Water from above and below

In the morning of March 21st, we were visited again by our duck couple. Everything went well until a dog without a leash came by and its owner couldn't stop it from hunting the ducks in time. Everything turned out fine, but we wonder why the ducks didn't just fly away? After breakfast, we briefly stopped at the playground in front of the camp. Playgrounds are great for fitness training. We need it now because we signed up for Tough Mudder in August. Oh oh...

Our next stop was the city of Dunedin. After restocking our supplies, we briefly stopped at the Chinese Garden.

It looked great from the outside, but the entrance fee scared us off and we continued to the Unity Park Lookout. So we were able to get an overview from above of Dunedin and the river.

Afterwards, we visited Tunnel Beach near Dunedin. You can reach the cliffs above the beach via a relatively steep but short path.

You can see the impressive rock formations not only from above, but also from the beach. There is a tunnel through the rocks that leads from above to the beach. That's probably why it's called Tunnel Beach. The tunnel was probably the highlight of the place, definitely a unique feature.

We only interrupted the following longer car journey for a quick lunch. We even found a nice spot by the lake in Waihola Reserve. We watched children canoeing and a young bird begging loudly for food from numerous tourists.

It was already afternoon, but we still wanted to see Nugget Point Lighthouse. We drove to Kaka Point (whose name amused Kenny a lot) and then to the starting point of the short hike. A 900m long path leads along the cliffs to the lighthouse.

The whole thing reminded us a little bit of the Twelve Apostles in Australia on the Great Ocean Road. Not as crowded, but with sea lions. They even had small pools between the rocks where they could swim relaxed and unaffected by the ocean currents. On the way back, we discovered a strange dark spot in the sea that seemed to be moving and attracted numerous birds. Unfortunately, we didn't have binoculars with us. We were hoping for a while to see a whale, but it didn't move enough. We then concluded with other people that it was probably a seaweed island or a large school of fish. We will probably never find out.

We spent the night once again in a paid campsite because we desperately needed a shower. We found one at Kuramea Caravan Park along with a nice, well-equipped kitchen for $24.

On Friday, after the morning workout at the playground, we went to the Lost Gypsy Gallery. A bus full of odds and games. We spent quite a while there, there was so much to explore. Everything was moving or making sounds. Fascinating.

We then drove to the Florence Hill Lookout and visited the Koropuku Falls. A short hike led us to a small waterfall. We walked through dense forest and literally over sticks and stones. There was also a small stream crossing. On the way back, Krissi managed to save herself from a nasty fall on her tailbone. It was quite muddy and slippery.

Now, moms and grandmas should maybe stop reading. :D In Porpoise Bay, we went into the freezing cold sea. We had read on WikiCamps that it was possible to swim with wild dolphins in this bay, specifically with Hector's dolphins. These are slightly smaller than other dolphins and only found along the coast of New Zealand. When we stood on the beach and actually saw dolphins, we jumped into the water wearing longer clothes as a substitute for a wetsuit, armed with a GoPro. It was soooo cold. Once we reached beyond the breakers, Krissi felt a little uneasy. The dolphins were about the same distance away as the beach. But we swam further out, to the left, to the right, always towards the dolphins. They came very close a few times. It was amazing to see them swimming around us and even hear them breathe. Due to decreasing strength and the cold, we fought our way back through the surf to the beach. That part wasn't fun anymore. We were freezing so much when we came out of the water. Understandably, we had been in the cold sea for about 30 minutes. Nearby was Curio Bay, where we warmed up in the sun and had lunch. We sat in long clothes for a long time while everyone else walked around in shorts.

With renewed energy, we headed to the Waipahatu Falls. We hiked a 6.5 km loop for 3 hours and passed two waterfalls. Sadly, the first one was a bit disappointing after so many stairs.

But the second waterfall was worth the hike. After our morning swim, the hike was quite exhausting and we were relieved when we reached the car again.

Before heading to the camp for the night, we still had a visit to a lighthouse planned. At Waipapa Point Lighthouse, we watched a huge sea lion walking through the meadows for a long time.

We spent the night in Fortrose at Moray Terrace Reserve. A campsite right on the shore of a lake. When we arrived, it was already very crowded. One of the campers even rolled up his awning for us, so we could get a spot right on the beach. Great campsite, if it weren't for a bus with about 10 people stopping in the middle of the night and playing loud music. They made fun of people who complained. Fortunately, the group left after about half an hour. Incredibly disrespectful.

On Saturday, we started by looking for water. This proved to be not so easy in Invercargill. We wasted the whole morning with a few shopping and searching for flashlights. Finally, we made it to our next destination, Monkey Island. Many people were at the beach and in the water. Unfortunately, you could only reach the island by swimming. So we settled for taking a photo of the island and had lunch with a view of it. We actually thought there were monkeys on the island. Only when we arrived did we realize that the island is named that way because of its shape.

Next, we headed north again. In Fjordland National Park, we wanted to get a view from above and chose a hike up a mountain. We had to drive 20 km on a gravel road to reach the starting point of the hike. When we arrived at the parking lot, we saw people scratching themselves all over their bodies. There were tons of sandflies. So we also fought with the biting insects while packing our backpacks. But then we quickly set off because it was already 4pm and the hike to Lake Hauroko Lookout and back would take 3 hours. Luckily, the sandflies left us shortly after the parking lot. We walked along the lake for 15 minutes and then had a steep ascent for 1 hour.

We crossed small streams, climbed over fallen tree trunks, and walked up, up high. The efforts were worth it. The view was incredibly beautiful. We saw Lake Hauroko and the surrounding mountains. After a break with apples, cookies, and many photos, we headed back down. On the way back, we met another German backpacker. He was happily eating light blue berries, which he had heard were edible. He was quite certain... But we didn't try them anyway.

We were a bit exhausted when we arrived at our camp for the next night. It was right next to the Clifden Suspension Bridge. In the river, we even had a "shower". After our hike, we really needed it. The river was super cold, so our bathing excursion was short.

Sunday, March 24th started with a walk across the bridge. We hadn't seen it the evening before.

The highlight of the day was the visit to Clifden Cave. For two hours, we walked, crawled, and climbed through the cave. We saw green glow worms, navigated around ponds and small rivers, of course, got our feet wet, and climbed up a rickety ladder to the daylight at the end.

After a long car ride, we finally arrived at the beautiful and peaceful Frasersbeach in Manapouri. Here we had lunch with a view of the lake.

We even dared to go into the cool water and tested the underwater capability of our GoPro.

Next stop was the tourist town of Te Anau. It is located right next to a lake and we watched a seaplane swimming around. Unfortunately, it didn't take off.

After making the final purchases, we drove towards Milford Sound. Kenny's absolute must-do for New Zealand. By the way, you can only reach the famous fjord through Te Anau and then on a single 120km long road. On the way to our camp, it was already getting dark and we had to dodge a few rabbits on the road. Unfortunately, it also started raining. That would last for the next 1.5 days. Even during the night at Cascade Creek Camp ($26), the rain and wind kept us awake, everything was shaking and loud. We often miss our car from Australia, especially the hassle of setting up the bed in the evening is pretty annoying. But in the rain, it's very practical. We could just sit in the back of our car on the bench and have dinner.

On Monday, it continued to rain and it was even more than less. And on Krissi's birthday. But we were already prepared for it and didn't let it spoil our mood. We set out to cover the remaining kilometers to Milford Sound. The heavy rain had the advantage that numerous waterfalls cascaded down the mountains. Many more than there would normally be on a sunny day. The road to MS leads through a valley from a certain point - surrounded by high mountains on both sides.

We had booked the typical boat tour in the late afternoon. You sail through the fiord and admire the high cliffs on both sides, go to the mouth of the ocean, and back again. For two hours, you also learn some things about the nature and waterfalls on the cliffs. However, we had arrived really early in the morning. To be honest, we thought maybe we could sit in a café or restaurant and pass the time. But MF consists only of a terminal for boat departures, a small airport, and a campground. And it was still pouring rain. So around 11 am, we decided to drive to the camp and check in for the coming night. We were lucky and got the last spot. And that was at 11 am. Crazy, but it was the only campground in the area. So we sat in the lounge until the afternoon, wrote a blog, had pancakes for lunch, and marveled at the crazy weather outside the window.

Then it was finally time for the boat. There were about 10 of us, but the boat could easily accommodate 50 people. Despite the rain, the ride was incredibly impressive and beautiful. It would have been prettier with sunshine, but this way it was somehow mystical and more exciting. And all the rock walls were adorned with numerous small and large waterfalls. Most of them disappear a few hours after the rain stops. Another highlight was that some of the waterfall water never touched the ground but was carried back up by the wind. It all looked so spectacular.

Once we even approached a waterfall and the captain warned that the entire boat would be covered with water. A few others and we were standing on the deck and didn't take the warning too seriously until we were directly in the waterfall. We had to hold on really tight. After the ride, we were both drenched but happy. Even Kenny enjoyed it. He was a little sad at the beginning because he was really looking forward to Milford Sound and had only wished for sunshine for this one day.

Back at the camp, we went straight into the warm shower and put the wet clothes in the dryer. We spent the evening comfortably with wine in the lounge. Here we met a super nice couple from the USA who gave us tips for the rest of our journey.

Unfortunately, the night was quite sleepless. The rain was so loud and with every gust of wind, we feared that our car would tip over, everything was shaking so much. So we were pretty tired the next morning.