MILFORD SOUND/ NUGGET POINT / DUNEDIN

Milford Sound

As fate would have it, luck has once again deserted us and we didn't have the best weather for our excursion. But first, it was a matter of waking up at 5 o'clock, getting ready quickly and having breakfast, and then off to the bus. The journey from Queenstown to Milford Sound takes 5 hours ... one way - so it was a long day. However, the journey there didn't feel that long because we made several small photo stops at various points.

 Upon arriving at Milford Sound, we boarded the ship to see the famous fjord, and unfortunately the bad weather came with the boat tour. So no beautiful panoramic pictures like the ones seen on numerous postcards. It's the postcard motif here in New Zealand, but unfortunately we were not granted the opportunity to take such a photo.

 As a result, the whole excursion turned out to be rather unspectacular. Highlights included dolphins, sea lions, and a penguin that we were able to see on the tour, but overall, I had expected much more from it. Well, what's a 10-hour bus ride anyway... We are exhausted now, we will just go and have something to eat and go to bed, hopefully to be fit again for the journey tomorrow.

Nugget Point

Today we continued on our journey, we have to stick to our schedule after all. When planning our trip, I came across a photo of Nugget Point on the internet, so it was clear to me - I have to go there! So we slightly adjusted our route so that I could see this viewpoint today. You can imagine how excited I was that today finally came! I had good hopes throughout the whole car ride, after all, the sun was shining... today must be my lucky day! But as soon as we arrived, the rain clouds appeared ?!

Boy, was I shocked! And the worst part was, as soon as we walked back to the car, the sun came out again. So we played along and went back to the viewpoint to take more photos in the sun... For comparison, I'm showing a before and after picture - and as you can see, it was worth it!

We then continued directly to Dunedin, where we will spend the next two nights. Today we didn't have much energy left, so we only went to the tourist information briefly and then went to the campsite. While having dinner in the camp kitchen, we accidentally ran into an old friend of Jozy's - well, that just shows again that the world is definitely small! What a coincidence to meet someone like that on a campsite in the middle of nowhere on the other side of the world.

Dunedin

So today we explored Dunedin. But first, it was time for me to visit the doctor for the first time on this trip! I have a miracle on my foot that had gotten so bad that I could hardly walk anymore, so a visit to the doctor was unavoidable. Those who know me know how much I struggle with that. And then also at the other end of the world - well, what must be done must be done. Thankfully, I found a nice doctor who was very understanding and the procedure wasn't too bad at first, but if it doesn't improve, I'll have to find a new doctor in Picton on Monday (that's where we'll be on Monday). I really hope it doesn't come to that, but unfortunately, I'm already expecting it. After the doctor's visit, we went to the Cadbury chocolate factory (the Milka chocolate of the English/Australians/New Zealanders) and then to the Otago Peninsula.

We visited the only castle in New Zealand, Larnach Castle. Both the castle and the peninsula were truly beautiful! And since the weather wasn't the best again, we definitely made the most of the day. 

Somehow, this trip here in New Zealand seems to be quite exhausting, as we are pretty tired even during the day.