NZ Southland

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Queenstown

Southland

The southeastern part of the South Island is known, accurately, if not imaginatively, as Southland. There are some beautiful beaches and the highlight for us was the yellow-eyed penguins coming ashore on the beach. It was one of the few times I'd seen penguins and the first time in the wild.

(click on any picture for a larger image)

We had stopped at an out-of-the-way cafe for lunch, and met a retired English couple who had come to visit their son who had moved to Riverton to become the town doctor. They recommended both the fish chowder and that we visit this beach hidden around the corner. They were both great recommendations.

The sheep are just everywhere. We were following a walking path to get to the southernmost point in the South Island, and they were all around. The sheep would back away if we got within a few feet, but they ignored us if we were more than 6 or 8 feet from them.

And here we are at the southernmost point.

On the way to the beach where we had our best chance of penguin-spotting, we stopped in this area that was supposed to have a lot of fossils. There were some petrified logs, but if there were any other fossils, we sure didn't find them.

If you look closely, you'll see a yellow-eyed penguin in the bottom right hand corner. Because these penguins are an endangered species (there are only about 3,500 of them), we were kept fairly far away. Fortunately, we had binoculars, so we got a somewhat better view than in the picture. (You can click the picture for a larger image.)

And another shot of the penguins. They were lots of fun to watch.

Up the hill from the penguins, there was a lighthouse. Looking down from the left hand side of the lighthouse, we saw some dophins at play, but they were too far away for any picture taking.

For reasons unknown to us, the New Zealanders have lots of large statues of fruit. It's only a single fruit in many places, but were were lucky enough to stumble on a whole set here in Cromwell.

Back to the Kepler Track On to Queenstown

	We had stopped at an out-of-the-way cafe for lunch, and met a retired English couple who had come to visit their son who had moved to Riverton to become the town doctor. They recommended both the fish chowder and that we visit this beach hidden around the corner. They were both great recommendations.
	The sheep are just everywhere. We were following a walking path to get to the southernmost point in the South Island, and they were all around. The sheep would back away if we got within a few feet, but they ignored us if we were more than 6 or 8 feet from them.
	And here we are at the southernmost point.
	On the way to the beach where we had our best chance of penguin-spotting, we stopped in this area that was supposed to have a lot of fossils. There were some petrified logs, but if there were any other fossils, we sure didn't find them.
	If you look closely, you'll see a yellow-eyed penguin in the bottom right hand corner. Because these penguins are an endangered species (there are only about 3,500 of them), we were kept fairly far away. Fortunately, we had binoculars, so we got a somewhat better view than in the picture. (You can click the picture for a larger image.)
	And another shot of the penguins. They were lots of fun to watch.
	Up the hill from the penguins, there was a lighthouse. Looking down from the left hand side of the lighthouse, we saw some dophins at play, but they were too far away for any picture taking.
	For reasons unknown to us, the New Zealanders have lots of large statues of fruit. It's only a single fruit in many places, but were were lucky enough to stumble on a whole set here in Cromwell.
Back to the Kepler Track	On to Queenstown