Friday
We wake up to a cloudy, cool day, so it feels like a good day to be moving on. We’re heading to Oemaru on the coast. It’s only a couple of hundred kilometres and we’ve got time for some detours on the way.
Stop 1 is to see a whale fossil. It’s about 6km down a gravel track and to be frank, isn’t worth the detour. Stop 2 is to see the Elephant Rocks (apparently the setting for Aslan’s camp in ‘The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe’ film). Unfortunately that’s not worth the detour either. It seems they’ll take a crack at turning anything into a tourist attraction round here.
We arrive in Oemaru in time for a late lunch. Despite the town’s picturesque historic quarter I’m struggling to warm to it. This isn’t helped by the cold wind that’s blowing. On the plus side, it has 2 penguin colonies: one of blue penguins and one of yellow-eyed. You’ve got to pay to see the blue ones and being a bit cheap we head instead to the beach where the yellow-eyed penguins nest. We’re a bit early in the day really, but get lucky and spot one fairly close up.
The sea lions draped generously across the rocks are entertaining too – when they can be bothered to move that is.
We’ve booked a room in a hostel that’s a few kms outside Oemaru. We’ve got a lovely big room, the place is almost empty and best of all: there’s a lovely dog, two cats and 6 cows.
It’s brilliant. At the office we’re given a map to another good penguin watching spot down the road. On the way we stop to look at the ‘intriguing’ Moereki boulders. Whilst the round stones are mildly interesting, our faith is waning fast.
The penguins don’t disappoint. We get holed up in a hide with our binoculars. Again the cheeky sea lions and seals provide entertainment between penguin appearances.
We see a mum feeding her chick and Nick is very proud of his action shot of this fella:
Saturday:
It’s a quick hop to Dunedin and suddenly it seems like we’re back in the north of England – all grey, gloomy skies and imposing stone buildings.
It’s a little city built on several steep hills and looks like it has seen better days – it could do with a bit of a spruce up. It’s market day today and the town is heaving. It’s ok as long as you stay well clear of the ‘world music stage’ (think badly played panpipes, didgeridoos and bagpipes).
We tackle a bit of shopping (new, smaller jeans for a very smug Nick) then kick back with beer and pizza. After a quiet afternoon at the hostel we take a wander through the now much quieter streets to get a couple of beers and what turns out to be the BEST Indian ever.
We tackle a bit of shopping (new, smaller jeans for a very smug Nick) then kick back with beer and pizza. After a quiet afternoon at the hostel we take a wander through the now much quieter streets to get a couple of beers and what turns out to be the BEST Indian ever.
Sunday:
Another grey day and because Dunedin looks and feels so English we’re almost surprised by the 13 hour time difference when we skype family.
We’re spending the day on the Otago peninsula – a wild, windswept place known for it’s marine wildlife. Our first stop is Victory Beach, which is a half hour walk through farmland.
It’s a beautiful, long beach but devoid of any wildlife while we’re there. Back at the car we warm up with some soup.
Next stop is Allan’s beach, where we spot a few sea lions (even more entertaining was watching the tourists who hadn’t spotted the sea lions jumping a mile when one moved just behind them).
After a last stop off at Sandfly Bay we drive back to Dunedin. We feel obliged to go and see what is officially the steepest street in the world. It is, well, steep.
Back at the hostel we find ourselves reluctant to face the communal kitchen and somehow talk ourselves into a second trip to Little India. Mmmm.
Nick adds: Dunedin has the look and feel of Scarborough, but I think I prefer Scarborough.
Monday:
Finally the sun is out again. We’re taking a scenic drive to Invercargill via the Catlins. At Nugget Point we take some time out to watch the seals playing in the surf.
Our next stop is a quick forest walk to a scenic waterfall,
then it’s on to Curio Bay where we spot Hector’s dolphins in the water and explore the petrified forest. Everything is so much prettier in the sunshine and the beaches are gorgeous (although we’re still not braving a swim).
We’re finding that hostels and campsites are often booked up days in advance, so we’ve got to stay ahead of ourselves. We get a bit caught out in Invercargill and have to ‘make do’ with a motel.
Tuesday:
We’re woken in the wee hours with the brilliant, happy, exciting news that Ali and Andrew are now proud parents to Dusty Maria Laidlaw! It paints the day in a rosy light.
Invercargill is a pleasant surprise, possibly just because we’re not expecting much. It helps that the sun is out again. Apart from a quick drive down the pretty main street lined with art deco buildings there isn’t much to do in the way of sight-seeing. But we’re in luck: the trots are on, so it’s a day at the races for us.
When we get there we find out that it’s a double bill – the dogs are racing in between the horse races. I take the dogs and Nick takes the horses. My luck is slightly better and I finish the day marginally up ($1.70). It’s a good day out followed by a quiet evening.
Janet adds: we’ve only been in New Zealand for a couple of weeks and already my i’s are turning into u’s and I’m developing a definite kiwi twang.
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