Oamaru sunshine, Mt Cook and Lake Tekapo rain , Timaru sunshine again

A day of mixed weather, we had mid 20s when we left the Paint Pot, and drive via the scenic route to Twiz

el and Lake Tekapo. The heavens opened, the views were nil and the temperature hit 9C with sleet! It was over 700 mtrs high so .......
Stopped off in Pleasant Point for a guided train ride and as the name suggests......sunshine again.
Arrived at Top Ten holiday site for our first hut! It's actually really nice , so is Timaru, very posh seaside town and very English houses. Ate out at Monteith,  very nice. Just one day here and move on tomorrow.

A day in Oamaru looking for penguins!

Rain on our quaint tin roof greeted us this morning. Sun soon came out and it's stayed a muggy upper 20s threatening a storm perhaps?
Morning and afternoon visit to the penguin head but unless the penguins look like seals, there wern't any today.........never mind we have a trip to the little blue penguin nests tonight when it's dark.
Carried on browsing the town visiting the weird places including the punk steam factory with weird light and mirror thingy as well as futuristic junk! Galleries of mainly artistic junk and a cafe made of rusty sheets of metal with a powered wind vane and occasionally flames coming out of the chimney, oh and the old railway shed where enthusiasts were doing up old rolling stock. "Mind the open work pits and tools and wires lying around, but you are welcome to look round"!

Oamaru and the paint pot

Weather kind and drove the short and pretty coastal road from Dunedin to our new destination Oamaru,  for 2 days. Stop offs and more seals! Found our humble abode that is almost oposite to the huge flat! The Paint Box is pink and tiny and very old. It's more of a lifestyle museum than home stay.  But it has everything.  Oamaru is lovely, it's full of qwerky buildings, art and studios. Clean and nice old pubs. We took a pint at the harbour brewery and piza. Walk back up hill , our Paint box can be seen from a distance. All the paths are carpeted. ...........nice touch!

We might have found Kevin 's  boulder beach!

Nice but wouldn't drive too far out of our way to find them!

Otago Peninsula, seals, hills and scenery

Our last day went as planned, a drive in the warm sun around the Otago peninsular.
An early up hill and back down on one of the peninsulars tracks was a good start.....pretty tough! Coffee in a fellow tampers house saved a few dollars!
Back to hetti for a waterside drive up to the farthest point. Spent an hour or more watching seals right up close. A  steady drive back and diversions to the other coast. Magnificent views up high over Dunedin. Back to pack before we hope is a night out!

Catlins but only just!

The weather and finding a perfect beach meant our plans changed, which cut down the driving by half but no waterfalls this time!
Our first stop was Kaka Point just in the Catlins district. Coffee stop and what a beach. Gentle waves, lifeguards, sand and a bar........all scoring high on Lesleys perfect beach.
We stayed awhile then took the unsealed bumpy drive out to Nugget point to walk out to another lighthouse. This one was pretty special as way down below were a colony of seals to watch. Loads of picts and back to the beach that even had hot water coming out of the sand! Touched 26C which is pretty unusual for so far south.
Stayed for a pick around the rocks and a gentle drive back to a cloudy Dunedin.

Park run, Coastal drive, great beaches and river valley walk

Weather started grey in Dunedin and finished grey when we returned late afternoon!
Park run in the botanical gardens where hills up and down slowed Lesley''s time by about 5 minutes. Nice crowd and a few British!
Good news is drive out of town the blue sky came back to make the beaches look great and sea sparkle from the biggish breakers. First stop St Kildas where we soon spotted a dolphin. Quite trendy back with salt water pool and cafes. Brighton didn't  look one bit like it's namesake.
Tunnel beach next, big down and of course a big up again!
Drove along a beautiful coast road to Taieri mouth where we did a doc trail along the river bank, except it went steeply up to take in river views, nice!
Back to the warehouse to try and sort onward digs.........not going well as NZ is full!

Dunedin, tiki-tour and afternoon penguin search .

Down town and booked a whistlestop tour of the high spots.  It's a city !
So lunch and afternoon drive along the Dunedin foreshore to Aromoana, at the furthest point. The sun shone and beach stroll to search out penguin. About a mile along and behind the rocks the first fella popped out of the ocean and waddled upped to the dunes. Tide only gave us a short slot and 2 more popped out before we hurried back to the track. Rain started and is still falling tonight.
Fridge full now with trip to Countdown. Forecast looks great for tomorrow and the coming week. 
Picture below is would you believe, our apartment!  It is heavily disguised as a warehouse and the loft is converted. Bit spooky going up the unlit stairs until you get into the modern rooms, spa bath, and all mod-cons. Could be a clever idea or simply tax avoidance?