Pacific Park Dunedin

... up into Fjordland where we were treated to being back in the mountains again and therefore rather more unpredictable weather. We had a really fun stop at some limestone caves in the middle of nowhere, there was a sign outside saying each person should have at least three sources of light on them before entering and not to go in if there has been rain as they can flash flood. In any case we walked past the sign in the rain with just Dad’s reliable head torch on ...

... and right round a windy coastline of tidal inlets, we arrived at a windy cliff-top in the now dry skies and descended a long flight of stairs to be greeted by a huge colony of fur seals. Protected by humans and now very much used to our kind, they stared up at us inquisitively while we snapped away with our cameras The babies frolicked around in the rock pools and the mums and dads occasionally barked out in communication with one another. It was wonderful to see ...

... like Edinburgh of the South - the time in dunedin was also going to be a chance to catch up with one of the old Newham posse - Grant Finn or Finny who used to work with us. so i got off the bus in dunedin checked in and in true traveller style hit the town ten minutes later to take a look around stopping briefly for some lunch and internet to catch up with my blog and emails i then walked in a generally lost direction cos i'd ...

Blue Penguins and Royal Albatrosses - The Otago Peninsula Setting off from Mount Cook for the Otago Peninsula we initially travelled at a fairly leisurely pace, stopping now and then to look at places en route. However by mid-afternoon it became obvious that if we were to reach our B and B accommodation in time to have a meal before going out penguin watching we needed to speed up. One curiosity, friends and the guide books said were worth pausing for, were ...

Our initial aim was to pass Dunedin and head to the Otago Peninsular. We found a small camp-site that would be our home for new years eve, but for the day, we headed out to the Royal Albatross Reserve. Unfortunately there was quite a price put on the entry to the reserve and we were not prepared to pay, so we stood on the cliff top next to the centre. From here we saw Albatross, Sea Shags, a few Seals and about a million Seagulls. When we had seen enough ...

... rather startled to discover that Otago is actually a five and a half hour journey from Christchurch, so since fresh air, loud music, shaking my head vigorously and, in a last ditch attempt, slapping myself in the face, did not sufficiently wake me up, I instead opted for a king size KitKat Chunky (my old road trip friend from Paihia) and a bag of raspberry liquorice (purchased in honour of McRobert, despite the fact that I actually prefer black liquorice if ...

... all those things that don't exist in Queenstown, and we'd kind of forgotten about! We stayed in a hostel in the city for the two nights..the best that can be said about it was that it was cheap. Actually, that's unfair, it was clean (ish) too :-) It was one of those hostels that feels more like a home for displaced odd people than backpackers, but was fairly quiet, at least until we arrived! Despite good intentions of "taking it easy" on Friday night as we had ...

... kiwi family sleeping at 23h., and feeling suddenly an eathrquake! so, as the locals are so civilised, the following day a nice policeman woke me up to fill the papers. So I went out in the middle of the camping, in a pijama and without having washed my face yet!. Well, that is the normal procedure in this country. As they are so civilised and they don't have any delinquence, they have to give some work to do to the poor policemen! After all this we went to an ...

... over, including at least people from Germany, England and somewhere in Asia. There were only four people on the wildlife tour on Friday, and all of us were actually staying at Hogwartz.  It was raining for most of the day, but not hard.  It was kind of like being in Seattle; I didn't mind.  We first went out to the end of the Otago penninsula to the Royal Albatross colony.  They make their nests on the cliffs facing the ocean.  Unfortunately, at this time of year, they're ...

... zou zijn voor de mensen die zich in NZ vestigden in die tijd.<br><br>Het reservaat lag midden in een boerderij en toen ze jaren terug begonnen, waren er op het schiereiland slechts nog 7 pinguins. Op dit moment broeden er 21 koppels; dit komt doordat ze simpelweg eventuele jagers vangen en verplaatsen of doden. Dit doen ze enkel op het land:<br>pinguins hebben natuurlijke vijanden in zee, zoals zeeleeuwen, maar dat ziet men hier gewoon als "de natuur". <br>Na de eerste ...