Hello from sunny Dunedin!

Here we are again in a place where internet doesn't cost an arm and a leg for 10 minutes - back in "civilisation". Been having a wonderful time on the rest of the west coast then down through the south coast and now heading back up the east coast.

Our travels continue to be breathtaking, it's just incredible to see the diversity of this island and the changes that take place very quickly as we travel. Where have we been since Queenstown..... let me see if I can remember! Well, before we left Q'town we went on a trip called "Shotover Jet" which was basically hurtling through canyons and gorges on the Shotover River at great speed in a jet boat. There were about 12 of us given protective macs (one size fits none!) and a life jacket, then we all got into this very fast, very innovative jet boat that only requires 4 inches of water to operate, and then we zoomed up and down the river. At different times, the "driver" did a 360 degree hand signal and spun us around a high speed, getting us very wet and very exhilarated! They had great attention to detail, as the bars that we held on to were heated. Just as well coz it was freezing when we got sprayed with icy gorge water and were travellign at such high speeds!! It was a fantastic trip and certainly got the adrenaline pumping - lots of squeals and shrieks and laughs.

From Q'town we travelled down to Manapouri and Te Anau, waiting for reasonable weather to travel out to Doubtful Sound. The first day we were booked onto the trip was the first day of the year that it had to be cancelled due to really strong winds! We waited til the next day and were able to go, but the conditions were rather overcast. We were taken over Lake Manapouri in a small boat, then visited a hydro-electrc power station which is situated a long way underground, with a fascinating history to its construction, ecological issues surrounding it etc etc. From there we were driven by small coach over to another boat and then began our journey around Doubtful Sound fiordlands and its various "arms". It was named Doubtful by Captain Cook as he was unsure he'd be able to navigate back out of it! Australia & New Zealand are steeped in Cook and everything to do with him - he's such an important part of their heritage. It's interesting coming from the other end of his journeys and then seeing so many places that he named (many of them with very morose names, like Mosquito Bay, Cape Tribulation, Doubtful Sound etc etc).

Anyway, despite the lack of visibility, the sounds were amazing, very dramatic and pretty. There were many lovely waterfalls and it was a very special place to be. We met some lovely people too, and had a great day - somewhere we both really wanted to see.

We were also very thankful that a couple of people recommended going to a tiny cinema in Te Anau to watch a film of the fiordlands, taken by a local helicopter pilot with two cinematographers from the Lord of the Rings. The helicopter pilot had built the cinema specially to screen it and it's the only place in the world that it's shown publicly! The seats were like armchairs and the film was absolutely incredible, beyond words....so good that we both bought the DVD afterwards.

From there we journeyed down to Invercargill, and onto Bluff, to get the ferry over to Stewart Island for the day. Normally the ferry tends to make people heave at it's such a rough crossing, but we managed to pick the calmest day they'd had in a long long time - result! Stewart Island is very remote, but just to make things even more interesting we then got a water taxi over to Ulva Island, a nature reserve where we were treated to lovely beaches and forest, wildlife in its natural habitat, free from European imports such as rats, bunnies, international flora and fauna etc. It was lovely and peaceful and the birds were so entertaining with their different calls, some of whom were very inquisitive and cheeky!

We then drove on to Curio Bay, part of the Catlins area on the south coast. The drive there was stunning, as sunset approached we had amazing blue skies with pink fluffy clouds, and the air was so still the reflections of the hills was so clear over the beaches, rivers etc...beautiful! We spent a night in Porpoise Bay, where Hectors Dolphins, penguins and others live. The site was very vary basic but the view and location really made up for it. We had hoped to be able to get to church yesterday, but realised we were in the back of beyond so it wouldn't happen!

The next morning we went dolphin & penguin spotting -they must have gone out for the day as we didn't see any :-( actually, it was very windy and that had made them move away from their usual spot. Up the road was an amazing beach, full of fossilised trees from the Jurassic period - incredible to see. As we arrived there we saw a sign for a church service literally next door to the beach, but it was half an hour in by then, so we decided it was too late to go in :-(

Driving on from there, we were praying hard that we wouldn't run out of diesel before we reached the nearest petrol station (they're few and far between in the middle of nowhere!). Thankfully we got there in time (Praise God!) and were also treated to a walk on a beautiful beach in sunny blue conditions (except for the biting sand flies - the only blight on this otherwise perfect island!). We spent some time there, praying and praising God (our own little impromptu service) and then journeyed on.

Next stop was a lovely waterfall, where we bumped into one of the guys we'd met on the Doubtful Sound trip! After a coffee & chat with him it was onto Dunedin, where we stayed last night at a lovely site by the river, just a little out of the city centre.

We only have 5 nights left with our van (thanks for your suggestions for a name) and it's been great having the freedom of moving around so easily. We'll really miss having it, and it's going to be hard leaving New Zealand - there's so much to see and do and I'd love to come back here again soon.

Will try to get some more photos on Flickr soon - but as we've been in this internet cafe 2 hours already it's time to hit the road and get on to our next location....... "we're on the road again, Shrek & Donkey on another whirlwind adventure......"!

Til next time,

Linda (& Penny too) xx