Cumberland Motel Dunedin

... the Taieri (gushing water) gorge. After a great BBQ lunch, we loaded back on the train and returned to Dunedin. <br><br>I have been getting tired early, around 5 or 6 PM and waking up early (6AM). The 16-hour time difference is difficult to get used to but I think it will be OK in a few days. Good thing they make international students arrive a week before lectures begin.<br><br>The weather in Dunedin is very sketchy. It will be beautiful one ...

... now that the sun was making everything look so much nicer. Driving the same road as we did the day before, we got to fully enjoy the surroundings again and this time we could even stop here and there for some pictures and to wave at a nearby sheep ;). After our little detour via the peninsula (we actually needed to go in the complete opposite direction :P) we drove back into Dunedin and after a very brief stop at the steepest street in the WORLD (Baldwin ...

... Luckily it was low tide so we had a good look around. The trees were buried in a volcanic eruption that covered the forest in ash. The forest later sunk beneath the ocean. The silica in the ash combined with the sea water and impregnated the trees. All this was 160 million years ago! Eventually the wood turned to rock. We also saw some young Yellow-Eyed Penguins waiting for mum and dad to come back with their dinner. Yellow-eyed (Hoiho) penguins - After dinner we walked ...

... their own fresh water straight from underground springs and offer them also for free use from a tap outside by the sidewalk. I was told hundreds of people fill their bottles with this water each day (I saw for myself and also filled mine, it's really fine water). Just before noon I left Dunedin for a long drive to Christchurch.

... area" for a sleep and was fairly accepting of the humans looking over him and taking pictures! 2 volunteers from the local conservation society were on hand to supervise the crowds ahead of the penguins arriving. The sensible messages about not using flash, not moving around a lot when the penguins are close by and avoiding the temptation to approach penguins if they come close, were largely obeyed but there were ...

... beach straight towards us. It came right up the path and stopped directly in front of us. It was standing there preening its feathers and drying out its wings. I managed to get a good video as it walked passed us on its way to its nest, which was further up the path amongst some bushes. We left the penguin and went down to the beach. There were three Sea Lions lying on the sands just dozing away. They completely ignored us as we stood whilst Tom explained that they ...

yesterday i was able to catch a free ride out to the penninsula again. one of the guys who's been staying at the hostel for a little while decided to go out to Seal Point Beach to try and see the yellow-eyed penguins come in before sunset and asked if i wanted to go. he's a kiwi and works for a fishery out of wellington and we had exchanged some good fish stories. of course i never turn down an opportunity to see wildlife, so we drove out to the penninsula and walked down the ...

... a little baby one staying really close to his mummy, awwww! Next we had to walk back up the steep hill and down the other side to make our way to the beach where the yellow eyed penguins would be. We had to avoid the sealions on the beach, they were scary! There were quite a few of them, and whilst they're not really bothered by us, they can run up to 20kmph!!! Crikey! A couple of them started to move and the Irish girls and me ran away with a few expletives, hehe. We ...

... Brewery tour, so you could spend a really sickly afternoon there. Stopped by in a pub called The Captain Cook to pay my respects to the man from Marton. I later read it referred to as the infamous Captain Cook. The floor was a bit of a plaggy mat too. All in all looked like a good place to live -as long as you weren't next door to a house full of students

... the day we are planning on leaving - which is a shame as Tara and I wanted to see him again.<br><br>14th<br><br>After a morning of wandering around Dunedin yet again - Tara and I headed off to Cadbury World to do a tour around the factory.<br><br>It was really good - while we were waiting for it to begin we tried some cocoa beans which tasted quite bitter but nice and read some stuff about the history of chocolate and Cadbury's.<br><br>The tour was awesome, we got to ...