south island road trip!-Day 11

our view of the waterfalls as we leave milford

on the road again

fanghorn forest!

Day 11- The Catlands

So to our dismay as well as amazement we woke up to a pounding rain and thunder in the Milford restaurant parking lot where we had crashed the night before.  The sound of the thunder rivaled the volume of the thunder that struck the tree near our campsite that one time at swallow falls (I know Hollin and Alex definitely remeber).  It was incredible.  We decided to not go on a cruise of the sound, but to book it to Dunedin instead.  We didnt want to be stuck there incase the weather didnt clear up.  So it was a bit disappointing because Milford sound is said to be one of the most beautiful sights in New Zealand, but at least we had seen how immense the cliffs and mountains were while while driving in the day before.  And, to pull a Pollyanna, seeing the waterfalls cascading down all the cliffs as we escaped was a pretty incredible sight.

We decided that we were going to take the scenic route through the catlands and drive the almost 800 kms to Dunedin that day.  We were running out of time and we had plans in Twizel so we had no time to waste down south, even if it would have been kind of cool to go to the southern most tip.  O well.  I drove half the trip to Invercargil, and Jenny drove the second half of the trip the rest of the way to Dunedin where we immediately crashed at a picnic  pull off outside of town.  

Some of the highlights of the drive were buying some hokey pokey icecream at a gas station, and stopping near Te Anu to explore Fanghorn forest (another dorky lord of the rings thing).  The forest was incredibly moist and green and the ground was so moss covered and undisturbed that your foot sank in a few inches every time you stepped.  It was really cool. (thank you again Mrs. Kolb!)