Monday - water, water everywhere

This was the sunset last night, sitting outside our white box on wheels. We are loving this campervan!

 

A late-ish start this morning, due to a slightly disturbed night due to the quantity of rain falling. Rain drops on a campervan roof are really loud when you're trying to sleep. By 9 am it was sunny, but it didn't last, and rain fell most of the day.

After a bacon and egg butty we left this lovely DOC campsite and went off to explore more of the Catlins area.

For those who are interested, this is the interior of our van, set up for the day. The front seats swivel round, and the table moves over to one side, giving a very comfortable seating area. Most nights we eat outside, but if inside we can slide the table over to the right!

 

At the other end is the small cooking area, with a sink and large fridge. In the corner is a very small room containing a toilet, sink and shower. Not much storage area, just a few cupboards and one largish wardrobe, but adequate for us even though we packed far too many clothes for the holiday.

 

Up above is our very clever bed (you can just see the edge of the mattress). This lets down in the evening, and is extremely comfortable.

 

 

These are typical trees of the area, I shall look up what they are some time. They tend to be very shaped by the wind; we saw one today that looked almost complete horizontal.

 

First stop today was the Purakaunui Falls. The walk through the bush to reach them was probably more interesting then the falls. The word Mick and I kept using is 'lush'. Everything is so green, especially compared to the Central region, and this walk in particular was like being in a rain forest, full of ferns and exotic shrubs.

The falls themselves were very nice, and gave me an opportunity to play with my camera settings.

 

 

We then drove on to Papatowai and stopped at the Lost Gypsy Gallery. A one man show by a man who loves to build fun animatronics out of recycled rubbish. Some of his things were really good, plus there was a coffee stop with free wifi outside, so I could finally post yesterday's blog. We got chatting to a couple from Sweden as well, and got a recommendation for where to stop for lunch in Sweden in June when we are there briefly.

 

Final tourist stop of the day was at Curio Bay to see the remains of a petrified forest on the beach.

We then drove on towards Invercargill, but decided to skip seeing anything in the town. Instead we went to a supermarket to top up with food and drink, only to discover Invercargill still has a left over from the prohibition era - you can only buy alcohol from the Invercargill Liquor Trust, or similar licensed retailers.

 

Fully loaded with beer, wine and food we drove on, through the lashing rain, to our free campsite for the night, at Monkey Island Bay!! No sign of any pirates, but we shall keep our eyes open.

And here is Monkey Island, seen through the ever present rain!

 

 

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