Oamaru to Invercargill

After our blustery night at Mt Cook we decided to treat ourselves to some indoor accommodation in Oamaru.  It was a good choice as the wind continued to blow and the rain to fall.  Oamaru is known for it's penguin colonies and at night we went out to the wharf where we saw a handful of cute little blue penguins come in from their day of hunting.  They came real close and I had an overwhelming urge to pick up and squeeze them, luckily for the penguins there was a fence keeping me and my arms a good two feet away!

After a sound nights rest we spent the day exploring Oamaru's historic town and samlping it's famous cheese before heading south to Dunedin . On the way we stopped to see the Moeraki Boulders, very old,  very round, very big rocks on the beach.  In Dunedin we spent two days wondering through it's museums, exploring the Otago penisuala and sleeping under the shelter of a community halls overhang.  

And further south we go to a small campground run by an 81 year old women and her dog in Taieri Mouth, where we shared a kitchen with three local Kite Surfers who I believe must have some brain damage as despite the bitter cold water got up ealy the next day, put on their soaking wet wetsuites and headed back into the frezzing open ocean...I believe there is a fine line between being adventurous and stupid, in my opinion they crossed it.   

Yesterday we followed the coast to Nugget Point.  The spot is know for it's views which we did enjoy but we were far more entertained by the gail force winds that held us inplace as we leaned into them and threw twigs and grass from high and watched them fly away, we are an easily amused couple.  From there a quick stop to view the unfortumatly named Jack's Blowhole and some waterfalls before setting up camp in the Catlins Conservation Park.  The night was cold and we awoke to rain and the discovery that some large critter (we guess a rat) had found our bread and taken a single bite out of almost every slice, leaving us little food for breakfast.

We have driven our tired, wet and hungry selves to the town of Invercargill and will make the best of a rainy day by soaking in some pools before hitting up a comedy club to end the night.

R   (Pictures to come)