January 16th & 17th: Oamaru- Dunedin- Te Anau
We pretty much traced the coastal edge of the whole south island while driving and much of our scenery was either amazing snowy mountains or beautiful untouched beaches like the one below. We had to stop and play in the sand and soak up the sun while Dylan slept in the campervan. It was a brilliant day and a great way to start off our hours drive into Oamaru.
We hadn't quite figured out the campervan heating system, so the first two nights were interesting. Dylan was too cold and had to sleep between us to keep heat in plus he was a little jet lagged. On the third night Dirk finally reset the system and we had glorious heat! It was going to be needed when we hit Milford Sound where is got down to 44 F (7 C).
We were pretty self contained in our little campervan. We had heat, a stove, refrigerator, microwave, toilet, shower, and toaster. We made hamburgers, hot dogs, lots and lots of sandwiches. We even made breakfast Nanacos, yes Nan Tacos, Nanacos. We couldn't find tortillas so we made do with Nan instead.
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| Amazing blue water again! |
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| New Zealand 2012 |
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| No one for miles! |
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| Could have stayed here all day! Should have camped here! |
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| The faithful campervan, went 2500km total on the trip! |
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| Goodbye little paradise |
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| Baby Feeding stop! |
Made it to Dunedin on the fourth day on our way to Te Anau. It was a great town on the coast and I wish we had more time there. We missed the famous penguin colonies in Oamaru as well. They have the tiny blue penguins that come to shore at dusk which is at 9PM in NewZealand. The sun sets at 10PM and Dylan was usually passed out well before so we decided that we must skip the penguins. Next time...
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| Cute Town of Dunedin |
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| Great Presbyterian Church in Dunedin |
Made it to Te Anau, last stop before Milford Sound and it was absolutely beautiful. I wonder how many times I will say that in these posts about New Zealand? Te Anau had Lake Te Anau and the Te Anau Caves that you could see glow worms in. We took our little glow worm with us to the caves but he stayed outside... if he were to cry he could have scared the glow worms??
Te Anau was a great little town, we had dinner by the lake each night from a local fish & chips stand. I can honestly say, it was the best fish & chips I have ever had. The campervan park was right next to the lake as well so we had some great morning shots of the lake. We stayed two nights in Te Anau and really took in all this little town had to offer.
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| Lake Te Anau |
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| Off to see the glow worm caves |
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| Our little glow worm on the boat |
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| This was probably 8PM at night! Crazy huh? |
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| Pictures infront of the lake! |
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On our way to Milford Sound... SHEEP!
There definitely more sheep than people in New Zealand.
Maybe 30 to 1, Sheep to people... maybe more? |
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| We saw a rainbow on our way out of Te Anau... must be a good sign! |
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| On our way into the moutains! |
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| The clouds took on a life of their own in the mountains. |
