Roadtrips, scenery, rocks and penguins

Hey!
 
Now we have been in Waitati(15 min outside Dunedin) for a little more than two weeks. We are staying at a B&B owned by an elderly couple, Geoff and Faye. In exchange for food and accomodation we have been helping them with gardening, painting, food shopping etc. Their house is very beautiful and they also have lots of animals including 4 cats, 1 goat, some sheep and some chickens. Our first weekend we did a small roadtrip to Wanaka which is about 160 km from us. There we met our previous roomie and Micke's friend and girlfriend. She is from NZ so we got to stay in her family's house for the weekend. It was situated right next to Lake Hawea and had stunning views! When we arrived we immidietly went into the water. The next day we went to a festival all day long. It was super hot and sunny! The music at the festival was local and very good but we didn't recognize anything.. Following day was rainy so we went a quick tour into Wanaka and then we drove back home, did a few stops along the way.
 
First some pictures from our drive from Christchurch to Dunedin:
 
We stopped at a place called Rakaia Gorge, had a small hike and when we reached the top it was super windy! I have never experienced that much wind!
 
 
Meet Teppo - our mascot, he is a kiwi bird from Lake Tekapo (hence the name!) background is lake Pukaki :)
Below are some photos from a 3 hour hike we made, called Hooker Valley Trail.
 
 
In the evening we slept next to the lake, the sunset was hard to beat with the snowy mountains in the far distance..
 
 
Below, Elephant Rocks, starred in Narnia! Very peculiar :)
 
 
Building in the small town of Omaru.
 
 
Mouraki boulders, a lot of tourists but very cool!
 
 
View from house :D
 
 
 
Below are pictures from a place called the organ pipes in Dunedin. First we had to walk through a jungle like forest and then we had to climb some stones to get to the top. Very nice view :))
 
 
Below are some photos from our daytrip to Otago Peninsula. The scenery was amazing! And only 15 min from the city center! 
 
 
Last Sunday we went to Sandfly Beach and had dinner, looked at the sealions and also saw to yellow eyed penguins. Later we went to the Royal Albatross Center to see the world's smallest penguin coming into their nests. They were so tiny and so cute! About 25 cm height.
 
 
Route so far...
 
 
Mikael has gotten a job as an arborist in Nelson which is situated in the north of the south island. We are leaving tomorrow to go on a ten day roadtrip towards Nelson, so excited! Now the car really has to prove itself :) We have fixed it very nicely but it is certainly veeery small! Today has been the worst weather so far probably, heavy rain all day and 10 degrees, brr! The house is not isolated so very cold inside as well. Time for bed now when Europe wakes up, night night!