The southisland – our journey
As with Australia, you can follow our journey on the South Island here:
Link to the previous page NZ south island-e
On the way to the east coast, we happened to end up at the Clay Cliffs. To get there, we had to cross a private property for $5. We said we’d see what it was first. Once again it was so overwhelming that we wanted to pay the road toll, but the tin was so full that the money kept coming out and only stayed on top with a great deal of sensitivity, so I thought I’d better take it again before someone else did.
This rock formation was washed out thousands of years ago by water, which then filled the plain in which only a little water still ripples today. It’s crazy what has changed in thousands of years. But no problem, mankind can make really catastrophic changes in just over 2 centuries. -G.)
Then, on the way to Oamaru, our campervan made another belly landing. Too high for a bump and too flat for a hill, it was lying on its belly, the front feet (wheels) were working like crazy, but only churning up the earth. Nothing worked any more. He desperately tried to „gain a foothold“ with the front wheels, the rear wheels were hanging in the air. Gerhard cursed (yes, sometimes he can do that too). And then an angel was on the spot. ( Nodding and grinning „that happens here often“… -G. ) Together we tried with all our might ( yes, even women have them ) but nothing moved. With a reassuring „we’ll get it“ he came with a 4W and a rope and within seconds and a relieving sigh of relief on our part, the camper had solid ground under the 4 wheels again and the rope only broke at the last moment.
Closer to Mt Cook, the plain, which was formed by glacial lakes millions of years ago, is criss-crossed by many veins of water on bouldery ground.
On the way we pass beautiful lakes and rock formations and two dams that try to distribute the „too much“ water in the lakes. -G.)
Oamaru
We reach Oamaru on the east coast in heavy clouds and a cool wind. The town has undergone magnificent development, which can be clearly seen in the grandiose buildings. The town was founded in 1853 and declared a city in 1859. Oamaru developed into an important fishing port and a transport centre for agriculture in the hinterland. The railway connection facilitated the transport of goods. The development of the frozen meat industry for Europe gave the town a major boost. The buildings were constructed from the lime sandstone available in the hinterland. This also gave the town the name „White City“. Due to the abundant support of the cloudy sky, however, the buildings in the pictures tend to be grey. Nevertheless, the city has a special flair and there are still many references to the „better“ times of the city. -G.)
At the end of the town is the place where the blue penguins rise or waddle out of the sea at dusk, after a long and tiring day that begins at dawn. They are the smallest penguins around which a lot of fuss is made, but actually they look more like starving chickens. Well, it was already pretty dark. But they were happy to walk right across our path and that was quite a novelty.
Gerhard was lucky enough to bump into two young teachers we had met in Bali in Oamaru. They were travelling around the islands in the opposite direction and only had rain on the South Island. How lucky we were. Unfortunately we couldn’t meet up as they were already on their way and so were we. But it was a really nice coincidence.
Every time you think you’ve seen everything, stone, rock and mountain formations, something else comes along and we can only marvel. We came to the Boulders on the way to Dunedin. A little sceptical, we walked to the beach and then…..
These huge spherical rocks were apparently formed by rolling down over liquid rock – similar to a snowball rolling down. The ones that have broken apart reveal a completely different rock structure inside.
So – and here it is clear to everyone where football came from… -G.)
We made our way to a gorge, but missed it because we were so enchanted by the incredible landscape on the way there.
Dunedin
Then finally in Dunedin.
It started raining here and never stopped. The sun only came out briefly in the afternoon, my husband immediately set off to take photos and my wife took the opportunity to do some further training: Dunedin was founded in 1838 and became very wealthy thanks to the gold boom. Europeans and Chinese arrived almost simultaneously. You can still see this wealth today in the magnificent buildings from this period and, above all, in the banks, which were always very quick to respond.
A particular highlight is Dunedin’s Flemish-style railway station, which was opened in 1906. A grandiose building that bears witness to the importance of the city at the time. Today, unfortunately, only 2 tourist trains run here a few times a day and, like almost everywhere else, goods trains. …and no effort is spared for a coveted photo opportunity -G.)
At the beginning of the 19th century, it became apparent that many were falling by the wayside, homelessness was on the increase and alcoholism was also on the rise. The various churches joined forces to help these people and to promote prohibition, only the Catholic Church refused, as most of its members were Irish who produced large quantities of whiskey, which the Catholic bishop was also very fond of. They found a 100 litre barrel in his house. On display in the museum. But perhaps there was no more wine available for the mass?
We travelled on to the Otago Peninsula, where the little penguins, sea lions and albatrosses were to be seen again. You are surrounded by mountains on all sides, but the road finds its way until the mountains open up to the sea and give you a view of Otago with a marvellous peninsula that crescents around the sea as if it were a lake.
The wind on the cliffs is so strong that we think it has blown the albatrosses away. The penguins only appear at dusk anyway in exchange for a large sum of money and then rush to their nests. Photography is not allowed (okay, there are probably enough people who don’t know how to switch off the flash and the flashlight storm only pleases STARS). Some sea lions were lying in the sand. The „only“ one was a large colony of seagulls (sea gulls) that were breeding there and kept changing direction when trying to fly into the wind. But it was cute to watch the seagull chicks, which had to watch out not to be blown down the cliffs by the wind. -G.)
And now the rain has arrived here, help. 2 days and 2 nights of pouring rain and cold, cold, cold. 11°, we already had it much colder in Australia. It wasn’t so unpleasant there, it was dry. And the rain continues. The moisture is creeping everywhere. Everything is damp. Now the windows no longer seal, the moisture is leaking from the windows and the beds are wet all over. We leave early to heat up the car, but it doesn’t help much. We absolutely need a power connection to dry the beds. We end up in a small village a bit off the beaten track with a lovely young lady who runs a good restaurant. First she lets us stay for a cheaper price than advertised, then she doesn’t take the money we agreed to pay for using the dryer four times.
At first I thought it was a meaningless place, we extended it so that my husband could devote himself to the internet and photos undisturbed, freed from the urge to explore, and then my wife discovered one of the most wonderful gardens. For a donation (that’s often the case here, sometimes even at RV sites) you were allowed in. I couldn’t get enough of the colours and had trouble tearing myself away.
The mosaic on the wall of the house, which was made from shell halves, was also impressive. In general, there is a lot of beautiful street art here, just like in Australia.
Catlins coast
Then we came to the Catlins Coast with its many breathtaking waterfalls and through rainforest and cloud forest. No more adventurous machete driving, no today on super roads, always up to date or on pre-marked, often well-developed paths even with directional arrows, but always where there is no alternative anyway, but mostly missing at junctions, but so still a little bit of adventure remains.
Each waterfall is a natural spectacle in its own right. The Chasm Waterfall….
the Matai Fall….
the Puraukanui Fall….
…NO, we’re not listing them all, just the most impressive ones for us. -G.)
The hikes through the rainforests to the waterfalls – you don’t want to take your finger off the camera shutter. You’re also constantly waiting for a gnome or other creature to emerge from the undergrowth, for the ancient, gnarled, crooked, hollow, mossy trees to start moving. It’s fairytale-like and every piece of forest is different.
One is dominated by the giant ferns, which sometimes look more like palm trees, then there are the plants hanging from the trees like torn curtains or old, mossy stones lying around.
Then there is this internationally important geological site, where 170 million-year-old petrified tree stumps rise out of the water at low tide. It was our luck that we happened to be there before the tide swallowed everything up again. Not far away there is a piece of forest where exactly the same trees still grow today and this is probably of particular interest to geologists worldwide.
The wood grain and structures are still clearly recognisable. -G.)
And today we were very lucky and my dearest wish came true to see yellow-eyed penguins, which are very rare, and two that were probably breeding. Penguins build their nests on dry land, come there every evening and return to the same place every year to breed.
[ These pictures are from an article about yellow-eyed penguins in Wikipedia.de ]
The next highlight was the Cathedral Caves, which we almost made it to at low tide, we just had to wade through the water a little and balance over rocks. Overwhelming. The two entrances can only be reached from the sea and were formed by water, separated by thousands of years (in 160 million year old Jurassic sandstone) and at some point merged into one cave between ten and a hundred thousand years ago. Two entrances were formed, 40 metres apart. -G.)
The final stop on our tour of the east coast was the lighthouse at Waipapa Point. After a serious shipwreck in which the passenger steamer „TARARUA“ hit a cliff 2 kilometres off the coast and 131 people died, the lighthouse was put into operation in 1884. It is the last wooden lighthouse still in operation today.
Now we head inland and, after a detour to Milford Sound, continue on to the west coast. -G.)
Link zur nächsten Seite nz-south island–westcoast-e