Penguins trump pilgrims

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Well, today is Thursday, Thanksgiving Day in New Zealand (although NZ doesn't celebrate it and since we're on the other side of the International Date Line it won't happen in the U.S. until tomorrow.) Today was supposed to be one of the most uneventful days of the trip: a long drive across plains and hills to Dunedin, with very little to do or see on the way. It turned out the drive took less time than we thought, less than four hours. I took the wheel all the way to Dunedin, to make up for doing little driving the last couple of days. In the process, I inadvertently raised everyone’s blood pressure as I executed a series of near-miss maneuvers while passing the many trucks and tractors along this typical two-lane road.
Today included the “Presidential Highway”, so dubbed during Bill Clinton’s 1999 visit to New Zealand because it links the towns of Clinton and Gore. In Gore, we stopped to use one of the many well-marked public restrooms in New Zealand. We’ve become connoisseurs - this one was of the Exeloo type, an “automatic” bathroom of sorts whose door closes behind you and reopens in 10 minutes sharp to ensure your promptness. The first of these we’d encountered was on the North Island, and it actually played a lovely rendition of “What The World Needs Now” while you sought sweet relief. Of course, that was preceded by the blaring announcement that the doors would open in 10 minutes. Failing to capture a sound bite of this there, I’d obsessively entered every subsequent Exeloo in search of more beautiful Muzak. Alas, here in Gore I was thwarted once again. This one didn’t speak or play anything at all; it merely oversaw the proceedings with a sense of stoic detachment. Not only that, but after Ben and Gary took their turns it promptly shut down, excluding me and Rich from the fun.
We definitely got the feel that we’d left Touristland today; particularly in Gore we noticed that the locals stared at us as if they were unaccustomed to tourists/visitors.
In Dunedin, we checked into our hotel and took a quick look around before heading out to the Otago Peninsula for a lovely drive up the coast to Penguin Place. Penguin Place is a reserve for the Yellow-Eyed Penguin, which has been endangered by the loss of its natural forest habitat and the introduction of non-native predators. They’ve set up a large area filled with nesting boxes and a complex network of sunken walkways that enable people to move around semi-underground and observe the penguins without disturbing them. First our handsome host Toby gave us a quick primer on Yellow-Eyed Penguins and told us what to expect in the reserve. Then our guide Mark took our busload of 10 people to the reserve. Mark obviously was a knowledgeable naturalist and knew all about the various species that inhabit the area. A somewhat-annoying couple from the U.S. kept asking him about the seal on the beach, and he described in detail the physiological and behavioural differences between seals, sea lions and walruses. That shut them up. ?
Mark was so enthusiastic about seeing the penguins - it was infectious. Rich’s summary of Mark’s commentary was: “now take your time and be careful and don’t run, but…RUN, there goes one!”
We got to see one papa penguin come in from shore after fishing all day and follow him all the way back to his mate and two chicks. He and his mate engaged in a little cuddling while letting out long, plaintive wails to each other (to “reinforce their bond”, said Mark). Then we watched him feed the hungry, wailing chicks via regurgitation while his mate wandered out to sea to fish all night. It was so amazing to watch - they are very like humans in many of their behaviours.
Tonight we ate at a wonderful restaurant called Plato, where I tried a white fish called Gurnard. Yes, the first time I've had fish on Thanksgiving and quite delightful! Our waiter was very chatty and friendly - like many of the people we’ve met he seemed truly curious about us, eager to share details about life in NZ and tips on what to visit. He even knew it was the American Thanksgiving and was curious to hear about our Thanksgiving traditions.
We had to make a choice about tomorrow - see more penguins in Oamaru or take the Taieri Gorge Railway trip. After enjoying our penguin visit so much, we opted for more penguins. Can’t wait to see how the blue penguins in Oamaru compare to the yellow-eyed penguins here in Dunedin. Plus, Ben and I are looking forward to hitting the Dunedin record shops tomorrow.

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