Water Falls......

...in more ways than one. While the rain continues, we have had a few recent glimpses of the sun. Last Wednesday, Craig and I took advantage of clear skies and went for a walk in the Dunedin Botannical Gardens, located right across the street from our apartment. The gardens have some great plants, flowers, and trees, even in the winter. The walk ended with a fantastic pink sunset.


Tree in Botanical Gardens

On Saturday, the weather was back to winter so we hung around town. We headed to the Farmers Market for some fresh apples, pears, lettuce, and raspberries. The best part of the market is the homemade crepes. They are yummy! We are trying to sample a different flavor with every visit (Craig may not yet know of this plan), and so far have tried strawberry, chocolate, and honey and almond. All were tasty!
After the market, we tramped around town in the intermittent rain, checking out some cycle shops, and the local bakery which has the cheapest bread, milk, and eggs. Also a stop in a souvenir shop where we made an exciting discovery of a possum fir merkin! Those of you who know what that is will know what an important find this is and those of you who don't shouldn't research it! Lastly, a trip to the grocery store to stock up for the week. All in all, regardless of the rain and cold, it was a good day of walking.
Sunday proved to be a 100% improvement and we took advantage of the perfectly clear, blue, sunny skies with a trip to the Catlins. The Catlins is an area a couple of hours south of Dunedin known for its rainforests, waterfalls, and other great outdoor wonders. We set off in the morning after a "have a great trip!" phone call to Craig's parents who are now in Alaska, and a wonderful french toast brekkie. This is important as we have finally found fake maple syrup! Anyway, our first stop was a place called Jack's Blowhole. It is "a large cavity that's 55 metres deep and 200 metres from the sea." To reach the blowhole which is located in Tunnel Beach Reserve, we hiked across sheep pastures, climbed several fences, and at last ended our trek in a random, rainforest, tropical looking area. The foliage around the blowhole was pretty dense and we couldn't see the hole but we could definitely hear its roar! After walking about 20 meters or so, we came to a viewing platform from which we stared straight down the 55 meter crevice to see huge waves crashing through a rock tunnel into the hole. It was awesome but you definitely wouldn't want to ride one of those waves!

Jack's Blowhole

We left the blowhole and headed to our next and most looked forward to destination, Cathedral Caves. These giant caves are located on the beach and you can only reach them by trekking to them at low tide. So, we carefully timed our trip to arrive at the perfect time. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how cool it was because the access road was closed due to rough seas. So much for that but, fortunately, there is a plethora of other things to see nearby.
We continued on to McLean Falls. These falls are accessible by foot via a 30 minute hike through the rainforest. The trail itself was beautiful with its lush, green foliage. This is thanks to the near constant rain in the area. (It rains 214 days of the year there). And the trail ends at the falls.

McLean Falls

After leaving these falls, we continued our drive and stopped at 2 more trails ending at waterfalls. Matai Falls, along with Horseshoe Falls were the first, and then we ended our trip with Purakauni Falls. All of them were beautiful and well worth the drive and hikes to see them.

Purakauni Falls

Upon return home, the temperature was 1 degree Celsius, and the apartment was quite chilly. Being the hardy souls we are, we still declined to turn on the heat. Instead, we turned on the electric mattress pad, ate a spaghetti dinner, watched a little olympic action, and went to our warm, toasty bed early.
Today was again very sunny and I was able to take advantage while Craig was at work by hiking through a series of parks, also very near our apartment. It's so much nicer being unemployed when the weather allows me to get out and enjoy the day without wearing a rain jacket! Luckily for Craig, his schedule allowed him to get out of work for a run so he got to enjoy the sunshine as well. Even the trees are happy and many of them have budded and blossomed, despite the cool temps. Hopefully the nice break in weather will continue for at least a few days!

A Day in the Catlins