Petrified Forest, Curio Bay

Petrified forest***** We are at a very special place here, a fossilised remains of ancient forest of 180million years ago known as the middle Jurassic period.

We can see this ancient fossil during low tide

In the millions of years, since the sediments were buried deeply and impregnated over time with silica minerals, eventually turning the wood to rock. In some places fern fronds and leaves have been preserved as fossils within the mudstone rocks.

A long tree trunk belonging to Jurassic world had now become a fossil that we can all be amazed with =) The Curio Bay is really worth the travel as we can see this wonder and another cute penguin family too..

Ta da, the rare Hoiho, yellow eyed penguin. OMG we are so close with these amazing animal, found only in Southland! This is the best place to view them, much much better than Sandfly Bay @ Otago Peninsular. 

It was the time of the year where these penguins have little chicks in their burrow and each parent takes turn to gather food in the big ocean.  So its easy to see them coming in and out all day (unlike the blue penguins/little penguins that only come out after sunset). We were trying so hard to look for this penguin in Sandfly Bay at Otago Peninsular, and here, we can get near it up to 10metres. Peter got really good shots of this fellas, returning from the sea, cleaning itself at the shore before heading back to their burrow. It was just wonderful looking at this small creatures.

Sunset @ Curio Bay

Yummy dinner, made with self dig cockles and special NZ yam =)

Sandfly Bay, Otago Peninsular

Sandfly Bay, Otago Peninsular*****

We have heard of the famous tours around the peninsular for viewing the Royal Albatross and Yellow eyed penguins. When we ask at the I-site if there were any foc public beaches we could go to see the penguins, the answer was no. But we saw form Lonely planet that we could actually go to the DOC hide at Sandfly Bay and observe the penguins there. So off we went that afternoon, (the penguins are best seen after 3pm) and boy it was a steep decline down the beach, crossing the sand dunes. The way back up is needless to say, exhausting!

Beautiful flowers along the track down the sand dunes

But it was worth the hike, because we don't need to pay the costly tours to view this cute fella! There is a DOC volunteer ranger on duty and she showed us where to go. It is about 40min walk to the hide (observation hut) and we were there right on time. A yellow eyed penguin is just making its way up the hill. They are such shy creatures, and if they see anyone or other penguins, they will not come out of the sea. So we have to be very alert, staying at least 100m from the penguins, if any ;) along the beach, they are many male sea lions laying on the beach.

This lil fella making his way up to feed his wife and little ones

(there is of course an easier place to view penguins than here, at Curio Bay ;))

Check out our post for Curio Bay

Whitebait patties

Since we cannot freedom camp around Dunedin and Otago peninsular, we stayed at Portobello caravan park (cost us $32 for nonpower, cheapest around Dunedin, and the only holiday park in the peninsular). We have dinner only at 10pm, all because of the penguin observation. And here's our dinner, the must try whitebait patties in NZ. A delicacy since it is so expensive. Honestly, it did not taste that yummy as patty (butter fried with egg in sandwich, the kiwi way of eating whitebait), but it taste quite nice when fried in butter alone. We thought it taste kind of similar with anchovies in Malaysia. So not value for money, in our humble opinion :p

Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise Day 1

We woke up feeling chilly and got out of our crib to find the hills looking a bit different, and yes of course, there's the fresh snow from yesterday night! No wonder we are freezing in there! OMG so happy that it's snowing still though middle of spring! We just love the snow caps!

Today is the beginning of another wonderful trip! Our Doubtful Sound crusie~~~~ So we travelled from this free camp spot half way between Queenstown to Manapouri, to Lake Manapouri. And the journey along is sooooo beautiful!!!!

Here we are at Lake Manapouri!! Loving this beautiful landscapeeee.. This is where we board on the Real Journey Doubtful Sound Cruise***** It's an overnight cruise along the Doubtful Sound fiord which is part of the Fiordland National Park area. We paid $263 each for a quad share cabin with 10% discount for using YHA card (only if you buy directly from Real Journey).

It was a trip to remember. First, we cruise along Lake Manapouri which is the third largest lake in NZ . The lake is so beautiful, surrounded by snow capped mountains all around. It was a 45 min ride before we reach the power station which is the transit point to a coach.

Beautiful day at Lake Manapouri, PERFECT!!!

Giant Eagle cloud~~~ :)

The coach ride took 1 hour, going real slowly with the driver as the nature guide showing us the ancient beech trees, waterfalls and lookouts along the way.

A viewpoint of the beginning of the sound!

The cruise is especially spectacular during rainy days when you can see hundreds or thousand of waterfall all along the fiord!!!

We reach the wharf and board the overnight boat, Navigator something.. We got settled in the 4 bed dorm, shared with another Malaysian couple we met on the coach, Tony and Stephanie. It was really nice meeting other Malaysian working holidayers. We stick together throughout this cruise. Our comfy bed for the night~

Super tall waterfall, imagine them doubling them doubling their width on rainy days ... nice...

Mystery looking Fiord :) 

Welcomed by a muffin and variety of tea and coffee, we were definitely looking forward to dinner! Highly promoted as scrumptious, yummy licious buffet.. Woohoo can't wait. But before that, we cruise around the main highlights of this tour, the Doubtful Sound. This place isn't actually a 'sound' (meaning landscape that had been shaped by river) but is actually a Fiord. Fiord is a Norwegian word meaning landscape that was shaped by glaciers which is what these famous Doubtful Sound and Milford sound is all about. Because back then they have not found a suitable word for it, they just call it a sound.

We stop at a safe place for water activities like kayaking, swimming and small boat cruising. We chose kayaking around this beautiful Blanket Bay, guided by crew of the boat. It was only 45 min of kayaking, but it feels nice getting close to the sound and see some Weka (wood hen) around. there were even a 'hotel' in this little island. Its funny, but it isn't really a hotel, it is just a hut for the crayfish fishermans and freezer facility.

Blanket Bay "Hotel"

 Oystercatcher

As there are so much rain in this area, above this saltwater is a thick layer of freshwater which actually makes this seawater not that salty, peter tested the water and prove it's really not salty!

Back to the boat for a hot shower and then greeted by hot soup and bun. Yums! Then cruise again to look for the Fiordland Crested penguins.

Beyond this rocks, is the open sea.... very rough water there, so our captain is careful not to throw us overboard!

Little fairy penguins spotted swimming along...

The seal colony... 

Here we are!! Fiordland crested penguin. These guys are just super cute!!! Yellow 'eyebrows', hahaha..  and with their walking posture, they are just a sight to watch! But they are quite far away from where our boat is, so it's really hard to get a good picture. 

Dinner TIME!!! 

All you can eat on the buffet line: Smoked salmon, mussels, roast lamb, beef, chicken, veggies, kumara (sweet potato), salad.. Dessert: pavlova, caramel cheesecake, choc mud cake, blueberries crumble, fruits... Cheese platter..

OMG really can we finish this?

Finger licking good!

Tough night for our stomachs, processing all the NZ goodies!

Before ending this fully packed day with food for our eyes and stomach, we're had some food for thoughts... At the end of our dinner, the crew showed us some slides about the history and facts of this fiord, as well as how NZ as first was a part of Australia in Gondwana continent but drifted out and out away to the south. And  then an Australian commented, "NZ haven't drifted far enough". Woooo, that raise a lot of voices then.. Hehe... Funny how the OZs and Kiwis always tease each other!