On to the South

Hello, I'm still catching up--We drove back out of the peninsula and through Dunedin to gas up with a quick stop in Balcutha to gather groceries. We headed for Owaka where we had arranged a stay in a hostel--in the Star room. We got there--place was totally deserted with a phone on the porch with instructions to call. You were then given instructions on how to enter. You know how when you go to a museum that has rooms that are set up to show the way the folks lived back in the day? You know, a bed over here, an oil lamp over here, a lumpy chair--get the picture. Nobody there, very cold, very eerie--we got out of there fast but with nowhere to go. So we drove onto the small (small) hamlet of Paptowai and remembered that John and Lyn had told us of a cottage accomodation. We met Diana who did not have room but said: I'll just hop in your car and we'll take a look at some of my friends' places. She drove us to Carol's little place where she had a tiny (about 250 sq ft) cottage behind her house in the middle of farm grasses. Carol was not at home, but Diana assured us that we should just make ourselves at home--we'd settle up with Carol when she got home. This sweet spot had lovely flowers (obviously tended) and a new garden that had just been planted. A clothes line that traversed a grassy field. An outdoor "hot tub"--this is an old cast iron bathtub with wood and large stones underneath it that has a water supply through a pipe from the roof--you got it, rain catchings. It felt strange to enter and make ourselves at home when we'd not met the owner. But we headed out for a brief hike through a nature preserve and then onto McLean Falls--a beautiful hike through lush forests of tree ferns, silver beech trees and many many other things that I just cannot describe. My knee was aching a bit because of the previous "dune debacle" and was most grateful for those walking sticks that we picked up. We got back in the evening and had a memorable Wattie's beans (note to self: do not buy again), toast, cheese and broccoli. It is a wonder the room did not blow up that night. The Caitlins area is very rugged and windy. With sweeping views of varying stands of palms, windswept cypress, beech trees (towhai), matuka, rimu (red pine), matai (black pine), many streams and rivers and the wide Caitlin lake. There are a number of tidal basins and shores dense with reeds and grasses. The area was largely settled by the Scots who were whalers and sealers. The Maori used to summer here and fish and feed off the bountiful sealife. You have to be the hale and hearty type to survive this area. Well this all sounds so good doesn't it? I did forget one thing: On the drive, just before Papatowai, Joel stepped out to take a photo along the road--long story short, we got in a bit of a spat??? and I sped off without him. He did eventually catch up to me . .. .hey, just because we're in paradise doesn't mean we are little angels. xo Linny