On this rainy day we left Stewart Island over the rough Foveaux Strait to Bluff, picked up the car, drove through the Catlins to Dunedin!

Last night we went on a 4 hours expedition, 35 minutes by boat to Adventure Cove, landing with a dhingi, then 30 minutes through muddy bush to a secret beach where we spotted… Kiwi!!!
Hiding in the shadow of our torch we could have watched forever, but the tide was coming in rather quickly. Some of the group made intense contact with the ground! 🙂
No pics, it was too dark and the DOC forbids flashlights, which is a good thing.

Just 5 minutes west from Stewart Island is Ulva Island – a bird paradise. No rats, no weeds on it! You can find Wekas, Saddlebacks, Robins, Tuis, Kakas, Yellowheads and many more.

We just woke up on this island where we’ve won the Trivia Quiz last night (we’ve been in a group with Bridget, Eamon, Francois and his friend), quiz master wad famous Vicky! So if you’re here on a Sunday night, be at the South Sea Hotel bar at 18:30, it is gteat fun!

Today we drove down from Te Anau via Clifden (where this suspension bridge was built in 1899) to Bluff, where we are currently waiting for the ferry to Stewart Island – probably the southernmost point where I’ll ever be!

The last 24 hours we spent on the Fiordland Navigator on Doubtful Sound, the second largest fiord (it’s no sound) in NZ. Yesterday it was really windy, you had to secure your cameras, but in the evening they found a nice spot for kayaking. Dinner was delicious and I had a great night aboard. This morning it was raining since 2am, so we saw hundreds of waterfalls coming down the mountains!

Today the glaciers were not hidden in clouds, we had some good views of Fox, then some nice waterfalls on Haast pass, Lake Hawea, had the greatest afternoon coffee ever in historic Cardrona Saloon in the Crown Range! Great friendly people, nice garden – ever had a latte with a fern on top? Finally we arrived in Queenstown!

Here are the promised pictures!

Today we had a scenic drive from Able Tasman through Buller Gorge to Westport with its dramatic Cape Faulwind! Later we went down to Punakaiki (pictures hopefully tomorrow, forgot to take them on the iPhone), where we are staying at the Punakaiki Resort with a view to the Tasman Sea from our room. No cellphone reception within 35km, but wireless internet! I love satellites.

Today we took a water taxi from Marahau to Anchorage within the Able Tasman National Park. After jumping out of the boat we walked across the white sand beach and went on to Cleopatra’s Pool. Due to lots of rain in the night before we could not cross the river to reach it, but the track itself was beautiful. Then we hiked back to Marahau for about 5 hours.