The Catlins

Whilst leaving Dunedin, as there's motorways around the city we got a bus to the next town to have a better chance of getting a hitch. On this bus we bumped into Yannick (the guy I split up from in Nelson) which was really surreal for me (what are the chances!). He was hitching to Te Anau, so a bit further than us. We got a hitch in about half and hour from some French people who were really nice and they even dropped us at our campsite! The campsite was lovely. Very basic but nice, and in the middle of nowhere. The people running it were great. We met a couple from Leister who were staying at the campsite and we went with then to Nugget Point, a lighthouse right on the cliff edge. You could see seals playing and fighting below it was amazing. We went again the next morning to watch the sunrise, which was totally worth waking up at 5:45. Was so cold though, was 2 degrees when we got up..

The campsite owner very kindly gave us a lift to the main road to make it easier for us to get a hitch. We got one hitch into town, then had to wait 2 hours. We got picked up by a DOC (Department of Conservation) car. They don't pick anyone up and when I asked him he said they're not allowed to, so don't tell anyone! He was very interested in the degree I was doing (energy engineering) and was telling me how they try to minimise the environmental impact of people in campsites and in general. He dropped us at the Curio Bay campground. We saw the worlds rarest dolphin (Hectors Dolphins) and the worlds rarest penguins (Yellow Eyed Penguins). Was incredible. We met another German guy called Tobias on our way. 

They're quite hard to photograph. But if you want to see the video of them playing then I'm afraid you're actually gonna have to talk to me!

The petrified forest was awesome, it's fossilised trees that've been preserved in the rocks!

Hitching from Curio Bay was great fun. I was hitching to Bluff. I split up from Martha and Tobias after about 15 minutes as they got a hitch to Invercargill.  I got a hitch to the first village from a guy who ran the surf school and backpackers. I was chatting to a cool guy who'd just bought some land, then I got a hitch to the main road from an elderly couple with a fantastic campervan (bus) which they had just finished converting. I then met a German girl who was also hitching. We got to chatting and both got a hitch to Invercargill. She was going to come to Stewart Island with me but a bank issue meant that she couldn't. But she may join me tomorrow. I got a hitch to Bluff from a Kiwi family and a mechanical engineer from Uraguay. I'm now just waiting for the ferry to Stewart Island.