NZ Part two: Mt Cook to Invercargill

Mt Cook to Dunedin

Our next stop was Lake Pukaki .. the best view of Mt Cook in the back. aahhhh soooo big and blue and the mountains behind!

and then to Mount Cook Village close to glacieres and high peaks. and what a scenery! even if you are used to mountains, this here is so much bigger (but not higher).

arriving with an empty tank and the petrol station was broken.,..

A summerly hot hike to the first glacier lake there and on the next day to another one (did a 2 hours walk including a Moraenen-climb cause we missed the 20 min. viewopint way)

like in Europe the glaciers are melting rapidly (now> 27 km. 2020> supposed to be only 23 km) and they were just grey with rocks on top and are quite far away from the viewpiont. but still the ice at the end of the lake is 30 to 50 m high! must be great to go there by boat or kayak!

after a nice coffee and cake break in the Alpine Style Mountaineers Lodge we got our petrol with the help of John Justice from the hotel there and had to leave this wonderful place and wather too earlly, as far as I am concernede. and poor Bernd had to stop again, and again, for another look back and one more picture ;)


We drove southeast to the coast again, passing beautiful lakes and leaving the sun behind :( (my heart was still there.... but: dont regret decisions!....)
we spent the night and the next morning in the surprisingly nice city of Oamaru at the east coast. another nice cafe, lots of old buildings, the old market with old handicrafts, museums, galleries, arts and other shops and a farmers food market where we got some dark bread, made by a dutch baker, but it is nothnig compared to KOTZBECK bread! but still, it was better than the usual choice of very soft toast slices you get in the supermarkets.



and on we went south along the shore , to the Moeraki Boulders,

and soon the sun came out ;), towards Dunedin, a scottish foundation and university city with lots of young folks, and to the aaahhhh and ooohhhhh Otago peninsula.
albatros, penguins and seals live there, but we only saw a seal which came out of the water to pose just for us, scratch himself with pleasure and rub his fur drey in the grass...

the landscape on the peninsual is gorgeous, I really loved the scenery (thats wyh I fogot my jacket at the viewpoint and we had to go again in the late evening sun hihi)
along the shore through the village of Portobello (yes! only the villas are made of wood instead of  brick) and on the other side hills and steep roads with sheep and windschiefen pine trees and bay views...

I think B. is sometimes really fed up with me cause I want so many foto stops but he is a patient guy :)

Our evening with street musicians and a beer in Dunedin was a nice finish for this nice day! we stayed on a private property for the night for free, nice people!

Dunedin to Invercargill
The next day brought as further down south after a sunny breakfast by the beach, along the coast through the "Catlins", a remote part with just a few houses and villages. nice beaches, lots of thick forest, dry grass and beautiful views again. as we made a stop in a mini village we found a"curiosity theatre". a guy lives there in an old bus and invents the most incredible and funny moving things, made of old stuff and electric parts. would be a great physics teaching place!
you can push the button or move a wheel and something will move or light up or sound or jus "happen". great! creativity just for fun and he can even live on it and he was in some papers already!
checkout http://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/television/236636/lost-world-found-catlins or pictures of "Blair Somerville"!

We drove on to the most southern city on the south island, Invercargill (80 ha of botanical garden!!), where we just dropped off a young  french hitchhiker and took a few pictures as we wanted to find a campsite before it was dark. and we found one! just for us, on the beach, evening sun!