New Zealand

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March 10, 2009

Here is a long delayed report of the last few days. March 8 dawned over and dismal as we sailed into Milford Sound in Fiordlands National Park on the southwest coast of New Zealand. Our crossing of the Tasman Sea was rough but I found out that I am a pretty good sailor. The bonus of a rainy day in Milford Sound is the hundreds of cascading waterfalls. There is little topsoil and the runoff from rain in quick and brief. We benefited from the rain but also suffered from the low clouds and mist and did not sea the glacier. Given my choice I think I prefer the waterfalls. I would attach some pictures (I’m sure they are magnificent) but my digital camera died. No downloads and for the last two days I either had no camera at all or a disposable. Never mind. Just think high granite walls, sparse vegetation and waterfalls to blow you away.

March 9, 2009 found us in Dunedin, one of the southernmost ports on the south island of NZ. The entry to the port is beautiful. On the port side is the Otago Peninsula and Cape Saunders, to starboard is Port Chalmers where the vessel docks and to the west is the City of Dunedin. A drive from the port to the Albatross Colony the tip of Otago was interesting and beautiful. The day was blustery and overcast, certainly raincoat weather but we were warm in the van with Anthony our driver and in for treats.
Gardens and wildlife were the order of the day. The gardens at Larnach Castle were lovely, less dramatic than they must be in spring and high summer, but still lovely. From there we went to view the Yellow-eyed penguin. It was molting season and the penguin’s feathers were slowly growing back. When they are in molt, they cannot go to sea and feed. They depend on feathers to keep them warm in the water. So, they stay ashore and live off of the fat of their bodies for about four weeks until the feathers grow back. Needless to say, during this time they stay quiet and conserve energy until they can go to sea and feed again. We saw eight penguins but they were sleeping and hard to photograph. Just as well as this is when my camera died. Tried changing batteries, no go! My fellow tourists promised to send me their pictures. I can’t even download pictures to my computer.
Next on the agenda was the only breeding Royal Albatross colony in the world. These are magnificent birds with a wingspan of nine to eleven feet. They breed in NZ, then fly to Chili. Back to NZ for breeding which they do every two years. These birds spend 80% of their time at sea.
Back into the warm van for a wonderful ride from the colony at the point of the peninsula along Otago Harbour, Company Bay and Victoria Channel, back to the Volendam in time for dinner.

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