Clyde

We have now left Gore after our 6 weeks stint. Roger is feeling slightly under the weather as trying to shake off a cold, but we really enjoyed our time in Gore. Here are a few photos of Dolamore Park near Gore that we visited last weekend.

We are now in Clyde at the start of the Central Otago Rail Trail. We will be starting tomorrow to cycle 150 Km over 4 days through central Otago to end up in Middlemore.

Doubtful sound, Lake Manapouri & the Wilmot Pass

We are now back in our accomodation in Gore but this weekend we took an overnight trip to Doubtful Sound, one of the most remote and unspoilt parts of New Zealand. The trip involved a drive to Manapouri, a ferry ride accross Lake Manapouri, a coach trip accross the Wilmot Pass, then an overnight stay in the Fijordland Navigator.

We left Gore in a snow storm and conditions didnt really improve until we got to Doubtful Sound. There was a thick covering of snow over the Wilmott Pass, which made for some beautiful scenes. Doubtful Sound is truly awe inspiring with steep sided rain forests multiple waterfalls and hundreds of islands all uninhabited and much unexplored. Going out in tender we saw Weka, a pied shag and oyster catchers.

After a comfortable night in a sheltered cove we woke to a very rainy misty day which only added to the atmospheric scenery.

Kelso -Otago

Today we visited Kelso an old abandoned settlement in Otago half an hour north of Gore. The small township was flooded several times and was eventually abandoned in 1980. There is a monument showing the height of the floods and information about the settlement. We visited the local museum in Tapanui where we were able to find more information about the floods, but also found photographs of Kelso Scotland from the 1940's with some pictures of Lindsay's family.

The Catlins

Today we took a trip down to The Catlins in the South East Corner of the South Island. At Nugget Point there is a impresive headland with a lighthouse and a myriad of rocks offshore. At Cannibal bay we took a stroll along the beach, before driving to the Purakaunui Falls reached through a lush forest walk.

Earlier in the week we had some stunning sunsets viewed from our accomodation in Gore.

Invercargill and Bluff

Our first weekend in Gore and we took a drive down to Invercargill and Bluff. Invercargill is the southern most city of New Zealand and the center of a large dairy industry. Didnt manage to find anything too exciting to do there so we made our way to Bluff which is one of the most southerly points of the South Island. We had lunch in a cafe overlooking the Foveaux Straight with views towards Stewart Island.

Gore

We have arrived in Gore which will be our base for the next six weeks. Roger starts work in Gore Medical Centre tomorrow morning. Today we travelled down through Otago form Wanaka through Queenstown to Southland. We have been housed in a very comfortable first floor two bedroomed flat with all mod cons including WiFi; yipee!! and Sky! The only downside so far sees to be that the supermarkets dont sell wine so we will have to source a liquor store, apparently a local law prohibits alcohol from supermarkets. Gore is promoted as the brown trout capital of the world so Lindsay ishoping to ressurect her fishing career.

Fox Glacier, Hass Pass and Wanaka

We are on the move again travelling down to the south, heading for Gore. We stopped off last night at Fox Glacier and tonight we are back in Wanaka. En route we had lunch at the Hass Pass, incidentally the gates of Hass are bounded by Stewart Knob and Lindsay point! Once again we have been blessed with fantastic warm spring weather. There's still lots of snow on the mountains around Wanaka and lake Wanaka looking stunning in the sunshine.