southland

when i left dunedin my car was really generous: the batteries had died down so it took me ages to get sorted out and ready to go - eventually i just had to get new batteries since mine had already been like 6 years old.
when that was done i was off to the catlins (south east of the south island, very bushy vegetation like on the west coast). i got to this little place called tahakopa (on a gravel road), where i think only 100 people or so live. wrights mill lodge was my accomodation for the night and because i liked it so much i decided to stay three nights. it is one of the remotest places you could imagine! on top of that there werent any other guests on the second night, which meant that i had the entire cottage to myself (the owners and manager dont live in tahakopa)... weird feeling, but kinda cool!!! just got the fire going at night, cooked a nice meal, had a glass of red wine and enjoyed the night in front of the tv... =)nice. the next day i drove around to see some of the sights: purakaunui falls, mclean falls, lake wiklie and the cathedral caves. the falls and the lake were really nice, but not quite wonders of the world! the caves, on the other hand, were pretty spectacular (unfortunately cant post any pics here): you only have access to them during low tide (i was fortunate enough with my timing =)and they look kinda spooky. even when you enter and walk through them it lookes like the place where jack sparrow would hide his treasures... =)
the next day i just relaxed. divine!!! =) wrote into my journal, some postcards, read my book, watched some tv and, to my pleasure, the sun even came out for a while. yesterday i left again - after a long and super exciting phone call with my girls (isa & mi=) and headed towards invercargill. now that im here i can say that its quite big for nz standards, but its not really a nice place. the kiwi boys have nothing else to do than pimp their rides and the girls (try to) pimp themselves... cos there really isnt anything to do. its like a huge hokitika... anyways, still managed to enjoy my time here: last night was so much fun cos miriam (from israel), 2 people from germany, 2 from the uk, another swiss guy and me sat at the dining table at the hostel and just talked and had heaps of fun for hours, until everybody went to bed.
today i went downtown with miriam and bought heaps of stuff - but im proud to say FOR A GOOD CAUSE!!! all of it was tramping gear. so even though i spent like $130 i got a backpack, cooker, cooking utensils, cutlery, 2 pairs of socks, and a thermal top for it... =) im really looking forward to this tramp im going on day after tomarrow. the 3 day track (one of the great ones of nz) on steward island... really excited... =) its an abrupt ending, but i gotta go, sorry... ill tell you all about the tramp when i get back...
take care