Invercargill: 1 November / Fiordland National Park: 2-3 November

A bright and early 6 AM bus pickup time to start my three-day tour. We drove straight to the town Bluff to let people off who wanted to go to Stewart Island. I decided not to do this because the ferry ticket was wicked pricey. We then went to the most southern point of the South Island. It is cool to say that I have been to the tip of the North Island and the bottom of the South Island!

A view of Stewart Island from across the southern point.
Love the lighthouse! 

We then backtracked a bit to Invercargill. Invercargill is a bust. There is nothing to do there. It was Monday and they show the last movie at the cinema at six. So our tour guide decided for us to go to The Caitlins. This is actually a huge conservation park so we just went to the most southern point called Waipapa Point. We went here to go search for sea lions….and we found some!

We walked to rocks for a bit and found some star fish, a Paua, and plenty of kelp.

That night was a very relaxing night at the hostel.

The next morning we started our way to Fiordland National Park. What a beautiful drive it was!  Since it was a tour bus, we stop at plenty of places to stop and take pictures.

I try to be an artistic photographer. :)

That night we stayed at a place called Gunn’s Camp. This was an actually camp back in the 1930’s and it hasn’t changed much since then.

Going old-school.

It was a lot of fun though!! There was this big tree near by that was hollow and you could climb up it and out of the top of it! I was the first one up and out to the top! That night the bus driver made us all “Bangers and mash” a.k.a sausages and mashed potatoes. The sausages here are NOTHING like they are compared to at home. All of the Germans I talk to feel the same way too! :P After dinner it was another relaxing night with some card games, a puzzle, and chatting around a campfire. Since this place is stuck in a time warp the generator that runs the whole place shuts off at 10:30. WOW, the stars amazing out here. Quite the sight. I even woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and with no campfire light or noise the stars were even more stunning! There was a nice stream near by to add to the ambience. ;)

The next morning it was off the NZ’s largest tourist destination, Milford Sound. The drive there is known as one of the most beautiful in the world, and I would have to agree!

Can you find me?

Then we finally got to Milford Sound and immediately boarded a ferry to go get a tour of it! Milford is actually a Fiord but the people who discovered it didn’t know that. What is the difference between a Fiord and a Sound you ask? Wellllll, a Sound is made by a river and is usually more V shaped and a Fiord is made by a glacier cutting its way through and is usaully more U shaped! So now you know! :P But it was beautiful!!!

See the elephant lying down? :P

The animals!! 

Bottlenose Dolphin!

Fur Seals!

FIORDLAND CRESTED PENGUINS!!!!!
These guys look real intimidating!

After being overwhelmed with all the cliffs, waterfalls, mountains, wind, and animals, it was time to head back to Queenstown.

We didn’t stop much on the way back and but the drive was still spectacular! We did stop once for a touristy picture moment…

That night in Queenstown I met back up with Feli for dinner. She brought a friend that she met in class from Austria. It was good to see Feli for one last final time!

After chatting each others ears off we parted ways and I went back to relax at the hostel. Then the next morning I caught another bus to head to the west coast! Dunedin here I come!