Best Western Alcala Mtr Ldg Dunedin

We had a nice lie in today as we didnt have far to drive. Our first stop was the Moeraki Rocks. These are spherical boulders lying on a beach and were quite spectacular, although it was high tide when we got there so most of them were covered up which was a shame. We had a detour when Sophie saw a sign for a gorge so we drove along a windy gravel road until we came to a creek - is probably more of a gorge in spring ...

... there!) ... beautiful place... had some heat so that was good!!!! also on way back was on a boat cruise for 2 hrs... was cold by the end of it .. with all the wind!!!! The Royal Albatross Centre(RAC) was cool... we had a talk abt the albatrosses (missed the terps for this!!!) then up to see the RA.. bt they were quite far down to see.. bt i saw them better out on the boat ...

... the previous one had been made of wood). Chris and I left them with the boat in the water and walked up the track to the High Road and the site of the new house that Hugh and Karen are having built and we admired the tree-house, stage one of the build. When we walked back 'Mist' was still in the water as Hugh and Steve had problems with the winch for the centre-board. Chris was left with the tricky job of reversing Mist back into Hugh's drive! In the evening ...

... about how genuinely high the hill was. Following the hill (that definitely had mountainous ambitions) we cycled on along the south scenic highway. After a few hours and several muesli bars,a ice cram and a big lunch (that was dinner at the wrong time of day). We camped in the garden of a almost empty YHA which was cold (a bit of a shocking change) and they really needed to cut the grass.

... and the huge Royal Northern Albtrosses which have wingspans of over 3 metres! They pair for life and once able to fly, they leave the nest and stay at sea for two years, coming back to look for a mate. If unsuccessful, they fly off until next year and it can take 5 years to find the right mate! From the Albatross colony we went to Penguin Place where there is a conservation project to protect and increase the numbers ...

... um wieder ein bisschen abzukuehlen. Sieht echt witzig aus!! Nachdem wir uns an den schlafenden Seeloewen vorbeigetraut hatten, haben wir auf der anderen Seite des Strandes Pinguine dabei beobachtet, wie sie aus dem Meer kommen und den Huegel hochwatscheln um zu ihrem Brutplatz zu kommen. Das sieht ja auch so lustig aus, vor allem wenn sie dann noch ausrutschen oder ploetzlich anfangen zu huepfen =) Wir haben viel gelacht bei der Pinguin Beobachtung. Die Seeloewen danach waren erst mal ...

... I just can't do it all. I would say I'm going to have to come back but there are so many other places in the world I want to go. Nonetheless, I had a very nice afternoon and evening. I think, now that this leg of my trip is almost over, I am really getting used to travelling by myself. I even enjoyed a quiet dinner at the Irish Tavern--the green-lipped mussels I was told I must try, and a couple of pints--while looking out at The Octogan, the center from which ...

Having made the unfortunate mistake of driving into Dunedin on a grey soggy day and thus deciding we didn't like it, we drove out of town to what we had heard was a nice stretch of coastline: the Otago Peninsula. Before heading out to the peninsula proper, we found a pleasant enough looking little car park overlooking the sea, cursed the "No Overnight Stays" sign and pushed on. The peninsula is indeed very nice, but there's nothing approaching a major road running around it ...

... Dunedin is hilly before - because it really is - its so hilly that the worlds Steepest Street is here (we're going tomorrow).

So heading back into town down this massively steep street was rubbish I was not looking forward to walking back up it later as we were headed to the Speight's Brewery Tour, and if its anything like the Monteith's one I did a few weeks ago I was gonna be drunk!!!

It wasn't anything like the Monteith's one! It wasn't as personal, there ...