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36
South Island Trip - Part 1

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We left home on the 22 June and Helen came with us as far as Wellington. As we left Hawks Bay it started to sleet and then snow. It was the heavy kind, which is full of water and turns to sludge as soon as it hits the road.

However the countryside looked pretty and we just hoped we would get through the gorge and to Pat in time for lunch at Palmerston North. No problem! We got there around midday and Pat was delighted to see all three of us. We went and had a lovely lunch with her and then continued to Wellington.

After we delivered Helen to her relatives, we found our new made ballet friends Joanne and her family and had dinner at their home. Next morning we had a look round Khandallah where Fergus used to live and had memories of learning to swim as a youngster. We found one of the houses he had lived in but did not stop. We went and got our ticket to cross the Cook Straight and a had just 30 minutes to look around the immediate town centre. I liked it and I would like to have a bit more time to explore when we are on our way home.
The crossing was fine and we had to leave Mittymotts (Walter Mitty) in the motorhome for the crossing. He simply went to sleep and on our arrival in Picton woke up and was pleased to see us! I would love to do the crossing again when it is calmer and nicer weather. The scenery looked very dramatic in places but I was better off lying down. We arrived in a wet and cold Picton late afternoon. But thankfully no snow what so ever.

Over the next 4 days we made our way along the East Coast and the weather was clear, cold and sunny. We found seals basking in the afternoon son, the sea on the left and the snow capped maintains on the right. Wonderful! We arrived in Riverton and Shirley met us with the key. It was my birthday and Fergus prepared a lovely meal. I received an email from my dad and that made me very happy. My dad had bought a new laptop, managed to learn all about email and now he can contact me easily and whenever he wants to! A wonderful birthday present indeed.
We enjoyed Riverton very much and the coast is stunning. It was just so very cold and we had no real means of heating the crib (Holiday home on the beach). So after two days we retreated to Turbo Snail and then after another two days we moved to a Holiday Park in Invercargill. The work with the teachers went well and I enjoyed working with the young dancers. We got taken out to dinner after the lecture and that was very nice indeed.
We decided to explore the Catlins and we took the coast road out of Invercargill. We found a place called Waipapa a magical beach with a lighthouse and a sign telling us about the sea lions. I just laughed and thought we should be so lucky to find sea lions. We went for a walk and as we hit the beach, sure enough there they were, three sea lions large as life, playing on the beach. We stood in amazement and just watched quietly. The beach was also littered with the most beautiful Paua shells and I started to collect them, wash them in the rock pools and then sort them into the most beautiful. The sun was setting into a cold late afternoon sky and we walked along the beach enjoying the special atmosphere.
On our return, we decided to let Mittymotts out for a little run. He played happily around the motorhome, when I looked up and saw one ton of sea lion coming along the path towards us. Fergus grabbed Mitty and we fled back into the motorhome. After I thought about it, I realised that the sea lion was very polite, sat down on the path, to gave us a chance to get pout of his way. We watched him heave himself past the motorhome and up the nearby sand hill where he was looking for a sheltered spot for the night. He needed to find shelter as the temperature dropped to well below freezing every night. We stayed the night and freedom camped. It was wonderful and we were snugly warm with our centrally heated motorhome!

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