Couchsurfing is a great invention for travellers to get in touch with true locals.
I took this opportunity and was rewarded with some adventurous days.
After a ride through the wunderfully beautiful Catlins and some ravel road, I arrived at the house and was greeted most warmly. Tina, who I partway (in New Zealand you always say goodbye ‘partway’) said goodbye to in Queenstown, and a very nice French girl were guests there as well. 🙂
Steve, our lovely host, practically supplied us with the all of his house. Even supper was being shared.
So, amongst other things, one night we made hamburgers. But Steve, a farm manager, hunter and all, knew better than to buy mince from the store.
We ended up having deer for patties. (Venison. It’s deer, my dear. -Steve)
And it was mouth-watering!
This was not the only special experience by a long shot. Next to good meals, delightful talks and a warm atmosphere we had much to discover.
Buckle up, there’s a lot of pictures this time! 😉
Did I succeed in taking a ‘dramatic’ photograph?
See here Steve’s answer to Garfield. Stripey is so fat, he can lay on his back all relaxed! 😀
One night our calm gathering was interrupted by a loud squeal and Steve went looking for the reason of the commotion. It was nothing less than a young bunny that fell prey to the food chain in form of ‘cat’.
You might just imagine the reaction of the girls, but to save such sweet animal didn’t leave any hearts cool…
Scared to the bone and obviously wounded, there was not much hope to put into this little bunny.
We took good care and fed and bedded the poor creature. But in the morning, all life had left him.
After we finished mourning baby-bunny, Steve took us on a tour through the Catlins. It is the ultimate, to have a local for a travel guide. This tour I documented via photos, of course thinking only about you. 😉
Curio Bay.
The remains of the petrified forest in that place. A small riddle: Where else have I seen petrified wood? 😉
Funny underwater plants…
Not-so-funny surf.
All the way through the Catlins, there is one attraction after the other on the side of the road. We made, just as good tourists would do, rest at the Niagara Falls. Yes, they exist in another place, too. In New Zealand. New-Zealand-like… 😀
My legs are still shaking because of the view unfolding! 😀
Another spectacular stop we had in Jack’s Bay. There we saw a sea lion. But when it goes ‘RRrraA!’, you better increase distance…
Somewhat cuter this little boy was in appearence…
In New Zealand you see many of these odd shops. But one that specialises in teapots…
Penguins come to the shore by the late hours only. That’s why we went to Nugget Point after a short stop-over ‘at home’…
And again, one of those curiously attractive buildings…
Those are the nuggets, by the way.
Eye-catching stacked shapes…
Then we began to lie on lookout. Without Steve we might have never found this spot…
We had plenty of time and didn’t know when the penguins would arrive, so I tended to the surf again…
The Crab with the Grey-ish Claws.
After a time, a penguin finally emerged from the sea. These penguins are there rarest kind on earth and I had never seen one in the wild, so this was very exciting. At this point warm regards to Frauke. 😉
Praise the zoom!
He got closer and closer, reluctant of whether it was safe. Penguins can hardly defend themselves and are overly cautious because of that…
Who can spot the penguin?
So that was the big day when we saw the Yellow-Eyed-Penguin! Sadly he was all alone, BUT STILL! 🙂
That is what Couchsurfing looks like! For that one night two Canadian girls came visiting.
One other night, we went by ourselves to see Jack’s Blowhole. No, not Jack Sparrow! 😀
It was named after the tribe leader ‘Bloody Jack’, who was being chased and swam all across the bay.
A HUGE hole in the ground. Nothing more, nothing less!
My thermos. My thermos. My tea!
Just a few words on my current situation, we wouldn’t want to differ from the timeline. 😉
I have arrived in Dunedin and look for a job in electronics on more hope. Because the students are on their semester break, finding a flat will be easier…
Dunedin for sure is a wonderful, old city. I like it here.
