Holiday 2011, part 1

Long before the February 22nd earthquake struck, we had planned a road trip holiday around the bottom of the South Island. After the earthquake struck, we were more eager than ever to get out of town. So we did.

A few general observations from our travels:

1. Otago and Southland are incredibly beautiful. So, so, so beautiful. I probably said "stunning" about 800 times in 18 days. I took hundreds of photos. I took so many photos that by the end of the holiday I had camera fatigue and had to stop taking photos.

2. You can never see too many waterfalls.

3. You can never see too many lighthouses.

4. Camping with a 10-month old is maybe not a very good idea if you like to sleep. If, on the other hand, you think it's fun to stay up all night trying to settle a crying baby, or if you like to drive the baby around the Otago peninsula all night long, then camping with a 10-month old baby might be just the thing for you.

5. A good way to let travellers know what your town is all about is to build a giant sculpture of the thing that your town is all about.

Cromwell: we're all about fruit.

Rakaia: we're all about salmon.

6. Getting caught in a sheep jam is pretty cool.