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| Yellow Eyed Penguin near Curio Bay |
Our first stop in the Catlins was the historic Waipapa Point lighthouse that had many a sleepy fur seals sunbathing on the beach. It is amazing how big (and smelly) these creatures really are. We journeyed on to Slope Point, the southernmost point of the South Island, then onward to Curio Bay. Our first lookout was an ancient petrified forest that is only visible during low tide, and since our timing was good we did just that. These 80 million year old stumps and logs have been covered by volcanic ash allowing them to be preserved to this very day. While we were enjoying this view, we were able to see a Yellow-Eyed Penguin, which is one of the world’s rarest penguins. He was sunbathing on a rock and we were able to get pretty close, but respected the 30 meter (2 car length) distance rule as the signs requested. These penguins have a yellow tuft of hair just above their eyes and is the first wild penguin I have seen. Just around the corner we stopped off to view the rare Hector’s Dolphins playing the water. Although many people do go swimming with these little dolphins, nearing sunset on the coastal waters that shares Antarctica I simply had to pass and just enjoy the view. We camped at a nearby spot and walked along the beach while the sunset and the tide slowly rolled in.
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| Purakaunui Falls |
Tuesday we got up and made our way to Purakaunui Falls, which was quite nice despite the drought and onward to Nugget Point we went. Nugget point is a hillside lighthouse that overlooks some unusual rocks in the water that resemble little nuggets and give you a wonderful view of the ocean and even more seals. Tony stopped off to fish the lower part of the Clutha and then we headed for another free campground by the Taieri River. This place had the scariest bathrooms I have ever seen, they were really just concrete tubes sticking out of the ground with door less stalls and spider webs galore. However I finally caught my biggest brown trout at about 2.5 lbs and Tony caught his first perch ever. We played cards in the van and I lost the bet of being able to get a hotel room in Dunedin for Friday night.
Thursday morning we started for Dunedin, which we had briefly driven through in January but did not get to explore at all. Dunedin (population 150,000) is on the Southeast coast of NZ and is considered the “Edinburgh of the South” as it was established by the Scottish and many buildings and street names resemble the original city. Our first stop was a Kiwi campground so we could get another shower in and make a base to see some tourist sites. We set up, cleaned up, and headed out to the “Octagon” of the city. Downtown is in the shape of an octagon and slowly branches out to more normal intersections, it can be tricky at first but easy enough to get used to one you look at a map. I was hungry as usual and headed for a recommended fish and chip shop to get a quick bite for $6. We split some little blue cod bites and a hearty helping of chips (French fries) but used our own Heinz 57 from our cooler, I never realized my attachment to American Ketchup until I was without it. Next stop was the Cadbury World! I have always loved “real” Cadbury chocolate ever since my Dad would bring it back to me from Canada when I was a little girl. The Cadbury you find in America (aka the Cream Egg, Carmelo, Dairy Chocolate bars) is actually made by Hershey’s and are not nearly as good as the real stuff from any of the UK providences. Lucky for my inner childhood, Dunedin is the factory in NZ and they have a madhouse of people visiting it daily. Since the $20 factory tour was sold out and we did not want to spend that much each , we opted for the self guided history tour for $5, and you still got a bag of treats. I am not really sure what I would have gained (mentally or physically) from touring a chocolate factory for an hour and a half, so I feel like the cheap 10 minute option was best. I learned that Cadbury started the heart shaped box of chocolates and that it took them decades to finally make chocolate into solid bars rather than just “drinking chocolate.” The end of the tour funneled us into the souvenir store, naturally, and we splurged on getting a postcard and 3 small chocolate bars. The tiny Asian girls in front of must have been extremely excited for the discounted prices and had at least 35 large chocolate bars, along with almost everyone else in there. I for one am not toting around souvenir chocolate for the next couple of months terrified of melting problems and self control.
The next couple of hours we spent roaming the halls of the Otago Museum, where the tumultuous history of NZ and Dunedin can be learned. The history is somewhat similar to the US, in a teeny nutshell the Maori were natives of the land, the English came and took the land, wars were fought time and again, and ultimately it is still under British rule. It actually is quite interesting and I hope to learn more as I am here. This museum represented both cultures and includes history up to modern era, including the vaulting reality that I am aging when I saw “My Little Ponies” and the “iMac” were both on display. We then ventured onward to the Dunedin Public art gallery where they had a nice exhibition of French and Japanese printmaking. At that point we had worked up an appetite so we headed to the campground and prepared some frozen chicken stir fry and a bit of down time. Since we were finally in a real town, we decided to opt for a movie that evening and barely were able to catch the “OZ Great and Powerful.” The seats did not recline, but they were the widest seats I have ever seen at a movie theater, if only plane seats were so roomy.
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| Royal Albatross flying above the Otago Peninsula |
The next morning we grabbed some yogurt from the grocery store and headed to the Botanical Gardens. It truly is a large and diverse place and we spent hours roaming around , taking in the fall colors, and smelling the remaining roses from the summer. We then found another grocery store and had a picnic in a park that overviewed the city, as it is quite a hilly place. Tony dropped his bargain from winning the card game and gave in to getting a room at B&B. It was one of the oldest Victorian houses in Dunedin, and had a beautiful view of the city and harbor.
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| Tony balancing on the Moeraki Boulders |
We purchased discounted online tickets to the Albatross exhibit on the Otago Peninsula about an hour away and headed out on the windy road. This is the only mainland colony of the Royal Albatross in the world, and is the third largest species of bird alive. Their wing span is nearly 3 meters (or 10 feet). We were able to see dozens of these birds, several babies, and even the “disappearing” canon from the Russian war scare that is secured in a bunker and raised to ground level if ever deemed necessary. That evening we had pizza and pasta take out from a delicious Italian restaurant and indulged on some internet time. It also marked the first night since Texas that I had my own indoor plumbing and bathroom to use! Oh the luxury that you all have back home of being able to get up in the middle of the night and go straight to the bathroom without putting on shoes, finding a key, and walking outside to a communal bathroom.
The next day we headed back to Alexandra to put in a few more weeks at the shearing sheds to save up some money. We drove up the East coast to the Moeraki rocks, which are giant boulders in the sea, and made our way west to the “hottest, driest, and coldest” part of NZ where we have been based for 3 months. Our excitement could truly be contained for this next venture of the journey.
