New Zealand - Catlins to Fiordlands

We couldn't get any further away from home, unless we started swimming

Paul, with his fiercest 'intrepid explorer' pose

And me, with mine..

We went to Curio Bay, which has a petrified forest.  170 million years ago, heavy rain washed volcanic ash downstream, swamping this forest.  The high silca content turned the trees to stone within months.  No mention of a basilisk anywhere!

Paul was very impressed with it..

Although at dusk, the beach had other visitors

This is the Yellow-Eyed Penguin, which is quite rare and only in this region of the world

Geronimo!

Like all pengiuns, rocks aren't really their medium

So they amused us with their comical walking and climbing

They would get out of the sea, after a hard day's fishing, to feed the chicks in the nest on the cliffside

And to pose for a few pictures...

They're around knee height.

And as you can see by the right fin, are closely monitored

As we left the Catlins, we stopped at McCrackers Viewpoint, where you can look across to the Cameron Mountains up the beach

And where the sea and wind, we quite unforgiving

The river downstream from Lake Manapouri and Te Anau, which is used for hydro electrc power generation

Lake Te Anau, where we stopped for a picnic

And a photo..

It was the start of the Fiordlands, so we were expecting something good..