Milton and the Catlins

After a serious talk last night about our holiday plans, we decided it was time to heed advice and phone ahead. Unfortunately, the mobile that Linda rented in Christchurch (we post it back to them when we finish with it in case you were wondering) couldn't get a signal in Waihola. So, off we drove again . . . until we reached Milton, about 10 minutes down the road. We booked into the first motel that had a vacancy (not the best of ideas as it turned out as it was the town's only Sports Bar, too, and it was a Saturday and the local boyos whoop it up until 4 in the Sunday morning - entertaining but noisy). At least Linda could get a signal there so, after quite a few phone calls, we were able to book hotels at Queenstown and Kaikoura for the two major parts of our tour of the South island.

Since we had the rest of the day to play with, we took off for the Catlins. There's only so much I can say about the ubiquitous New Zealand sheep - there's lots of fields containing lots of 'em. Mostly they stand still; sometimes they get it into their heads to form a line all all trot off to the next field (spooky that: either the farmer's dog is heavily cloaked or disguised as another sheep). Sometimes, just passing a field full of cows or (gasp) even deer is enough to wake the driver from catatonic slumber.

Seriously, the drive around the Catlin coast was beautiful. Since we'd had enough of long hauls yesterday we limited ourselves to a tour of Molyneux Bay and Nugget Point. On the way we passed through Balclutha. As it was a Sunday and there seemed to be a lot of activity on the bridge we stopped for a look. The locals were holding a waterside fair the highlight being a raft race down the Clutha River. The rafts had water cannons and having a good go at one another while being swamped by motor boats and pelted by eggs thrown from the bridge by their loved ones. Great fun!

Molyneax Bay was a stretch of empty sandy beaches reminiscent of South Cornwall back home. Especially because of the colonies of bladder-wrack kelp that appeared to be continually invading the shore. It was all so very Doctor Who-ish that I half expected the Silurians to rise up out of the water at any minute. The hike to the Nugget Point lighthouse was punctuated by the sounds of seals cavorting on the rocks below the causway amongst the swirling of the aforementioned ever-present seaweed in the tidal currents. Andy would love this place as there was also an abundance of birdlife and hides dotted about the cliffs.