From The Catlins to Christchurch (June 30 – July 5)

Once we made the journey back across the Foveaux Strait and crossed Stewart Island off of our ‘Official List Of Things To Do In New Zealand’ checklist, we were off to the Catlins, as Alex and Marie were keen to visit the area. Becky thinks that probably has much to do with their appreciation of remote and untouristed areas. To wit, the guidebooks’ description of the Catlins largely consists of calling it “enigmatic" and leaving it at that.

Look at the smile on this man's face, he couldn't be happier to be in the Catlins. Maybe you should visit us, too.

Driving through the Catlins for a few days, our lucky streak for weather continued and we got some relatively balmy, sunny weather, which was fantastic considering that it was essentially the middle of winter, and it had snowed the week previous in the Catlins. The weather in the area this time around was actually much better than our previous WWOOFing stint in early April, when we stayed through nine days of nearly unceasingly cold, grey, rainy unpleasantness.

He's just sleeping, right?

In our experience, the Catlins really is best when you consider it to be a natural zoo area, where wildlife can be seen (pretty regularly) in its natural habitat. This jaunt through the area definitely had that in spades. We saw heaps of seals and sea lions and even managed to spot two yellow-eyed penguins making their exit from the sea at Nugget Point. With beautiful weather and only two days to spend there, even Andrew and I found ourselves enjoying the Catlins this trip through.

A pair of yellow-eyed penguins - unfortunately our camera battery died just before they started tap-dancing, truly an amazing thing to witness

Making our way further north, we stopped to see the Moeraki Boulders again, and took Alex and Marie, our inveterate nature-loving co-travelers, to see the blue penguins at Oamaru. Unfortunately, with breeding season set to begin very soon, the penguins weren’t very active outside of their nests, so they only saw one lone penguin as they walked home from the penguin center. We had hoped to at least catch the penguins that nested in the garage near our backpackers, but the lady at the desk told us that a few weeks ago a backpacker had accidentally run over one of the little penguins, squishing it. The rest of the penguins then left for safer nesting areas; a tragedy as well as a bummer.

Marie and Becky want to know what the big deal about Moeraki Boulders is

Our last major stop with Alex and Marie was to go to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula near Christchurch. We tried to stop in Waimate for a wallaby pie, as recommended by Lonely Planet, but the guy at the counter seemed surprised that we were looking for one, as they only make them at a few special occasions throughout the year. Bad info: yet another reason to ditch your guidebooks as soon as you’re able to. We stayed in Akaroa for a few days, doing a little hiking and kayaking, and taking in the scenery once more. As a volcanic crater filled in by the sea, it’s unlike any other place I’ve ever been. The place really is magic and we were glad to get back there again.

An unseasonably warm and nice day on the Banks Peninsula

Leaving Akaroa, we made our way to Amberley on July 4, where Kieran and Belinda graciously put us all up for the night and even made us a turkey dinner. It was a delicious corruption of the typical American celebration that was certainly appropriate for the cold Canterbury winter night. We taxied Marie and Alex to the Chch airport the next day for their flight back home (they had about a full day of flying ahead before they got to Connecticut, then they were heading on another flight the very next day to Belgium!), and if you know Becky then you know she was a-blubberin’ as we dropped them off at the terminal. After ~2500 km of driving over to weeks, heaps of great experiences, and thousands (literally) of pictures taken, our whirlwind trip around the South Island came to a close. Whew, I think we need a couple days off now…