironically, we stopped by a waterfall in Niagara and had lunch there as well. Unfortunately we could not go to the Cathedral cave since it was only opened in low tide and we came by too late. Our last stop was Jake’s Blowhole, and I don’t know who Jake is but I concluded he couldn’t have been very important.

"Niagara Falls"

It was quite a hike to get to the hole through sheep pastures where we had to avoid sheep droppings with every step. The hole was deep but very unspectacular and not worth the hike. I think there would have to be a hurricane, tornado, or tidal wave to make the hole blow the 50 promised meters, and in that weather I wasn’t going to hike to it.

I thought this could be a set for a horror movie.

The scenery was pretty nice and we got a few close-up snaps of sheep, which is a necessity for a NZ tourist. Then we were off to Dunedin.

Awwww

I was startled awake at 6:45 AM by the roaring sound of an engine which had just been turned on. I looked out of the tiny peephole window in our room and to my dismay it was pouring. When we looked at the fjords surrounding us waterfalls had formed in every crevice. The cliffs were pin-striped from the waterfalls. Even though it was too uncomfortable to go out on deck that morning the sight was truly something else as the whole landscape had been painted with bubbling white water. The boat went very near one waterfall and our nature guide filled a container with water so we could drink it. Another benefit of the rain was that there were no sand flies in sight.

Doubtful Sound in Mist

By noon we were back on land out of the waterfall wonderland and were on our way to Milford Sounds just to take the postcard picture and see the Homer Tunnel. It continued to rain and the cliffs along the windy road to Milford was again painted with waterfalls. When we arrived in Milford it wasn’t raining anymore and we went for a walk. We noticed about five various tour companies competing for the busloads of tourists who came to Milford. Seeing this and the constant tour boat traffic on the fjord, we knew we had made the right decision by going on a cruise on the Doubtful Sound because we were the only cruise ship on the fjord. The famous Miter Peak was visible from shore so we took lots of pictures.

Miter Peak

As we drove away from Milford the sky cleared, the waterfalls stopped and all around us the sky opened revealing jagged snow covered peaks, so we had to stop and take lots of pictures along the way was well. Then we headed south to Invercargill so we could do the southern route tomorrow.

Finally Sun

We woke up early and drove to Manapouri from where our Real Journey’s cruise would leave. We were paranoid that our GPS was completely wrong and didn’t know exactly how long it would take us but after a 20 minute drive we arrived two hours early. We sat by the dock playing hearts and rubbing ourselves with insect repellent to fend off the sand flies. We were warned there would be a lot of sand flies in the Sound so we had purchased more. It was sunny when we first arrived at the dock but when it was finally time to leave it was raining.

Beata and I on the boat on the lake

The first part of the journey was crossing Lake Manapouri, where there were spectacular views already. There was a heavy mist lying low in the surrounding and it felt like a landscape from Jurassic Park. Then we had to take a bus to the fjord. (Doubtful Sound isn’t really a sound which is made by rivers but a fjord made by glaciers). I spent the twisty drive flicking sand flies and putting their carcasses into a napkin.

Lake Manapouri

Once on the overnight boat we were disappointed with the size our room which was tiny with 2 of the narrowest sets of bunk beds and a communal showers. At least the communal area which was also the dining room was really nice and all we’d have to do in our room was sleep. They also liked to feed us we got muffins as soon as we boarded, then soup, then dinner and desert and free coffee and tea all day.

Hendrik, Simon, Clementine, and Beata

The fjords were prettier than I thought they would be and were remarkable in the weather we were having. It was cloudy then sunny then rainy; I even saw a rainbow but was not fast enough to get a picture. Apparently the fjords get 6-8 meters of water and it rains 200 days out of a year so we were lucky to get the sun.

Sun!

We were able to see seals ad even got a glimpse of a penguin but they were very shy. Our activities were postponed because of the weather and just as we were supposed to do them again the rain cleared and the sun came out. We could choose between kayaking and going on a boat with a nature guide. I went on the boat which was interesting and I could take lots of nice pictures of the boat and the boys who went kayaking.

Hendrik Kayaking

After our dinner buffet we had a slide show presentation about the native animals of New Zealand. We learned that animals which were brought over were responsible for the extinction of many native animals and even people like the Maori were responsible for the extinction of the Moa. A huge problem in New Zealand are possums which are quick to kill kiwis since they are flightless and can’t escape. Possums are a pest and there are lots of them and carcasses along the road are a common sight, and therefore, they are nicknamed squashums. Possum hair is also very warm, and therefore, the hair is used to make sweaters, hats, ect. People get paid to collect possums and then they are put thorough “possum-pluckers.”

The boat

Then we played Clue until it was bed time. Unfortunately I was stuck with a top bunk, but I ended up sleeping more than I thought I would.

We drove to Te Anau since Simon and Beata wanted to go to the cave there to see glowworms. I wanted to do adventure caving but my plan to go to Greymouth or Waitomo were vetoed. The cave in Te Anau does not have adventure caving at all.  Since Hendrik and I were staying a few days longer than the others we decided to go to Greymouth later instead. While they were off at the caves Hendrik and I found a campsite and relaxed there since Te Anau is a tiny town with nothing to do. After the others joined us again we decided to go play mini golf. We walked to it but no one was attending the stall. There was a number which I called and was told that they were closed. Basically the people working the mini-golf were too lazy to actually work it. I was very disappointed because I love mini golf and it took a while for me to convince the others to actually go with me. So we walked up and down the city about 8 times, which is basically only one block and went into some souvenir stores. I bought an umbrella since mine had been blown apart. Then we went to the only nice pub in the whole town and played pool and got served by a guy with a mullet.  It was so unremarkable that I don’t even have any pictures from this day.

A picture from Queenstown which I love.