NZ1 Christchurch, Mt. Cook, Kinloch, Catlins: Days 156-161

We flew to Christchurch and spent a day wandering around the city. We also had the opportunity to meet up with our friend Gill, whom we met while travelling in Egypt.

Christchurch Cathedral

We spent some time walking along the river that runs through town.

And walked through the botanical gardens.

We visited the art museum. 

Another view of the museum.

Next we picked up our sleepervan and headed to Mount Cook.

View of Mount Cook.

Walking path near our campsite. The swinging bridge had a lot of swing to it and the water was really moving.

Our campground at Mount Cook. The NZ Department of Conservation has some really nice campgrounds.

Mount Cook area.

We drove along a beautiful river, The Roaring Meg. You can't really tell in the picture but the water was a brilliant blue.

We drove to Queenstown and camped a little outside of town at Moke Lake.

Red rocks near Moke Lake

The mountains around Moke Lake.

Next we headed to Kinlock and camped on a lake.

There are sheep everywhere!

 

Next we headed to the southern part of the east coast and camped at Purakaunui Bay.

View from a trail at the bay.

 

Another view of the bay.

The next day we went hiking in the Catlins and saw some great waterfalls.

The forest is full of giant ferns.

It was rainning so we thought we'd do a cave trail. Unfortunately the cave was small and the hike to the cave was largely on the beach. We were soaked by the time we got back to the car. We spent the night in Invercargill.

Next we are heading to the Milford Sound. On our drive there we had to stop for a sheep crossing.