Southland

Getting ready to dive

Colac Bay

Well, I should've known I'd find something to do in Southland.  After spending the first night at Cherie's house, we decided to do touristy things.  We went to Bluff, which is the "furthest South point in New Zealand."  It's not actually the furthest south, but the southernmost point is owned by Maori and supposedly not as impressive.  So, we went down there, checked out the signpost, could see out to Stewart Island and went to the Maritime Museum, which was more interesting than I expected.  The next day the weather was bad, so we went ice skating at New Zealand's pathetic excuse of an ice rink.  The following day, we went to gemstone beach, which is supposedly known for having valuable gems, but since we didn't know what to look for we just found cool rocks.  Then, we went to a really pretty beach in Colac Bay and I went free diving, hoping to find Paua.  While I never actually found a paua, I did find huge mussels that we took back and cooked up!  Now I am back in the Bay of Islands and will work this weekend, then travel the North Island (plans still unknown).

a long way from home!