The month my family came to NZ : PART 2

After leaving Te Anau we wanted to head further south before looping back round to Dunedin for New Year. I took them all back to Tuatapere and to the Last Light Lodge where I’d stayed in my tent before; I was partially curious to see what their motel suites were like, partially wanted to revisit the beaches at that south west corner and mostly I wanted to go back to the Last Light Lodge restaurant which was awesome (both times!) The drive down from Te Anau was lovely and the weather was a lot better than it was on my last visit. After checking in we all got back in the car and headed for the Blue Cliffs beach. As I mentioned we ate at the Lodge and we ALL thoroughly enjoyed our meal! :) the Motel suites were very basic, and it kinda felt like we were stepping back into the 70s but the beds were comfy, and the view out the windows were lovely. However the toilets and the showers were outwith the rooms which wasn’t ideal.

After driving pretty much the length of th southerly coast of NZ we headed back towards Owaka for one night.

On the way we stopped at ...

Gemstone Beach
 

Some nice views on the way, with lots of sheep!!!

nugget point lighthouse 

Curio Bay, where we saw the Hectors Dolfins, and Dad totally loved the petrified Forrest! 

The ‘Lodge’ in Owaka was VERY basic, we were all in one room; me and Catriona on the sofa bed and mum and Dad on single beds...haha  this room also had a small kitchen in it and a shower/toilet in what felt like a cupboard. However the shower was a good one... and at least you didn’t have to go outside for the toilet...it was very snug though! proof that we can get along even in close quarters 😂

We did have another great meal... are you spying a theme here yet? Yes we enjoy our food ;) haha... at a place called the Lumberjack. YUMMY!! Luckily it was not for the one night as we headed for Dunedin the next day. 

We had booked an Air BnB in Dunedin for New Years weekend. The place, it turned out, was very central and in easy walking distance (for our family anyway) to all the museums, art galleries and shops. Well done, Fiona! And the place itself was great too... although the door to the room that Catriona and I slept in was wait height... yep... but the ceiling inside the room was normal height Haha. 

We did the Otago Settlers Museum, the Art Gallery - which had an awesome exhibition of the galleries best collections; It was vast and pretty entertaining and inspiring to walk through! We also visited th Botanical Gardens, and the general Museum.

 

 On New Year’s Eve we watched Mama Mia and then went out to a free Street concert to bring in the New Year. That was pretty cool, and although it had been raining all day it cleared up just in time and at midnight we got a brilliant fireworks display. 

 

New Year’s Day we spent the morning out at the Royal Albatross Colony which was spectacular! It’s a huge sea bird with a three meter wingspan and we were lucky enough to see some flying (wow!!) as well as a few nesting. 

 

We then headed back up the road towards Oamaru where we spent most of the day before Driving on to Timaru. Oamaru was mostly closed up still as it was New Year’s Day and many of the shops and galleries were closed till the 3rd of January. This meant that we just headed straight up to Timaru where the motel we stayed in was probably the best motel we’d stayed in so far, great size bedrooms, a decent kitchen living space and a really great shower, something that should never be dismissed! 

The next morning we headed back to Springfield for a few days. We didn’t do much here hit rest, hang out with friends and enjoy BBQs in the sun :) 

   

We also popped into Christchurch one day to explore, do the museum and have a wee walk about he botanical gardens. The weather was a bit rubbish but that didn’t kill our vibe and it was just lovely seeing mum, Dad and Frances having such a ball (they were all in uni/Aberdeen at the same time) and just being totally silly. I couldn’t believe that at this point we were over half way through their visit!! 

Soon we were packing the car again as heading off for our last week of adventures.