MONDAY, 2 MAY 2011 A WALK IN THE RAINFOREST, WATERFALLS, AND A LIGHTHOUSE

The goal today was to reach Dunedin, with stops along the way to see various places of interest.

The first stop was the Nugget Point lighthouse. It is built atop a stunning cliff with magnificent views all around.

There were four fur seals playing in their "swimming pool" in the rocks against the ocean.

Next stop was McClean  Falls. The 15 minute walk took us through some lush rain forest that was absolutely beautiful.

Next, Tautuku Estuary Boardwalk, which took us out to a salt marsh. We saw a couple of uninteresting birds. 

The second waterfall was Purakaunui Falls. The walk to it wasn’t as nice, but the falls was more beautiful.

Jim and I tried our hand at self picture taking. I don’t know if we’ll ever be as good as our kids are, but it’s better than nothing.

Driving through the countryside we saw lots of farms and sheep--Jim loves to see sheep and cemeteries. When we stopped for him to take some pictures of an old cemetery he was surprised to look up the hill to see a farmer and his dog herding a flock of sheep and two young heifers down the hill. We sat and watched as the dog ran them down the hill and out the gate onto the road. Then the dog hopped in back of the pickup and the farmer sat and talked to a friend while the sheep took themselves down and across the road through another gate into a field. It was a fascinating thing to see.

We arrived in Dunedin and found a nice motel to stay in. One interesting fact about New Zealand is they do not use central heating in their homes or motels. Every place we've stayed at has electric blankets and space heaters.