Livingspace Dunedin

... lovely animals in the wild yet so up close and personal and the enjoyment was only slightly dampened by the icy blast of wind and rain that we were treated to on our way back up the hill. Heading down to the next beach along, the Hooker sea lions were visible from a long way off and they got larger and larger and larger as we approached them. Standing less than 10m away from an adult sea-lion on a beach, in his home on his terms, was pretty intimidating and very ...

... if you do that so i nodded my head and we headed to his car the harbour in dunedin is a proper one all industrial shipping and about 5 private boats moored up definitely not auckland marina. He also told me a lot of the industrial land around the harbour was likely to be rezoned and redeveloped - ah i thought a bit of planning talk today - After checking out the harbour I phoned finny and arranged to meet him at 5.30 then wandered ...

... young (they go out from dawn to dusk). We got there about 9.15 p.m., there were quite a few people there, including Norman the Penguin ranger, who told us what time they should arrive and where they would go, plus various like being quite and no flash lights to frighten them. Just after 10.00 p.m., we saw the first penguins coming out of the water - what a sight (quite breathtaking and I got all emotional!). They then ...

... sadly that there was still no-one on the beach to show off my rock mounting prowess to, when all of a sudden, the wind started. And I do mean all of a sudden - one minute it was just the usual beachy breeze, then it was like someone flicked a switch and it was gale force. At first I was very taken with the effect the wind had on the bigger waves further out - even as they tried to come in, the wind was blowing them back, resulting in a pretty spray of, er ...

... were surrounded by towering rocky cliffs, grassy meadows, sparse native bush, and pink/purple flowers that saturated the riverside. It's easy to see why this place is rated as the #1 must-do in New Zealand. In terms of natural beauty, Milford Sound is the best I've seen yet. Only 12days to go... NB: I've posted some shots that are classic Dunedin too. (Scenic and "otherwise")

... After a few minutes of scouring the dense cliff top shrub land, we spotted one, just one penguin standing alone, looking out to sea like a sailor watching out for his boat. Most penguins were supposed to be out fishing all day so to find one on the beach below us was incredibly lucky indeed. So, we got to Dunedin and went off to explore. Dunedin is a small city crammed full of students hanging out in street cafes, cafes, queuing in burger take aways or strolling down ...

... enighed om at moedes senere paa en irsk pub til noget quizaften. Det kunne jo ikke passe mig bedre! Bruge min draebende hoeje intelligens samtidigt med at drikke oel! Mine to spidskompetancer samlet paa et sted. Har lagt lidt billeder ind fra den begivenhed... Har stadig ikke faet internet hjemme i lejligheden og denne internetcafe har stadig ikke faaet den gode ide at taende for varmen. Saa jeg vil smutte igen. Hej hej...

... boat according to Maori legend (South Island being the boat and North Island being the massive fish that demi-god Maui pulled out of the ocean, thus creating the country as we know it today). It was closing down for off season so pleasantly quite and very sparsely populated- there's about 400 permanent residents. It's also the best place to see kiwi birds in the wild, and they're bigger than mainland kiwi birds. I didn't see any, but it's nice to know they're ...

... a tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory which produces for New Zealand, Australia and southern Asia. The location here was chosen because of the easy import of cocoa from Asia, an abundance of quality milk locally and sugar from Australia. We could see many production areas but were obviously kept away from any open processes. A very interesting trip, which finished with a display of a ton of molten chocolate being poured from a silo above our heads, but ...

... een keer een filmpje met mijn camera ergens van te maken.... :-D
En het mooiste van alles was Tarzan, het grootste en meest trotse mannetje van de club. Hij lag in het gras recht naast de loopgraven toen wij eruit kwamen.... En bleef daar doodleuk liggen, een beetje arrogant haast! Hahaha! Errug bijzonder dus weer.

De volgende dag was het alweer tijd om te vertrekken richting Oamaru (vertaald uit het Maori: de schuilplaats van Maru, een kleine, lokale god): Janet Frame Town!