Well rain it did. Every day. Lots of it.
Despite that we still managed to get out when things lightened up and even had a couple of hours where we saw the sun! We had rather optimistically booked a week of touring which meant that we stayed in 6 different places, catching up with a few friends along the way. It became a bit tiring packing up every day and Tom soon became fed up of being strapped into his car seat and fair enough too I recon!
First stop was the coast just south of Dunedin for a couple of nights to see Keara. We were put up in her neighbour's very plush sleep-out and the first evening enjoyed our first Hangi that was cooked at another neighbours just down the road. The beaches is this neck of the woods are superb and for a summer beach holiday would be amazing. As it was we got the pram wheels sandy and went for a couple of blustery strolls.
From Ocean View we moved on to the Catlins where we had fond memories from over 3 years ago when we took our first road trip in the van with Phil and Tim. This time we had fewer stops, pretty much heading straight to the Whistling Frog Cafe and units where we were staying. The cafe was welcoming and warm and an early start made the most of the light drizzle as we walked to the McLean Falls before things got worse. A relaxed breakfast followed by a coffe break made for a relaxing morning which we broke up with a wonder along some boardwalk to what the sign said was a good spot for wildlife spotting. I think the fauna was all taking shelter!
From The Catlins we made slow progress west via friends in Edendale and Winton and arrived in Te Anau on Friday in time for lunch. We even saw the sun briefly and pushed the buggy along the first couple of km of the Kepler track, sat on the lake shore and made it back to the car completely dry!
We had splashed out a bit for these 2 nights and were staying in a plush 1 bed cottage which had great views over the distant mountains. The clouds racing by made for an ever changing scene. We thought about driving up to Milford for a cruise as when we went there previously there was nothing but blue sky. In the end though the thought of a 4 hour round trip in the car put us off and so we did little more than relax, it was a holiday after all!
We broke the journey home by stopping in Twizel, where I failed to catch anything from the canals, and made it home on Sunday after a nice lunch stop in Geraldine. Only a few weeks now till our next holiday in the UK. Surely it can't be as wet there?!
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