11.02.2020 Otago and McKenzie Country - beautiful..

After a wet day in Dunedin we left the following morning in sunshine again. The clouds were hanging over the water and weather it was the estuary or the ocean the shrouding mists made the scenery even more stunning. We stopped at Moeraki Harbour where the silence was perfect and the fishing boats bobbing about in the mist. The only thing we could hear was the lapping of the waves on the shore - bliss.. It was too early for lunch but the "Fishwife" restaurant looked very interesting.

The mist didn't lift as we headed into the next bay to see the much photographed Moeraki Boulders. Like huge marbles on the shoreline -when they break up there are fabulous amber shades on the inside. With the distant headland shrouded in mist I felt like I could almost be in "Avalon" - too much Merlin and King Arthur when I was a youngster!!!

Our next stop on the coast and our overnight stop was Oamaru, home to a colony of Blue Penguins, the largest gathering of cormorants in the world, a sleepy seal and a Victorian Quarter. With street names like Humber Street, Tyne Street, Tees Street, Ouse Street and Weir street it seems like a lot of the earlier settlers here came from the North East of the UK. What was once a very busy port exporting wool and grain is now a quiet waterfront where the birds come to rest and the old buildings have been converted to galleries, vintage shops, cafes, and souvenir shops. We went down to the wharf in the evening and were absolutely stunned by the number of cormorants on the pier and sitting on the pebbled beach. It really is difficult to make them out on the photographs there were so many of them. Lots of people with cameras about but that didn't seem to bother the old fur seal who was quietly snoozing on the footpath.. Sadly we didn't get to see many of the penguins returning to the colony in the evening but I am sure there were plenty mixed up with the other birds on the pier.. Someone did say that it looked like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie...

The next morning we headed inland from the coast into McKenzie County. It is like driving into a painting. The clouds move quickly. you can stop to take a photograph and just a couple of minutes later you have a completely different image. The weather changed quickly too and we had some major downpours along the way but that did nothing to detract from the beauty all around us as we drove down a wide valley with rolling hills and soaring mountain as well as emerald lakes along the way and then when you think you must have seen it all you come to Lake Pukaki with a backdrop of Mount Cook. I am not kidding when I say it absolutely took my breath away. I've travelled to many places in my life but I have never ever seen anything like this...

What can I say - today New Zealand has shown us it's absolute best. We headed on to Lake Tekapo where we have been for the last couple of days. Sadly our trip to the Dark Sky Observatory didn't happen as it was very cloudy and raining late at night. Tonight there is hardly a cloud in the sky - but the views from the deck into the night sky are fantastic - guess I'll just have to come back again to do the observatory trip!!!

Lake Tekapo is equally beautiful in it's own way - the mountains surrounding it are softer but the colour of the water is the same wonderful turquoise colour and the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd is perched right on it's banks with a stunning view from the window behind the altar - no stained glass here - just natural beauty.

On the road again tomorrow to Christchurch and our last five days. Hard to believe it's coming to an end..