As I type, mom and I are in the café section of the Monte Stello, of the Bluebridge ferry fleet. While the view outside is beautiful, I thought I would take this opportunity to type up some of the events mom and I have been up to since my last post……
Day 7: Monday 2 February 
We got a decently early start out of Thames in the morning and headed to Rotorua. We had stopped in Matamata for coffee and a few hobbiton photo ops – I got a decent picture of mom kissing the Gollum statue.
We rolled into Rotorua around noon, stopping first at the information center (i-site) to try booking an island tour. Unfortunately, the privately owned wildlife refuge tours were closed at the time (though we don’t know why), so we booked into a hostel – Rotorua Central Backpackers –
and decided to go Zorbing first (since dad was adamant about mom doing this). I ended up taking us past the lake on the way out of town, so we stopped and got up close and personal with the black swans. I got some excellent pictures and video of mom feeding these massive birds. Boy are they noisy!!!
When we reached the zorbing place we were told that they may not be running the dry zorb. We watched as several big plastic balls rolled down the hill – most people opting for the wet zorb. Apparently the conditions were okayed for the dry zorb, as we were told that we could sign up. So, we got our “Zorbing certificate” and then waited…. And waited…. And waited. I was getting pretty ready to jump into one of the cold water zorbs after standing in the sun waiting our turn, but eventually they called us up. Mom went first. They asked if she was nervous, she replied “It can’t be any worse than jumping out of an airplane!” With that, they helped her strap in and then gave her oversized hamster ball a push. I heard the faintest gasp-like sound as she rolled down the hill. I was next. As I was wiggling myself into the ball and getting strapped in the guy said “You have a pretty adventurous mom”. I could only laugh and agree. She is definitely up for about anything. I was strapped in, given a push, and proceeded to roll head over feet for what seemed to be a long time. I laughed and screamed all the way down. The guys at the bottom told me they could hear me the whole the way! Ha ha ha. It was excellent! Mom and I both had a blast, and of course we bought the picture CD.
Next we headed to the thermal village of Whakarewarewa. Now, I’ve lived in several tourist towns, but I’ve never lived in a town that was actually a tourist attraction! We bought tickets to enter a Maori village set amidst steaming vents and hot pools. People still live in the village and some of the residents were playing in the river as we walked across the bridge. It was really strange to be touring someone’s neighborhood! It was quite neat though, soon the walking trails had taken us out of view of the houses and laundry lines and into the thermal bush. There were beautifully colored lakes, many small mud pools, and lots of steam. We ended our tour by visiting one of the gift shops.
When we had entered Whakarewarewa, we had asked about the best Maori cultural performance to attend. We were told Mitai. So, when we arrived back at our hostel we made reservations – just in time too, as the pickup was coming in 15 minutes! Mitai proved to be a really great time. Upon our arrival we were assigned a table. The group of 6 Germans we shared the table with kept to themselves and talked in German. However, the young Frenchman (on Holiday from working in Japan) was quite sociable and easy to talk to. The entire room was welcomed in Maori and then English. There was quite a bit of humor interspersed in the explanation of the night. An Englishman was chosen at random to be our “chief” for the night – he was to be the chief of 12 nations. Our “Chief”, Nick, led us out of the room and down to a crystal clear stream. We first heard, then saw, a waka (canoe) full of Maori warriors paddling up the stream. They had deep, loud chants and moved their paddles in choreographed motions. Pictures didn’t capture the event terribly well, but it was quite neat. We then walked to a stage, setup as a portion of an old Maori village. There were warriors blowing shells and flutes while we seated ourselves. Soon, the welcoming ceremony was beginning. It started with one warrior yelling and striking poses as he threw down a branch (I’m not sure what kind of bush it came from). This was the cue for our “chief” to approach, pick up the branch, and retreat. Basically – the warrior was showing how threatening he could be and our chief was showing that he was not scared and would still like to enter the village peacefully. Next, the Maori chief came out and sat down. He had tattooed legs and face. He gave a great speech in Maori (with an English translation following). Our chief then gave his own speech of gratitude for having us in the village. I was quite impressed with our chief’s impromptu speech really! Next, we were all treated to a performance of traditional dance and war skills. It was all really interesting to watch. I took quite a bit of video with my camera, so there aren’t many pictures. To end the whole performance the Maori chief explained his tattoos (or moko). His legs were truly done, but his face was only painted. All the guests then returned to their tables and ate from the massive buffet of Hangi food. A hangi is food cooked underground, in a hole filled with warm stones – pretty much just like a Hawaiian umu (used for luaus). After dinner, us guests were given torches (flashlights) and led back down to the stream. We were told about various trees and their uses and then told to turn off our lights. We were treated to the blue/green glow of glowworms. Mom was far less impressed than she had been in Trounston, but it was still a cool sight. Flood lights were then turned on and directed into the perfectly clear pool. We gathered around gawked at the very large eels! This was really cool, because I had never seen the native eel before!
All in all, Rotorua was a good adventure – zorbing, thermal areas, and Maori culture.
Day 8: Tuesday 3 February We left Rotorua and headed towards Taupo. We had intended to get a much earlier start, but ended up arriving at Wai-o-tapu thermal wonderland at 9:30 instead of 8:30. This meant that we didn’t have much time to wonder around before we had to get back to the car and drive to the geyser, which would be going off at 10:15. The Lady Knox geyser would be unpredictable in its “eruptions” without a little help from humans, so every day at 10:15 a fun little spiel is given explaining the finding of the geyser. A biodegradable surfactant is added, and 10 minutes later – whoosh…… Well, actually it starts with a lot of foaming, leads to some water spurting up, and then the water begins shooting straight into the air. It was quite neat.
After getting pictures next to the spouting geyser, we headed back to the park and it’s walks. We missed wandering through much of the park, but still got to see some amazing views – including part of the “Champagne Pool”. I say part of the pool, because the air temperature was fairly cool, but the pool temperature was really warm – so there was a large bit of fog over the pool. We have some pictures where I look to be standing in just white fog, while others show a bit of the red rock rim and blue pool. Shortly after these pictures the rain started. We took some quick pictures of a brilliantly green pool and then headed to the car. We still had much to do in Taupo and had to get going.
On our way into Taupo, we stopped to see if we catch the Huka Falls Jet boat ride, but they weren’t running the noon tour, so we went to the prawn park next door and had some yummy bits to eat. We then headed to the Taupo i-site and arranged a hostel booking, changed into our swimsuits, and waited for our tour pickup. We had arranged, in Rotorua, to do a kayak trip out to the cliff where a Maori carving had been done. When our guide arrived, we were surprised to find that we would be the only 2 on the tour! The weather was absolutely lovely for the trip. It didn’t rain, was cloudy enough to give the occasional relief from the sun, and the wind was never strong enough to produce large waves. It was mom’s first time in a kayak – she really enjoyed it! I think she really thought being right on the water, with no engine noise, was a great way to see the lake. Especially since the lake was clear and had a beautiful green/blue color to it. We had no trouble reaching the carvings and I used my waterproof camera to take many, many pictures. We then paddled over to a nearby beach, had tea and cookies, and relaxed with the view. We took the time to check out the carvings again on our return paddle.
After getting dropped off from our wonderful trip, we headed to our hostel. We settled in, cleaned up, and then headed to town. We met my friend Andy at a lakefront bar. After giving him a hug I left him with mom and headed up to get beer. Poor Andy – left with mom right off the bat! Ha ha ha. They got on well though and we all had dinner and beers while the sun set.
(sorry no pics of the carving yet, I forgot to take the film to be developed today :-( the images are off the waterproof camera)
Day 9: Wednesday 4 February 
While we got up early, we didn’t actually leave Taupo until 11:30. I first took mom to see the beautiful Waikato river. We walked down the shores and under the cliffs where the bungy jumping platform was set. Next, we decided to try to catch the Huka Falls Jet again. This time, there was plenty of room and the tour was running. We had a nice little adrenaline rush as the boat did 360s, came near trees and branches, and headed straight for the falls. It was definitely a fun time. I can think of a couple of people that would enjoy having the driver’s job!
Next, we drove up the river and checked out Huka falls from the banks of the river. It really is an amazing sight and sound. The water is so aerated that it is a clear, bright blue. Next, we headed up to the bungy jump café. We watched several people do the dive before deciding that neither of us was ready for it. I think we were both quite convinced to do it until watching several people plummet with a scream. Mom still isn’t convinced she won’t do it later in the trip. I told her I would do it if she did (I can’t have my mom show me up!), but I am really hoping she doesn’t do it!!!! :-)
After chickening out of the bungy jump we headed to Napier – Art Deco capital (of the world?). We took a really interesting and informative guided, walking tour of the city. We learned what art deco was and how to recognize it. We learned the history of many buildings. I did all the photo taking, letting mom just enjoy the walk and information.
After the walk, we rushed over to Hasting to meet my friend Maureen. She helped us find a place to stay and accompanied us to our motel as we settled into the 2 story, spa bath equipped room. We had a bottle of wine and then headed back to Napier. We had a lovely dinner overlooking the Napier boat harbor and ending in overly decadent desserts. Back in downtown Napier we saw a beautiful fountain glowing with a green base and changing water colors. It was well worth the drive back into Napier for the fountain view.
Day 10: Thursday 5 February
Long day of driving! We had a good early start, but still had 320 km to drive before reaching Wellington. Since we wanted to explore a bit of Wellington (the capital of New Zealand) we didn’t find many places to stop. However, we did pop into the Tui brewery and buy 3 glasses of beer I order to get a free handle. Mom found her favorite beer here! We continued on and hoped to find a sheep’s cheese producer on our way into Masterton, but apparently it wasn’t as well marked as we hoped and we missed it. So – we traveled on until reaching Wellington.
We headed straight to the ferry terminal first, to make sure we knew where it was. We then drove down the main street to see what motels/hostels would be near the terminal for us to stay. Soon, I found we were in front of Te Papa – New Zealand’s National Museum. 
Everyone had told me that we had to go there, so I drove into the parking garage. The museum was MASSIVE. In the 3-4 hours we were there we only saw a fraction of the exhibits. Of course, we spent 30 minutes of it on 2 rides! The first was absolutely awesome. We were strapped into moving seats and we were various people and objects – experiencing their movements and sights through the seats and the large theater screen. I even screamed when we were a bungy jumper off the sky tower!!! Ha ha ha. The 2nd ride was far more tame but still interesting – we entered a “submarine” while the screen showed us descending to an underwater volcano and exploring the black smokers. The whole place was really neat.
We spent enough time in the museum that parking on the streets was free. So, we parked and headed over to the hostel across from the ferry terminal. They had one twin deluxe room - bunk beds with a private bathroom/toilet attached. We took it – the town was filling up fast with people in town to attend the rugby sevens and party away the holiday weekend. We could hear and see people already celebrating the weekend. Of course, there just isn’t words to describe the sight of 6-7 grown men dressed in hot pink ballet outfits – tutus, leg ribbons, and all!
After settling in, mom took her camera and we headed down the waterfront. Mom got pictures of interesting buildings while I made sure she wasn’t in traffic. Finally we came to a place that looked like we might be able to squeeze into a table. It turned out to be the Mac’s brewery! Ha ha ha. So, we had some beers and nachos before leaving with a souvenir pint glass to add to our collection. Back at the hostel, we attempted to look at my New Zealand guide books to figure out where we wanted to head after getting off the ferry. We were both quite overwhelmed with the information, and soon gave up trying to plan too much. I was surprised at how easily I was able to fall asleep to the sound of the bar below. However, the revs of several loud engines around 3 and again at 5 roused me briefly.
Day 11: Friday 6 February
And that brings us to today. The alarm went off at 6am. Right in the middle of a great dream!!! I hate that, it makes me so groggy. We were out of the hostel at 6:30 and parked in line for ferry loading far before the 7am book in time. It wasn’t until almost 8am that we even got loaded – despite the fact that the ferry was SUPPOSED to leave at 8… Ah well, that’s how it goes with such things.
Well – we are close to docking. I best go get my first glimpse of the south island while I can still see it from the water…….
…………… The story continued:
Upon docking at the Picton ferry terminal, we disembarked and headed straight towards Kaikoura. On the way we stopped at Ohau point seal colony. We watched as the seals played, sunned, and looked right back at us. I got some excellent video and photos. This first stop proved to be the first of many seal sightings to come in the next couple days.
Upon reaching Kaikoura, we were hoping to be able to book a “swim with seals” tour in the morning, but since that trip was full we booked a “kayak with seals” tour instead. Mom had really enjoyed her Taupo lake kayak and was keen to go again. After settling in our small, but beautiful, hostel we headed up the Kaikoura peninsula. A seal colony established itself at the end of the road (top of the peninsula) after the carpark had been build. So when we arrived, there were many seals lounging in the sun. Since it’s a non-breeding colony the seals are less aggressive and a distance of only 10 meters needs to be kept from them (instead of the 20 meters on the rest of the coast). So, mom and I got the cameras and did our thing…… Soon, I was looking elsewhere while a seal I had watched relaxing in the water decided to move up the shore. When I turned 
back towards him he was almost right behind me and on the path!!!! He was looking right at me!!! I told him that I had intended to go back up that trail in order to give him space. I asked him where I was supposed to go now. His response? He just started hopping towards me!!!! (yes, hopping, how the heck else do you describe a seal moving on land?). Anyway, mom got a massive laugh at my expense as I let out a little yelp and started backwards away from this massive mammal. (My understanding is that “seal finger” – the infection contracted from a seal bite – is a nasty little injury and I had no intention of finding out!). It turned out the seal really just wanted down the path a little way – it wasn’t going after me personally – in order to get under the bushes and lay in the shade! Ha ha ha! We spent the next hour or so strolling up the peninsula walkway and enjoying the view.
Day 12: Saturday 7 February
We woke up early, packed up the car, and headed into town to meet our kayak pickup. The pickup was a bit late, but the kayak launch was pretty smooth. Mom and I had an excellent time kayaking, I think it was the very first time I’ve ever kayaked in the way, way open ocean!!!! Hmmm, no, I suppose I did in Hawaii too – but the waves and surf was nowhere near as intense in Hawaii as it was on this day. Once we rounded the rock outcropping sheltering us from the big rollers, mom and I found ourselves getting splashed with breaking waves. We paddled up the large waves and then giggled as we dipped into the trough before the next wave. It was awesome!! Our guide pointed out a “little blue penguin” that was diving around nearby. We both got a good view, though we would have preferred continuing to watch the little thing. Unfortunatly, another kayak paddled right over it after it dived – the joy of being in large tours. While we greatly enjoyed the kayak itself, particularly half surfing the waves on the way home, the New Zealand fur seals decided not to join us in the water. We could see a few of the lazy mammals lounging on the rocks around us, but apparently they were staying quite cool enough from the stiff breeze and didn’t need a dip in the chilly water.
We left Kaikoura and headed towards Christchurch. It was a really good day of driving, as in we were driving for ages!!! Ah well, we crossed some unremarkable country of dry grain like grass and made good time at it. We took a coastal detour route to reach “cathedral cliffs”. We figured that we had both been to cathedral cove, so we should see the cliffs too. 
We stopped at the beach on our way, thinking the beach cliffs were the ones we were looking for and wondered what was so cathedral like about them. Then we continued on….. I made a sharp pull off in the “cathedral cliffs viewing area” carpark. Wow, these cliffs were definitely more cathedral like! It was basically a long and curvaceous gorge with steep brown cliffs of what looked like sandstone. The cliff sides had been worn away in a pattern that left intricately detailed columns all along the cliff face. It was really amazing, well worth the small detour!
We arrived Christchurch in the late afternoon/early evening. We found a hostel, cleaned up (we had been covered in sea salt all day from our kayak trip earlier). I texted my friend Matt (the one that had spent a week with Dave and I for Christmas), and headed downtown to meet him and his girlfriend, Mel. On our way downtown, Mom and I enjoyed the architecture of the town, particularly the cathedral featured in “cathedral square”. Matt spotted me as we approached from the cathedral, we did a silly little “slow motion” hug and then did introductions all around. Mel was so cute (nope, no pics). I knew she was going to be small, but she was even cuter and smaller in person! Ha ha ha. We had a good time drinking coffee and chatting. When the breeze picked up and brought a good chill with it we all walked around the town a bit more while chatting. I was unable to convince the broke travelers that they could accept a dinner paid by mom, so we walked them close to their van and then said goodbye. Mom and I picked a café for dinner and then hit bed pretty early – we had a long drive the next day.
Day 13: Sunday 8 February
We got an early start, heading out of Christchurch towards Dunedin. We knew it would be a long drive, but we had a cabin booked for two nights – which meant we could actually settle in one place for more than one night!!! Plus, we had a few good stops to look forward too….
Our first real stop was Oamaru. We stopped at the blue penguin colony in the hopes of catching our first glimpse of penguin. Unfortunately, the little blue penguins spend their entire day out in the ocean foraging for food. They come back to their nests at dusk, coming up the beach in the dark to avoid predators and make it to the nests where their hungry babies are. So, no penguins this time….. We walked up the trail a bit anyway, along a beautiful cliff and rock coast. However, we had much further to drive, and we had seen plenty of seals in the last day, so we headed back down the trail and to the carpark. 
Just as I was passing the boxes of penguin nests (set up by the center to facilitate nesting) I spotted one box that had white feathers scattered all about the entrance. I squatted down and looked through the fence. To my great surprise, there was a massive fluffy penguin baby!!!! Well, I say massive – but that was in respect to the nest opening. The blue penguins are the smallest penguins in the “family” of penguins, so massive just means I was surprised at how big the baby was! Luckily, the nest was near the fence, so I was able to use my zoom to take a few pictures. I didn’t expect the pictures to come out to well, as the baby was inside the dark entrance – however, I ended up getting a stunning shot!!! I took many pics, but it was my second one that caught the baby with its eye open!!!! So, so cool!!!
We pulled our selves away from the baby hidden in a box and continued on our journey. Our next stop was the Moeraki boulders – large rocks strewn on a beach. The reason these rocks are such a tourist attraction is because they are almost perfectly round! There is a big scientific explanation for the reason they are round, but I don’t have internet access so if you’re curious you’ll just have to look it up yourself ;-) Mom and I parked the car and walked down to the beach. We were a little disappointed to find that we had arrived at high (or near high) tide. The biggest rocks are exposed at low tide, and many of the rock clusters were being washed by waves. However, we still walked down the beach, took lots of pictures, and even took off our shoes and waded around a bit. Unfortunately, there was very little area to sit and have a bit of lunch – the sand next to the cliffs was about to be under water. We were about to sit on some flattish rocks off the cliff, but the flies were swarming so badly that there was no way we could settle. So, we walked back towards the car and camped out on the beach where there was actually dry sand a bit away from the surf.
Our next stop down the road to Dunedin was Shag Point. Shags are a sea bird, commonly called cormorants in the states. They are found all over the coast of New Zealand. Shag point didn’t make any mention of shags, but it does have a colony of seals. We ignored the seal colony and walked a bit down the coast in the hopes of getting a glimpse of a few resident yellow-eyed penguins. While we were treated to a grand view, we were a bit too early in the day to spot one of the penguins. We gave it a good 15 minutes of enjoying the view, but not one flipper was spotted. We did see a seal swimming about and playing….. Apparently, the New Zealand fur seal doesn’t eat penguins. I find this quite surprising, but it must be true in some areas, as the seal colony was literally right in front of the penguin colony. I was sure the seal was cruising for an early meal, but apparently it’s the sea lions that eat the penguins…..
Eventually, our drive finally came to an end – on the Otago Peninsula, just outside Dunedin. The Otago peninsula is a place I have been dying to see ever since I made plans to visit NZ. It is home to many penguins, many seals, and lots of birds. It’s basically an animal lover’s paradise. So, it worked out lovely that mom and I decided to stay at a cabin at a holiday park on the peninsula. We drove straight through Dunedin and to our holiday park. We checked in, settled down, and then decided to head up the peninsula and see what was going on. Our receptionist gave us some tips about where we might see penguins – well, gave us tours that might work, she seemed quite surprised to hear that I had friends that had seen penguins just wondering around (I am now very much wishing I had gotten more detail on were said friends had been standing/walking when they saw these penguins).
So, we headed up towards the tip of the peninsula and soon found ourselves at the end – where the royal albatross center is located. It’s also where the road turns into private land. These land owners just happen to have a tour operation going and we just happened to have their brochure. So, I gave them a ring (on their free call number from my cell phone) while we were at the gates. She said they were leaving in 5 minutes. I would like to say that I haven’t driven gravel roads faster, but that would a be a lie. I drove the gravel roads out of the Thames Kauraunga valley really, really fast during the flooding rains. Anyhow, I drove up the road at a good speed and made it just in time to catch the last tour of the night. Which worked out great for us, and really good for them – since it filled out their tour to the last seat. We drove around on 8 wheel drive vehicles over some fun and bumpy dirt roads. Our first stop with the tour was a visit to a spotted shag (cormorant) and NZ fur seal colony. It was really quite funny, since they didn’t tell us the birds were there first. So, we all go wondering over to the edge of the platform to look down the cliff. While there was a bit of surf and water swirling the seaweed below, there were also a bunch of birds just hanging out on the rocks right next to the platform siding! It was really quite funny! 
We stopped a little way further down the road for a closer look at the seal colony. We weren’t able to go down the enclosed blind for this section, since it was currently occupied by a little blue penguin! The penguin was taking advantage of the large man made shelter to spend the next 3 or 4 days out of the elements while it molted. It would then return to the ocean and continue feeding. Our next stop on the tour was the yellow eyed penguin colony. Obviously they couldn’t guarantee that any penguins would be around, but since it was so late in the day we were really hoping. We walked down a long, steep, enclosed blind. We were told to be very quite so as not to spook the birds. Our guides were pretty stoked at the turn out of birds on the beach, I think they counted 15 at least! Of course, we could only see about 6 or 7 with the naked eye, since the others were way, way down the beach. We were able to see a couple come in from the ocean! I wish I could say that I got great video footage of the penguins doing penguin things, but the best footage I got was a short clip of one of them shaking their tale!! Which, I can’t complain about, as it’s cute as anything! I just wish I had kept videoing after the shake!!! Ah well, it’s a pretty shaky video anyway, since it’s on major zoom…. But – here it is for the curious…..
In general, the penguins were quite boring to watch! They were absolutely adorable, but really, they just stood there!!! There was one that did do a bit of walking, and it just killed mom and I to see his little tracks in the sand. And then, one penguin that was really high up on the dune did lay down. Unfortunately, I didn’t see him go from standing to laying, but I did a picture. It was a really neat tour, we felt quite fortunate to see these rare penguins just doing their regular old, boring thing – just like any other animal on the planet ;-)
After the Nature’s Wonders tour we stopped at the albatross center. We were lucky to grab one of the sandwiches the closing café had left over. We ate outside as we watched the seagulls and occasional albatross fly by. We didn’t spend much time at the center, as it was near closing and mom and I had seen albatross in Hawaii together. We contemplated going down to the beach below the center, but it was steep so mom wasn’t real keen, and I was tired so I wasn’t going to try to persuade her. Instead, we headed towards home. On the way, we caught a decent sunset reflecting off the out-going tide. We spotted a bunch of birds feeding on the exposed mud flats, but it took us a good minute to realize that they were white spoon billed birds. So I pulled off the road and we went back for a better look. I took pictures while mom sat on a rock and watched them. I swear she could have sat there for hours! Eventually we headed back and continued on our way. Before reaching our lodging, I took us on a detour to the other side of the peninsula. The road passed by some beautiful inlets and bays and took us up to private property overlooking some spectacular coast lines. With such good views, it’s no wonder the grass raised stock tastes so good!
Day 14: Monday 9 February
When we woke the next morning, it was to a chill temperature and a misty sky. By the time we were on the road towards toward New Zealand’s only castle we were driving in the clouds. We arrived at Larnach’s Castle really early. The gates were still closed! I had turned around and was about to leave when it occurred to me to check when they opened and closed. While we were debating what to do – go into Dunedin and check out the town and catch the castle in the evening or wait until the castle opened – I looked into the rearview mirror and saw that the gates were now open! I had a chat with the gate keeper and he told me that the castle staff was all set, so we were welcome to go in anytime we were ready. We got the best parking possible, as we were the only car there. We took pictures of the castle in the mist before entering and starting a self-guided tour. Photos of the interior are prohibited, but we took heaps of photos of the castle and its gardens. Plus mom bought a set of postcards that show the interior. It was really neat to see how much detail went into the place. The ceiling of the foyer took 6 years to carve!!!!! Wow! Oh, and it’s really much less of a castle than it is a mansion. It must be called a castle because of the stone exterior and the one tower. Mom and I had tea and cakes in the castle café. If it hadn’t been for bus load after bus load of tours mom and I might have actually felt like we lived there – well, the tourists didn’t stop mom from pretending anyway ;-) The clouds lifted enough before we left for us to catch a bit of the view below the castle – the inlet between the mainland and the peninsula we were one. We could only imagine the views that a clear nice day would offer!!
We spent a good 3 hours wondering the castle and its grounds before leaving the peninsula and heading into Dunedin. We parked in the railway station parking lot, so the station was our first stop. It’s a gorgeous old building with remarkable tile work inside and lots of architectural detail. It seemed to take ages for all the people to clear the floor in order for mom and I to take photos from the balcony. Outside, the building is massive, but we only got to tour a small section. We never did make it to the whiskey bar housed in one section…..
After wandering town a bit, we headed to the Cadbury chocolate factory for our scheduled tour. We perused the intricate displays for a bit before being herded into the movie room – where we were given a brief history of the company and an overview of how it works. We then donned hair nets, removed all jewelry, and headed into the factory. The smell of chocolate permeated the air! I imagine that people that work there don’t want a chocolate cake for their birthday! The tour wasn’t terribly impressive. The factory was in between holidays – they had finished their Easter egg production and were assembling machinery for some other treat. We did see a few packed boxes trundle by to the warehouse, saw lots of wrapped candy bars get lined up for boxing, and saw the occasional worker going about what seemed to be a mind numbing job. We followed our fast talking tour guide around the building, quickly walking past the large informational boards that seemed to be there for informational purposes but were never read because of the fast paced tour. Our guide would occasionally hand out chocolates to the those who could answer a “quiz” question and sometimes even us quite ones got free chocolate from a bowl and into the sack they had given us – as if it was Halloween. At the very end of the tour was the finale. We walked up quite a few stairs in order to stand in front of a rail surrounding a large chocolate covered hole. Our guide directed our attention towards the ceiling above the hole. Soon, a large jaw like container opened; spilling about a ton of chocolate into the hole in front of us. I must admit – the chocolate fall was quite neat to see. I had never heard of it, so I wasn’t expecting it. The only way out of the tour was through the gift shop – of course. We loaded up on chocolate bars and checked out. I was sure the bill was going to be outrageous, but apparently factory direct really is cheaper! I dang near went back for more ;-)
We exited the Cadbury factory to find a good amount of drizzle coming down. We headed to the i-site in order to book our lodging and tours for the next leg of our journey. When we finally emerged with a cabin booking for 2 nights in Te Anau, a day cruise in Doubtful sound, and a glowworm cave tour the rain had gotten heavier. We picked up some sandwiches to go and ate them as we walked to yet another ornate cathedral (there had been one right next to the i-site too, the i-site itself being in a building that was also quite impressive on the outside). We continued eating as we made our way to the Speights brewery for our next tour. 
Speights is a yummy NZ beer; it’s Dave’s favorite and one I am quite fond of also. The two tour workers we talked with were really friendly, chatting about their experiences in the US and Alaska. Soon, we found ourselves in yet another packed tour. Cameras were allowed on this one (unlike at Cadbury’s), but the tour moved so quickly and each display was only lit up for a short time when the tour came to that section of the spiel that photography was difficult. Once we made it out of the displays and into the brewery pictures were far easier to take. But probably less interesting to look at ;-) The tour ended in the Speights lounge. There were small glasses of beer already poured with the main brand of speights, but once we finished those we were invited to serve ourselves from any of the taps we wished. Mom and I tried almost all of the beers, including some I had never even heard of! I was more than surprised when mom discovered she enjoyed the “old dark” beer. I always classified it as a dark, but not heavy beer. I didn’t care for the porter though. Eventually we were told that another tour was coming and we would have to leave the free beers. I bought a small serving of “old dark” ice cream and ate it on the bench in the waiting room – opting to no let the ice cream melt, but also not wanting to eat it in the rain. Oh yeah, we also loaded up on souvenirs just for Dave. Mom bought him a pair of handles (pint glasses with handles, obviously) and I bought him a beach towel. Everyone gives Dave red “Holden” gear, since it’s his preferred car brand, so I figured he need a bit of blue Speights stuff to start balancing it out ;-) For dinner we headed to the restaurant attached to the brewery. They had a recommended beer for every meal.
When we left the restaurant the rain had eased a bit, but started again just when we reached the car. We got in and started to head to our lodging. By the time we were on the peninsula the rain had died down to an occasional spit. So, we decided to try our luck with the blue penguins. We headed to Sandfly bay, where DoC (dept of conserv.) had a blind. However, when we got there we found it was going to a decent walk down the beach. We knew we might see the yellow-eyed penguins, but also didn’t want to scare them from coming up the beach, as it was perfect time for them to be out. So, we went back to the car, happy in having seen them the previous night. I then took us back to the albatross colony, where some Oregon tourists we met had seen the blue penguins the previous night. Turns out that the beach below the center (the one we didn’t go to) has volunteers on it at night, to keep tourists as much in line as possible to allow the little blue penguins get from the ocean to the nest. We arrived just in time, it was still light but nearing dark. We were only there for a minute or two when the volunteers gathered us together and told us what was going to happen. The penguins would come up the beach in a group – having been rafted out at sea together until they judged it dark enough to be safe. Once the reached the bushes they generally waited around until they judged it to be safe and then made a run for the nest. We were told to stay low to the ground – sitting preferably despite the rain – and to leave large gaps between seated groups – giving the penguins a route to move through. We really didn’t have to wait to long before I spotted a big black spot in the ocean. It was hard to tell weather it was just an odd spot in the water due to dimming day light, but it was steady in its movement towards the beach and the waves didn’t seem to break it up. Soon I saw a group of fuzzy little heads emerge from the water all in one big group. They looked so cute bobbing up the beach together, tightly packed for safety. It took me ages to get mom to see that the “rock” was actually moving and that it was penguins. The light was still good enough that we were able to see several of them hop up the rocks and into the bushes. This of course meant that everyone moved over to the fence separating us from the field they would cross. Mom and I took spots behind everyone and out of the way, knowing that many penguins had nests behind us the penguins had to get to. The crowd at the fence had to be told to sit down and to spread out. The way the people had initially arranged themselves (all wanting “front row” seats to the exhibit) produced a massive wall of dark objects that the penguins would find intimidating. After everyone was arranged we waited….. and waited….. and waited. Just when it seemed that we were all settled and quiet and that maybe the penguins would start feeling comfortable, everyone started moving. This happened over and over again – much to mom and my frustration. Sometimes the movement was to go see the baby penguin that had come out of it’s nest in anticipation of its feeding, but generally the movement was just people being restless. Some even paced between the fences (the fences being set up in an L shape – one fence on the beach, the other perpendicular going inland, giving the penguins some land without people to cross through). Mom and I were so annoyed we just wanted to scream at everyone to sit down and shut up (which of course, the loud noise of which would have scared the penguins too). Despite the dumb tourists and their antics we were able to see 6 penguins make their way to nests. Several of these penguins came really, really close to me and mom!!!! It was so exciting. One of the little things came so close to us that we could hear the “pat pat pat” of his feet on the sand. It was so Awesome!!!! Mom and I just sat there squeezing each other’s hands and straining our eyes to see every detail in the dark. Eventually, the crowd finally began thinning and we could hear the chirps and calls of the parents and babies. We had a good talk with one of the volunteers, praising her for her ability to deal with all the ignorant people. We then decided it was time to head up – it was cold and starting to spit rain again (it had remained dry the whole time. We followed the trail back up to the road, using the lights the volunteers had set out earlier (little garden lights). Mom was in front of me and I was holding her hand and making sure she had good footing. As we passed by one light I caught site of a fuzzy little object. By the time I got mom’s attention to show her the penguin she had passed it had scurried under the bush. It was real cute though!!
A little over a week later, Dave took me to the 
Once I was back on the ground, physically and sensationally, I called the shuttle from my hotel and waited in the cool air – which felt really good after the warm plane (or maybe it was the wine?). Mom and I had stayed at the Sudima Hotel the night before our flight to Auckland. We had arranged for me to have a room on my way back – giving me free car storage while I was gone. The place was definitely somewhere I would never stay, but mom said it was the last thing I could put on her card – so I didn’t decline. :-) I must admit, I was a little disappointed when I found out that I was going to be staying in the same room as I had with mom. While at first it was cool, as soon as I opened the door I knew it wasn’t. I missed mom as soon as I set my bag down :-( I sucked up my lonliness and went to check on my car. No windows broken, no tires flat, and it even started with no complaints. I moved it a tad closer to the exit I would be using in the morning and found that there were no car stains on the ground below it – mint! When I went back to my room I knew what I needed – alcohol. There’s nothing like drinking alone to make a person less lonely ;-) I saw that the room service list didn’t mention wine prices by the glass, and they also didn’t sell it be the $10 bottle! So, I picked up a few beers from the bar – Speight’s Old Dark. I turned on the tellie for some company, thinking I would relax a bit before I wrote a quick blog and some e-mails. However, I never got around to paying for internet. Dave called and we chatted for a bit and then I started watching a movie – Wild Hogs. I didn’t go to bed until 12. I didn’t get to sleep until 1. 
o, I started driving. I won’t catalogue my detours, but I eventually ended up in Lyttelton. A cute little town settled at the base of some rugged mountains and on the edge of blue/green Lyttelton Harbour. I talked to a very enthusiastic man at the information center, who told me a bit about the area (it was an old volcano) and about the Time Ball – a ball on top of a castle like building that is dropped everyday at 1pm. The time ball was used to synchronize all the ships chronometers that were in the harbour – so they’re navigation would be accurate. The castle-like building was also used for signaling (via flags) with Adderley head - the bit of land at the other end of the harbour. Since the open ocean can’t be seen from Lyttelton, the ships signaled a post at Adderley head, who then signaled to the Time Ball tower. Anyway – long story short, I went and checked that out and watched the ball drop. Quite anticlimactic really ;-)
Next, I headed around the harbour, with the vague idea of walking the Adderley head track marked on the map. I found Camp Bay but was not sure how long the trail was or if we could camp at the car park. I asked a lady staying nearby, but she was just the tenant – she sent me elsewhere. When I visited elsewhere, I was sent to a lower house. The lower house was empty, but the only other occupant of the land in the area said he should be back eventually and that yes, he did own the track and yes, the council owned the carpark so one night camping should be fine. So, I set up my first night of free camp on a beautiful little bay. The rain had stopped before I arrived and didn’t make an appearance again until I was tucked in my sleeping bag. I did eventually get hold of the track owner, he did verify that it was closed. Hmmm, he really should post a notice on the track itself, as the German couple in their van wasn’t fazed about climbing over his fences.
The rocks were EVERYWHERE and most of them were MASSIVE. People were bouldering, climbing, and rappelling on many of them. From the top of one small rock, I could look down the valley (away from the road) and see the tops of rocks for what seemed to be a kilometer! It literally looked like a sea of rocks. Really amazing. 
My next stop towards Arthur’s pass was Cave Stream. I took my headlamp and cell phone flashlight (as a backup) expecting to hop in and see some glow worms. Well, there may have been glow worms, but I’m not a caver – especially alone. This cave appears to be perfect for those that are into caving though. Quite long (a kilometer or more – I don’t remember), full of water (typically waist deep), and requiring actual crawling and climbing techniques (though they do have a chain as a guide and provide ladder like handles). Yeah – I definitely wasn’t doing that. But I did do the lookout loop and check out the cave exit. The scenery was stunning, with more limestone rock outcroppings and huge, bare mountains. 
I didn’t see the birds, but I did find a nest! I took a picture and then retreated back to the car – the sign had said that scaring the birds from the nest could compromise their viability and I certainly didn’t want to be the cause of unhatched eggs! I did quietly go back to the nest later in the evening – when it had cooled and the egg temperature would be dropping – I found a grebe sitting on the nest; whew!
I woke up to a beautiful sunset! I had left one of my tent flies open, making it a bit chillier in the night, but wow was I glad I did. Without getting out of my sleeping bag I was treated to pink clouds floating in a pink sky next to a majestic mountain. The view was topped off by being framed beneath an overhanging tree limb and the sunset reflection off the lake. I was only slightly disappointed that I had not brought my camera into the tent with me – because you just can’t be unhappy when you see such a view! While the pink sky would have been the perfect time to get up, I enjoyed another hour of sleep – waking up to the sun’s warmth in my tent. 
I reached Arthur’s Pass around 11. I checked out the visitor center displays, picked up a few brochures on the walks around the park and west coast, and then got myself semi-organized. I spent a couple hours hiking 2 tracks. One led to the base of a lovely waterfall – Devil’s Punchbowl – the other just took you through the bush – 
giving you one lookout from which you could see a waterfall (bridal viel falls) really far away. I talked to a couple from Tennessee on that track, and also found that my fitness has definitely not improved since Christmas. I can’t say I’m surprised – I haven’t been all that active lately, I knew I would need several days of good day hikes to get anywhere near multi-day hiking. Luckily, there appears to be many day walks around here. (I found this bird on the bridal viel falls walk! - Tomtit?)
On my way down from Arthur’s Pass I stopped real quickly at a nature walk and photographed some plants and flowers. Next I found myself next to the Londonderry Rock walk. It wasn’t one I was bothered about seeing, but since I was nearby, and it was only 10 minutes, I figured why not. 
The massive rock is quite impressive in its size. I’m sure the pictures I took, including a couple of myself next to the rock, won’t do it justice , but oh well. It will have been worth the detour if the pictures of the bellbird come out anywhere near as nice as I think they might!
Wekas – are biggish birds (small hen sized) that wonder around eating whatever they can. They don’t fly, but I did see a little baby one make a jump and catch a bee that was hovering around the flowers. Dang, wish I had caught that on film! Cute as! They are EVERYWHERE here. I can see how they get a bit annoying, as they are quite bold (and not quite as pretty as the pukeko), but they still crack me up. Apparently they have a reputation for being thieves, as my bird book (thanks mom!) says they will take shiny objects……. Shoot, I hope they don’t manage to pull my spare key off from under my car!!!!! I’m pretty sure it’s wired on their securely ;-)
