Am I sitting in a tin can, far above the world....

We left Queenstown and headed down south which promised different scenery and sightings of sea life. The  last big town on the West coast is Invercargill, where we arrived  & headed straight to the tourist information (i-site) to pick up a map,  grab some free wifi & get some recommendations. We walked around the big park & gardens then visited the museum but for some reason they had the air con on max – quite unnecessary Given that the temperature was decidedly chilly. Perhaps it was to preserve the fossils & bones but it wasn't doing much good for our bones so we virtually ran  around the place before heading outside to warm up. I-site had recommended we visit a few places in town – one of which was the sheep cheese factory where we could sample the goods. Free cheese? We were there! Only they didn't have any. A whole factory of cheese,  whole cool cabinets of cheese, but the lady in the shop couldn't find her tray of cheese samples so we didn't get any. I will bear a grudge forever more against the blue cheese factory In Invercargill.  Another place recommended was also food related – the delightfully named “fat b**t**d pies”. Both Australia and NZ are very partial to a pie. I'm not but we hadn't eaten breakfast, so gave it a go. It was indeed fat and certainly made me feel that way, when I was gorging on it, before I admitted defeat. I think my pie eating days are over. 

We drove around Town but not much else caught our eye so we got back on SH1 & headed to the Catlin scenic route. The route takes you along the Bottom of the South Island where there is really only one road - a bit like Norfolk - so to get to the beaches & inlets we had to drive along  some very bumpy & dirty unmade tracks. It was worth it though. At a place called Otara  a dozen or so people were gathered in the sand dunes, watching a lone sea lion bobbing about in the sea. We watched for a bit but then walked off along the beach for some distance. When we returned everyone had gone so we sat on the dunes,  as the sea lion reappeared coming out of the sea & rolling on the sand. It was lovely to watch. I was amazed how fast they can move as it started climbing the sand dunes next to us. I was so amazed in fact I forgot to get out of the way & suddenly it was there in front of me, right in front of me & let me tell you they are very very big! Mr L shouted at me to move which I v quickly did & for a few moments it started to follow us before heading into the dunes. As we walked back to the car park we stopped to tell others  & to point out where the sea lion was, only to discover we had met the most miserable man ever! We didn't let it spoil our moment though & (randomly) started shouting ‘sea lion’ all the way back to the car to amuse ourselves . Our next stop was Slope Point, the southern most point of the South Island – just 4800km from the South Pole (no wonder it's so cold). Mr L checked his GPS map which told us we were 19060km from London. That made us feel a very very long way from home. 

We continued stopping off at different viewing points, spotting birds & sea lions, walking along trails & through forest areas for the next the few days.  Athough we have been very lucky not to experience the weather the North Island has, the temperature had dropped significantly & the wet weather was pretty relentless which was hard going during the day and at night made it hard to sleep as you can hear each drop that hits the roof of the van. As my friend A pointed out, ‘you are sleeping in a tin can’ & she's right. So when we got to a town called Oamaru,  we pulled off the road & checked ourselves into a motel for a few nights, to dry out, warm up & catch up on some sleep. After all, this isn't meant to be an endurance test.