Lake Manapouri, Southland

We left Te Anau this morning and travelled to Manapouri, stopping by the lake to take a few photos. The reflection of the snow covered mountains was beautiful, although the cloud was starting to arrive, covering the mountain and obstructing the view.

We then continued to Invercargill, way at the bottom of the South Island. We went to visit my Great Aunty who I hadn't seen for about 20 years. She wasn't home, but her neighbours told me that she was in hospital after falling and cracking her hip. So off we went in search of the hospital, and even though it was outside visiting hours, they allowed us to visit her. She was delighted to see me, and at 95 she was absolutely amazing. She looked no different than the last time I had seen her 20 years ago, and her mind was as sharp as. We spent an hour with her, and I'm so pleased we did.

After leaving Invercargill we took the road to Edendale, which has a huge Fonterra Dairy Factory. It was interesting seeing it, as being Fonterra suppliers and shareholders, we hear a lot about this factory.

From Edendale we headed back to the Coast to The Catlins. Stopping at Curio Bay, we watched the wild sea crashing into the shore, creating the most amazing waves. Along the shoreline was the Petrified Forest, a 180 million year old Jurassic forest - one of only three such accessible fossil forests in the world.

By this time, it was late afternoon, and unfortunately didn't have any spare time to do any of the other walks along the Catlins Coast. We decided to head to Balcutha for the night, stopping at Owaka on the way to have a delicious meal.

It's been a long day, travelling from the West Coast to the East Coast, but it had a lot of highlights. One day when we have more time, we will revisit this area and do all the sightseeing things that we didn't get time to do today.