New Zealand - Catlin's Coast

After our first nights in the campervan, for Nicola the first ever!, where we had to settle in our routine of making the bed, cooking on barbecues and walking to the amenities, we started our trip around the South Island. As the weather forecasts were predicting a serious change in weather, we had decided to make our way clockwise, as this would limit the 'weather damage'. And a weather change it was - from tranquil summer-weather with temperatures around 28C to stormy and rainy autumn weather with maximums around 8C (and a wind-chill that made it feel like freezing).

So our first real distance travelled, along the Inland Scenic Highway, was a lot of 'Inland' and 'Highway', but little 'Scenic' - our vision wasn't any further than 500 meters, with low-hanging clouds. Which meant we had 'fabulous' views of Mt Summer and Mt Hutt and their ski areas, as far as the base of the mountains was concerned - we didn't see any of the peaks.

What we did see, however, was sheep, and loads of them. A well-known statistic, we guess, says that there are 10 sheep for every kiwi (that is, a New Zealand person in this case, if it were the famous bird the ratio would be a lot higher), so with 4 million New Zealanders that adds up to 40 million sheep. You see them everywhere on the West Coast, in their hundreds and thousands. More than once on our travels we got stuck behind a flock of sheep, had to circumnavigate free roaming sheep and even ended up, involuntarily, herding five loose sheep from our van.

With the weather turning colder, weather and windier by the hour, we made our way to the Catlin's Coast. These conditions are not so good for sunbathing, but great to watch the abundant and unique wildlife for which New Zealand is renown. But not before we had bought some new hardcore thermal clothing (as with good foresight we had just shipped everything warm home)- windchill temperatures were now dropping below zero.

In a few days, we saw royal albatrosses (massive seabirds with a wing-span of 3 meters plus that can travel 1,000 kilometers per day at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, that fly around the antarctic several times per year), yellow-eyed penguins (apparently very rare species, that are moulting at this period of the year, so are standing ashore like tin soldiers sheltered by bushes, during which period they loose approximately 30% of their body weight), blue-eyed penguins, fur seals, sea lions and the unfortunately named 'pied shag', which we leave to every body's own interpretation.
The benefit of the weather was that these are the conditions most sea animals prefer, so the 'spotting' was good. We were glad, however, that we had our new thermal wear to keep us warm.....

With every mile from Christchurch, the landscape became more rugged and empty. Villages indicated on map or roadsigns as seemingly significant settlements have less than a few hundred inhabitants (notable exception Oamara - a lovely coastal town that seems to have stepped out of a 19th century English picture book). This makes for little in terms of restaurants, bars, etc. but for great landscapes, with intermittently cliffs, rocky outcrops, native forests, waterfalls, rolling hills, petrified forests, blowholes and strange boulders at Moeraki, dishing up breathtaking views. Every mile there's a photo opportunity, so be prepared for when we get home!

After travelling along the coast for a few days, we made it to Invercargill, New Zealand's most southern city of any significance. By this time, the weather was clearing up, the winds from the Antarctic giving way for more moderate conditions. Uplifted by this change in weather (three days of wind and rain is enough) we started our trip to the Southern Alps, as the name indicates an alpine area, where lakes and mountains create mesmerising views......