We left Te Anau at 9am in 4 degree temperatures and driving rain. We managed to navigate ourselves to Fiordland Electrical to buy a fire, as we have had to return our borrowed one to Te Anau Top 10. Allegedly this is likely to be the worst New Zealand winter for years. We debate the possible merits of two alternative routes, hoping to avoid snow. We opt for the possibly more risky one, snow wise, which was our original intention and set off towards Manapouri. We travel along the South Scenic Route with no sign of snow. It would probably be slightly more scenic if we could see much of it through the mist and murk. We stop to admire the racing seas and Stewart Island lurking in the low cloud. After a slight detour we find our site at Invercargill.

Not being fans of oysters, we pass up the opportunity to visit the Bluff, where the annual oyster festival is in full swing. ‘Bluffies’ are apparently world renowned in oyster circles. Deciding that we have had enough of getting wet, we relax in the van. Now we are only getting wet from the dripping laundry that is hanging round our ears.

We safely negotiate our way out of Invercargill, where the street names bear testament to the Scottish/Victorian heritage. Keeping a sharp eye out for the maroon triangles that denote the South Scenic Route, we head eastwards. Today there are spells of sunshine amidst the showers, creating impressive rainbows at Fortrose. Many of the cattle are Belted Galloways and I wonder at the logistics of bringing mammals out to New Zealand from Europe by boat. How much food would be required? What would one do with the results of cows/sheep/deer consuming said food?

The bird life so far has been disappointingly European in flavour, compared to our previous visit; perhaps because we are further south, or maybe it is the season. Today though we do see black swans, pukeko and heron. The Catlins National Park is beautiful and there is very little traffic. We encounter several hundred cattle being walked along the road in the opposite direction. We are used to stopping for cows at home, just not quite so many of them! At Waihola Lake there is a long fence that has been stuffed with hundreds of trainers, presumably odd ones that have been washed up on the shore.

For some reason, we exceeded our internet access at Invercargill, despite doing very little online. This meant that we could not check on the directions to today’s site, which is 2½ km outside Dunedin. It would be helpful to know in what direction. We are know on New Zealand’s ‘motorway’, a slightly more busy dual carriageway, which makes going slowly looking for likely turn off more difficult. Fortuitously, we spot a road sign to Kaikorai Valley. The site is in Kaikorai Valley Road. Adopting the strategy that worked in Queenstown, we take the exit and apart from overshooting the well hidden drive-in entrance, we reach Aaron Lodge Top 10 without incident. So far, we feel not investing heavily in a sat-nav was the right decision – famous last words.