Day 72 – Next stop the South Pole

Awoke feeling really tired this morning. I think being 6′3″ in a bunk bed isn’t conducive to a good nights sleep. Still it was better than I had anticipated from stopping in a dorm.

First errand if the day was to try and get a refund for our kayak trip. We’d booked it through isite, a tourist information centre of sorts, and I expected to be able to get a refund at the one in town. I was surprised to find out that they’re operated as individual units and shocked when asked to go back to Queenstown to get the refund. After making a bit of a fuss I was told to try again the next day in Dunedin as apparently they have better links with the Queenstown office. From what I’ve learnt it virtually always seems to be better booking small activities on location.

Leaving Te Anau we headed towards Dunedin and because we were ahead of schedule in terms of mileage we opted for the Southern Scenic Highway. This route took us past Slope Point, the southern most point on the South Island. It was incredibly windy, to the point where I was leaning a quite an angle to stay upright. Marking the point was sign pointing out the distance to the Equator in one direction and the South Pole in the other. It felt quite apt four our journey. The point, most likely, also marks the furthest away I’ll ever go from England.

The coastal road is littered with scenic spots so we picked off a few that were not too far off the beaten track. The first was Niagara Falls – yes the same name and with reference to the Canadian falls we saw at the start of our trip. The “falls” turned out to be not much more that a small rapid and were named with a weird sense of humour as they bear no reference to the Canadian namesake in any shape or form.

After that humorous disappointment we picked another set of falls, McLennan Falls(check name), just down the road. A short yet pleasant walk from the car park leads you to these modest yet picturesque falls. I said to Tom that I now felt a little waterfalled out but was happy to make these my last ones for a while.

We had wanted to visit a place called Cathedral Caves, we’re suckers for the names, but the sea conditions meant that the access road was closed.

Final stop, Nugget Point,  before Dunedin came after a recommendation from a lady at a petrol station. Access was via long dirt track that followed a stunning bay. Signs in the area boasted scenery, sun and sand on signs and bar the sun it lived up to the hype. The reward for drive in is a lighthouse on a peninsular that provides 270 degree views of the coastline. The Nuggets referred to by its name are huge pieces of sedimentary rock that have, over long periods of geological time, been rotated and pushed to the surface. They look like gold nuggets and the sedimentary layers can be seen running vertically. The area is rich in aquatic plant and sea life but not much was visible in today’s stormy conditions.

The remainder of the road to Dunedin was the best we’ve encountered so far and it wasn’t long before we’d arrived at out hostel. First impressions of this town – cold, so perhaps it does bear some resemblance to Edinburgh after all!

Needing to feed a large hunger from lack of eating today we found a chain restaurant called Lone Star. There my hunger was satisfied with a huge plate of sirloin steak, hmmm. From there we saw the new Guy Ritchie film, Rock n Rolla, in town.

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