Driving to Invercargill

Driving to Invercargill was an adventure all on it's own. I can't believe we packed so much into one journey! 

We drove along the "Southern Scenic Route": a route that follows the roads hugging the coast of the South Island. There were lots of those little side roads I mentioned in my last post and, trying to be better tourists than we are 90% of the time, we decided to go down a couple of them. 

That's how we ended up arriving to our hostel 4 hours later than we had planned when booking our stay. Little did we know that the less time we spent in Invercargill, the happier we would be. But that's something to talk about in my next post.

For now, it's all about the Moeraki boulders, Dunedin, and Nugget Point. The day we drove down South was so much fun and we both liked Dunedin - it would have be nice to have had a longer visit! 

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The Moeraki boulders were on Koekohe beach, a short drive from Oamaru. To be honest the only reason we stopped was because I wanted us to actually tick off a "must-see" for once. Tom couldn't really care less about them but he likes to keep me happy so he didn't complain too much ("why would I want to see a bunch of rocks?")

It was cold and damp and windy but the rocks were pretty cool. They looked the way I imagine dragon eggs must look. Huge, sturdy, with glowing cracks all around them - the colour of the lines made it look like they were filled with fire. 

The best part about visiting the boulders were the surprises we found when we got there. 

These two guys were in a field just behind the car park. I got as close as I dared (do they spit? I'm sure they're the ones that spit) but I wasn't anywhere near as close as the people trying to pet them. I made Tom leave with me quickly so we could avoid having to witness any kind of disaster. 

BUT it wasn't only Alpacas (Llamas? Who knows?!) that we saw. There were DOLPHINS. 

D O L P H I N S. 

People were wading out into the water to swim with them. We could see them (the dolphins) jumping in and out of the waves, playing and messing around. A completely free dolphin sighting, it was amazing!

Omg okay so I know we went to an incredible country and saw nature doing absolutely outstanding things and can't believe that we were there with our eyes experiencing it all... but visiting Cadbury's World was definitely a Top Ten activity for us. 

We could not have enjoyed ourselves more than we did. We had a bagful of chocolate, a teeny tiny glass of melted chocolate (Tom was the only one who went for seconds in a room full of children), and then these two drinks in the Cadbury Cafe after our tour. They were deeeeeelicious. And this part of the day was hilarious.

Our final stop of the day was Nugget Point. There was a lighthouse and seals and a long-drop toilet, it was a mixed kind of visit. Plus the gravel road out to it was outrageously long and gravelly. I was convinced something would damage the rental car!

I think the name Nugget Point comes from all those rocks sticking up out of the water like nuggets? I know that's glaringly obvious but don't laugh, that seemed to be exactly how New Zealand names things. Does what it says on the tin.