Timaru to Bluff

This is kind of a catch up post, since I'm about a week behind on writing...

Today is Friday and we are nearing the end of our time in New Zealand, which is hard because I really love it here.  But, we have a few more days to enjoy here, so we are going to make the most of it. I don't think I can wrap up the whole week in one post, so instead I'm going to write about Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, and Bluff. 

We spent last Friday night in Timaru, which is the largest port town in South Canterbury.  As a port town it's  a pretty industrial place, with not much in the way of tourist attractions, but it made a good stopping point for us between Christchurch and Dunedin.  It was about 5:00 p.m. when we arrived in Timaru and after we checked into the holiday park we decided we needed some exercise.  The girl at the reception desk suggested a route for us along Caroline Bay and then up into the main town square.  We set out across some rugby fields to find the path.  It was nearing sunset and so again I found myself running along the Pacific Ocean at sunset.  It was beautiful.  Charles and I were pleasantly surprised to find that there were several stops with workout machines along the route.  So, we stopped to make use of them.  Overall, it was a great run.  That evening we stopped into the grocery on the way home from our run so we could make dinner.  We decided to use the kitchen at the holiday park instead of cooking in Ark II.  We met some girls from a youth rugby team who were playing in a tournament in town.  They were having a Master Chef competition and each room of girls was preparing a different recipe for the coaches to taste.  They were fun to talk to and they taught us a little bit about the youth rugby competitions in New Zealand (unfortunately they didn't win the cooking competition).  We also met a couple from England, who are traveling for a year and have spent the past few months living in Christchurch and traveling around the South Island.  They were on their way to Dunedin the next day for the All Blacks vs. Springboks (South Africa) match. 

The start of our run in Timaru above Caroline Bay

Workout equipment on the walking/running trail in Timaru

Saturday morning we woke up and planned to head to Dunedin.  We didn't plan to go to the game, but figured watching the game in the city would be fun.  Before we set off we were able to skype with Andrew (Charles' brother) and Andy, Caroline, Ellie, and Hall (friends in Atlanta).  It was so fun to talk to them and give them the virtual tour of the campervan.  As we were driving we saw a sign for Moeraki Boulders, not knowing what they were we debated whether it was worth a stop.  We decided it was worth checking out and Charles turned the car around.  We parked and walked down the beach.  Here is some information about the Moeraki Boulders.  They are a unique geologic phenomenon that were discovered first by the Maori and then by the early settlers, to me they look like giant bowling balls washed up at sea. 

Moeraki Boulders

Dunedin was crazy!  There were rugby fans everywhere.  The holiday park was filled to capacity.  We arrived about 2 hours before the game and decided to take the bus into the city and find a pub where we could watch.  Dunedin is a city founded by the Scottish and is full of great architecture.  It is also the home to many of New Zealand's universities and so has a college town feel to it.  We got off the bus at the Octagon, which is the center of the city, built just as it sounds, in an octagon shape.  After some wandering we picked a pub called the Terrace to watch the game.  We walked in looking for a table or booth to sit in, and at the back of the bar we found a huge room with a big screen and stadium seating.  We decided this was definitely the place to watch.  The room quickly filled with people and the game began.  It was interesting to watch an All Blacks game in this environment since the week before we were watching live in the stadium, it's not quite the same level of energy as being there live, but it was fun watching in a crowded bar and it's much warmer. Charles was sitting next to a man named Wayne, who was happy to enlighten us with some of the more intricate rules of the game.  We also chatted with him about our trip and learned that he and his wife are taking a 5 month long trip in a few months.  Wayne is a professor, a practicing general medicine doctor, and an author of a book he is hoping to have published soon - it was really great meeting him and having him share his rugby knowledge with us for the evening.  After the game ended Wayne and his friend Grant were giving us tips on where else we should visit on our trip.  Wayne suggested we visit the Purakaunui Falls on our drive through the Catlins the next day on our way to Invercargill and Bluff.  We thanked them for the travel tips and set out to find dinner and our bus back to the Ark II.

Watching the All Blacks vs. Springboks game at the Terrace in Dunedin

 Sunday morning we went into Dunedin to explore a little more.  We arrived downtown and parked in front of the Presbyterian Church at about 9:45.  Charles and I walked up and noticed that the service was just about to begin, and decided to attend.  The church was beautiful.  Inside we each had a daffodil pinned to our shirts in celebration of spring.  As the service began the minister asked those who were from out of town to say where they were from.  Charles announced we were from Houston.  Another couple in the back said they were from Washington D.C.  We turned and waved.  The service was lovely (a word I have picked up after 3 weeks in New Zealand.)  The congregation was invited for tea and coffee in the community hall, and we happily joined in.  We introduced ourselves to the other American family - Eric and Sabrina and their two boys.  We learned that they are traveling the world for a year with their kids.  After talking to them for a while we realized they also know the Wildmans, who are friends of Charles' that are currently traveling the world with their kids.  Small world!  We exchanged information said our goodbyes and went on to check out the art museum. 

First Presbyterian Church, Dunedin

Dunedin Museum

After exploring Dunedin we set out for Bluff, which is at the very tip of the bottom of the South Island.  Our plan was to drive through the Catlins, hopefully see some penguins, stop at the waterfalls Wayne suggested, and get to Invercargill by dinner time.  We had learned a few days before that because it's breeding time the penguins go out to sea to fish during the day and only return to land in the evenings about 30 minutes after sunset.  So, we knew if we were going to see penguins it would be in the evening near Bluff.  We decided our first stop would be the waterfall.  I programmed it into our GPS and immediately got a warning that our route included some unpaved roads.  I had gotten this warning before and we had encountered a short patch or two of gravel, but nothing truly unpaved.  This time, we had about 4km of unpaved road to get to the waterfall.  We got out of the car and walked down the trail about 10 minutes to the end, where we found the Purakaunui Falls, it was really cool - we were in a rainforest and yet it was freezing.

Purakaunui Falls, Catlins Region

 We left the falls and had to endure more unpaved road.  Once we emerged back onto the main highway this is what we found:

Beautiful Ocean view near where the Pacific and Tasman meet

We were running low on daylight and were determined to make it to Bluff.  So, we drove (well Charles drove) and just as we were approaching Bluff we had this in front of us:

The road to Bluff at sunset

We made it to the top of the lookout point with the last bit of light.  Unfortunately we never saw any penguins, but we enjoyed being the farthest south either of us have ever been.

The top of the lookout in Bluff