Today we touched the furthest point south in New Zealand! We are now closer to the south pole than the equator. Yikes! No wonder we have had to break out jackets and socks for the first time in a very long time. It felt so cold as we were walking across a sheep pasture to get to this special place, we wouldn't have been surprised if it snowed. Brrrr! The wind was howling (good excuse for bad hair!), but we had to cheer about making it from the most northern point at Cape Reinga to this southern Slope Point. We have truly seen New Zealand top to bottom!

We have been in the "toolies" for the last few days with no internet or phone reception, so I apologize for not getting a blog out sooner. We haven't been able to get our e-mail in several days, so have no idea what is going on back home. We hope all is well. Our destination after the glaciers and Queenstown was Milford Sound. It took us a couple of days to get to the actual area where you can get a tour boat to go out and explore the area. We learned that "sound" isn't really the correct term although that is what everyone calls it. It is really a fiord - having been formed by glacier movement. The whole area was stunning with its beautiful dark blue waters, out of which rises sheer rocky cliffs with deep green forest clinging to the sides. Mitre Peak majestically looms up in the background (shown in all the NZ travel brochures!) of several gorgeous waterfalls. The captain of our boat got us "up close and personal" (and wet!) with one of the falls - luckily they provided rain coats. The boat stuck its prow out into the choppy Tasman sea for a couple of minutes so we can now honestly say we have "sailed" on it! The day was picture perfect and the guide on the boat said it was the best weather they have had so far this year. We were so lucky to get to see Milford under sunshine and blue skies. There were also several dolphins in the fiord as our boat went through - of course they had to come play in the bow wake and really gave us a performance. The water was so clear, we could see them better than we've ever seen dolphins - even on our own boat. We camped at a place called Te Anau and it was the first time we were able to leave the tents set up for more than one day. (Can't remember if I mentioned before that Jeff and Kathi brought the tent poles for our original tent back with them, so they are using it and we are using it's twin!) The drive from Te Anau to Milford and back takes quite a while with all the lovely spots to stop and gawk at. Waterfalls, crystal clear streams, deep green forest land, and a really long tunnel that was bored through one of the mountains all called out for further exploration. The whole Fiordland area is remote and gorgeous. (You guys will probably get bored with all the pictures once I get them loaded.)

We did go through another big city called Invercargill, although didn't think to stop and use internet - oops! If you remember the movie "The World's Fastest Indian," you'll probably remember that Invercargill was where Bob Munroe was from and where he raced his Indian motorcycle. They have the replica used in the movie on display at the local hardware store (E Hays and Sons Hammer and Hardware) along with a bunch of other really old bikes - because every hardware store acts as a museum, right?!!! It was really neat to see that the town is very proud of their hometown hero.

The last couple of days, we have been in an area called the Catlins. It makes up most of the more southern coast line of New Zealand. There isn't much down here in the way of towns (other than Invercargill), but it is gorgeous. The beaches and cliffs are constantly being pounded by surf, making the views even prettier. We visited Bluff (the phrase from Reinga to Bluff is used here to mean all of NZ) and had a bowl of the best seafood chowder ever at a place called "The Drunken Sailor!" Last night we camped in an area called Curio Bay and had a bird's eye view (yes, pun intended!) of Yellow-eyed Penguins coming ashore after a day out in the sea. It was amazing and will always be a highlight of our NZ adventure. According to all the information here, they are the rarest of all the types of penguins and only come ashore in a few places. It was fun to watch them surf in, get to their feet while in the water, then make a big hop up onto the rocky beach area. They are leery of humans, so they take quite a long time just standing and checking out the situation (the signs say to keep at least 10 meters, or 2 car lengths, away from them so they won't bolt back into the water). Once they feel it is safe, they waddle very quickly up to their nesting sites. Again, it was a thrill to get to see all this for ourselves - it was just like a Discovery Channel program!

It rained most of the day today, so we didn't do as many walks as we would have liked, but still saw some more beautiful waterfalls (although we are beginning to feel waterfalled out!), lots of kilometers of forest, and of course Slope Point. We decided we didn't want to set the tent up in the pouring rain tonight, so we are spending the night at "The Asylum" - a backpackers hostel that is housed in what used to be a real asylum! The pictures of the old buildings are lovely and it used to be the biggest building in New Zealand until it started deteriorating and had to be torn down bit by bit (back in the '50s). There are only a couple building left that have been restored. It is going to feel so great to sleep in a bed and not have to pack up the tent in the morning. We only hope that this is not like the Hotel California and we will be allowed to check out and leave in the morning! :)