Abbey Lodge Motel Dunedin

... to New Zealand. With the clouds finally turning against us and it beginning to rain we braved a stop at Monkey Island (misleading name) and ran out to the island that can only be reached at low tide for a quick photo on the windy view point before jumping back in the car and driving further up the coast to McCrackens rest where we looked for dolphins from the car in the rain while eating a scrummy picnic of huge baguettes. The road then left the coast line and started ...

... was still mercilessly moistening us at our first stop-off as our eyes scanned the skies for one of the 38-strong albatross colony. Only 15 minutes later we caught a glimpse of one, soaring above us before heading in to feed his chicks. The guide had told us that there was no chance of mistaking it for a seagull and of course he was right - a fully-grown adult is 1m in length and has an enormous 3m wingspan. Despite their size they are an endangered species and need ...

... where they could be easily seen and avoided (they tell you not to go within 10 metres of one that's asleep and 20 metres of one that's awake as they will attack) but instead of that you suddenly find yourself within 2 foot of them asleep in the grass that leads along the beach. There was a baby one which was as big as a St Bernard and then a fully grown one which was huge - they get to over 300lb and I'm sure this one was even bigger than that. A Dutch ...

... boulders at Moeriaki which were also impressive. Camped in a quiet spot near a beach which was very peaceful. Caught the tailend of a service at St Pauls Cathedral in Dunedin this morning. Interestingly the hymn played was the same as at the funeral service of our Auntie Betty last month( quite poignant). Our travels continue , stay tuned. Thanks for all the comments

... and I was lucky to see a few bretty close. From there I returned again to the Albatros colony, actually to a small beach next to it. Just before darkness arrived there the blue pinguins. They came in a few packs of 10-20 pinguins, crossed the beach, climbed the hill and walked just between us - less than half a meter from my legs! They are so cute! That was my final stop at the Otago Peninsula. From there I returned back to Dunedin.

... 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 ...

... it in a few places), accordingly, most of it's street names and suburbs are named after ones in Edinburgh. But there the similarity ends! Driving down from QT on Friday night, the scenery is a little underwhelming. The problem is, when you've got one of the most fantastically stunning lake and mountain views out of your living room window, it's kind of hard to be impressed! Driving into Dunedin was odd though, as there was MOTORWAY, traffic lights, multistorey ...

... 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 ...

... heb ik vanuit mijn ooghoek eens even flink bekeken, dapper he? ;-)

En toen was het tijd om uit te rijden naar de Dunedin Peninsula, oftewel het schiereiland van Dunedin. De Peninsula stond (en wat doet dat niet hier) bekend om zijn natuur en de dieren die er leefden. Dit maal ging het met name om de albatrossen en de pinguins.
De albatroscolonie lag helemaal aan het uiteinde van het schiereiland en ik heb ze bekeken vanaf de klif.
Voor de avond had ik een ...