I’m in the town of Invercargill now, on the very southern tip of South Island, and it really does feel pretty far south. The evening are long and the weather is a chilly 13 degrees with a pounding five-minute rain storm approximately once an hour. I bought an oilskin cap with earflaps to keep out the cold and rain. People here really wear oilskin clothes on the street, and they greet you with a cheery “hiya!”
The Southern Scenic road from Dunedin to Invercargill is spectacular. The entire thing looks like a tourism ad for NZ, with sheep-covered hills, dramatic cliffs, and rocky beaches. Not to mention waterfalls and sea caves. Hopefully I’ll get a few pics up soon, but for now, I’ve managed to post some of my backlog of Australia, Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula on Flickr.