Adrian Motel Dunedin

... final tour of the day was to Penguin Place, a unique conservation effort for the yellow-eyed penguins. The other day we saw them from far away. Tonight we walked through a system of trenches and hides and saw nesting penguins up close. We even saw a Daddy yellow-eyed penguin feeding and caring for his chick in the nest while Mom was out at sea. We also saw a little blue penguin and seals at the sanctuary.<br>

... was fabulous. They have a great natural history area which includes an exhibit relating to Charles Darwin, in honor of his 200th birthday. There are also exhibits about early settlers including the Maori ancestors, and a very interesting maritime section which included lots of models of old ships. Then we visited the Otago University -- beautiful Scottish architecture. We rode a bus home.

... happened to be the weekend of the Undy 500. This is a very popular student car rally from Christchurch to Dunedin held every year. We were told on arrival that 2008's rally had been officially cancelled after the 2006 and 2007 events &#8220;descended into chaos&#8221;. Now this is the kind of place I like to spend my weekends. The Friday night we arrived, according to the paper the following morning, 'Five hundred students set fires, threw bottles at riot police ...

... landscaped, had a mini pitch n putt course, heated indoor swimming pool and sauna and actually gave us basic things like towels and cutlery. Plus there was a big supermarket across the road so we got to cook some yummy dinners. <br><br>Dunedin itself has a big Scottish / Gaelic influence and is set on the side of a volcano. However it hasn&#8217;t erupted in 10 million years so it&#8217;s pretty safe. Our first day we got to visit ...

... bitten countless times by everything from mosquitos to sandflies. Anyway he gives us money to hot wash everything, dry everything in the dryer, and instructs us to leave our backpacks outside overnight before going into next room. Relieved we still have our stuff albeit infested we make our way - onwards and upwards. I'm itching all over - is it in my head? Ironic that we travelled through Nepal, India, SE Asia and did not knowingly encounter bedbugs!

... across a pass before getting to paddle on a perfectly calm glassy arm of the sound with the towering mountains poking out of the clouds as they burnt off slowly. The wind picked up and the group of 4 kayaks we were with was transformed by the addition of a sail from our guide tied to two paddles so that when we rafted up we could speed on back to the jetty. I feel guilty for already having moaned about the sandflies as here they were 100 times worse ...

... Cadbury Chocolate Tour... for me, it made up for us missing halloween... we walked around the places with bags open for the free chocolate bars that were given out. all in all, it was very informative and pretty much one big sugar rush... but in the middle of journey into a diabetic coma, i did learn a couple of things... first off, hernando cortez was the main person responsible for bringing chocolate into europe... when he conquered ...

... from Sheffield and had a very entertaining evening ending in several glasses of port and a late night. The next day the sun came out and we looked around the impressive gardens and the castle, small but interesting, before driving up the peninsula to join a boat tour - only 12 of us. Brilliant skipper who was the nature guide as well. On the way out we came across 3 pods of Dusky Dolphins, a trio of Sea Lions and several Fur ...

... untendrin und der wiederum war mit der Regenhuelle umspannt. Also eindeutig zuviel Aufwand um nur ein Bild zu machen. Ich hoffe ihr versteht das =). Im Hostel angekommen, haben wir witzigerweise erst mal Kim wiedergetroffen. Sie ist am Sonntag aus Christchurch weg, wollte eigentlich nach Oamaru (ein Stueck vor Dunedin von Christchurch aus), hat aber verpasst aus dem Bus auszusteigen und ist einfach mal illegalerweise weiter nach Dunedin gefahren. Ja, so hatten wir drei uns wieder! So, da ...

... Otago penninsula. First stop was Larnach Castle, built in the 1870's, where we got a hearty breakfast (fry-up) in a disused stables. We took a walk around the grounds and wandered through the native plant trail learning all about the local flora and plants - how cultural. We continued further and drove along a windy road, right on the water's edge, until we came to the end where the albetross colony resides. Having seen enough on our boat ...