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Published: January 12th 2006
To kick start this entry, I doubt this applies to many, but your patience has paid off waiting for some photos, as I've gone a little crazy and added over 30 of the little blighers to my previous blog. If you thus fancy seeing even more mountains, or a car-destroying parrot, just click that 'previous entry' buttom above. I figured, as this will be the last set of photos I can upload until I next put some on CD, I thought I'd treat you lucky lucky people.
So where did I finish last time? Something about looking forward to saying hello to Penguins I think. From Dunedin I went on a long nature tour to the nearby Otago Peninsula, renowned for its amazing wildlife, besides a huge 20km natural harbour. While soaking up all the facts about these animals from our young guide, we watched a small sea lion colony - both Mums, Dads and baby pups having some fun smelling of musk and learning to swim etc, before going speechless at finally seeing penguins in the wild (see photos).
Yellow-eyed penguins are the rarest species of penguin with only 8000 left in the world, but they also have a remarkable ability to swim up to 40km out to sea for food, then by means yet to be understood, can navigate their way back to the same part of the same beach, whereby they then climb up to 3km inland, and go to sleep in burrows. We always seem to associate penguins with snow, but apparently only 2 species actually prefer building snowmen, the rest feeling happier in either temperate or even tropical climates. Very patient birds, we saw a couple standing in the same spot for over an hour seemingly doing nothing - I felt I should give them a rubik's cube or something to watch on TV. But the real show came when we visited the hide, and according to our guide, saw them at closer range than most do, as less than a metre from the hide window were two penguins, completely oblivious to us and our whirring cameras. It's hard to imagine they're birds - a wonderful sight!
On the return journey, we also made a stop at the Albatross centre to try and gain a glimpse of the Royal Albatross gliding above us. Unfortunately, when we arrived, there was no wind, but after waiting a good 30minutes, it was as if God had sneezed as the winds came, and so did the glorious birds. They really are big buggers, with the largest wingspan of any bird species, up to 3.4m. Preferring to glide because their love of pies makes them too heavy to fly for long periods, they can travel up to an incredible 1000km/day, at speeds over 100kph. But what impressed me most was their extended holidays of up to 4-6years without touching land once! Spectacular birds.
As I mentioned before, Dunedin is the Gaelic word for Edinburgh, and also, a friend told me, where Aragorn's name Dunedain comes from too. Full of little facts today aren't I? Dunedin, NZ's first city due to the Gold Rush of the 1860s, is also home to the steepest street in the world, steeper than San Francisco's. This is because the crazy Scots designed the city back in Edinburgh, and then just decided to plonk it road perfect at its current location, ignoring all local topography in the process. You have to love those Scots 😉 But alas, I didn't get to see it.
Back in Christchurch, my time in New Zealand had sadly come to an end, but not before one final experience - saving the best til last, naturally. However, it appeared my flying lesson was doomed to bad weather, as defying all weather reports, it still managed to rain when it was meant to be sunny. I think the Aero Club must have got pissed off with me by the end of the day, as I rang back for the 4th time asking "Can I fly yet? Can I, can I?" But my patience paid off as the cloubs eventually lifted and I got my wish.
It was a 2-seater Piper Tomohawk that I nervously sat in, complete with beefy headphones and mouthpiece, and it looked so fragile I daren't sneeze. My trainer was about my age, just to rub it in my face at being a beginner, but was really patient and supportive. He showed me how to steer on the ground using my feet (which was a surprise to me, though makes sense if you think about it), and then let me take off, fly the plane for a nice long 45minutes, and land it again - though I admit, a little help was needed with the latter. 😊 The controls were a lot more sensitive than I imagined, though required patience also for the steering to take effect, something I don't have much of, resulting in a somewhat rocky journey to begin with; I kept thinking the plane was going to spin over either sideways or upside down - quite an unnerving experience. But I proudly admit to picking it up, which was when I opened my eyes (it helps, I feel) and saw the view of Christchurch and the mountains all around me. Besides as a shy kid begging to see the cockpit of a plane, this was the first time I've ever had to not turn my head sideways to be able to see out, and it was worth waiting for. The whole experience has definitely whetted my appetite to want to get a PPL (Private Pilot's License), where you 'only' need 45hours flying time, though at US$8000 a pop, I think I'll wait until I'm manager of Waitrose or a lottery winner first.
And then with parting sadness, I felt out on a slightly bigger plane to Sydney, leaving NZ behind, though not for long I hope, and wishing I could store her in my pocket. With 3 months already gone, as Will mentioned, this trip is moving on at an impressive pace, but lots more to see just yet. Unlike New Zealand, where to some extent, the travelling experience was within the comfort zone and despite the odd "let's-kill-myself" stunt, most experiences centred around the phrase "ooh what a lovely mountain", the rest of the trip is now going to be a lot rougher...more real, if that makes any sense. The main language now is not English, showers are not hot, and tap water cannot be trusted - but at the same time, people are friendlier, the cultures are richer and I hope I will come away learning so much more about the world, one doesn't generally experience back in Devon.
Anyways, I stopped in Sydney for what was meant to be a couple of hours. I would've liked to have stayed a couple of days, but my Round the World ticket wouldn't allow it. However, it would seem that fate was on my side, as the plane was delayed 15 hours, and I got put up in a posh hotel in the centre of Sydney for the night. And by posh, I mean an escalator from the street to reception posh! I may have arrived at the hotel at 1am, and I may have been utterly shattered, but damned if I was going to miss this opportunity. So I found a trusty map, and until 3am walked (or rather stumbled), to the two attractions every tourist falls into a trap of wanting to see - the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The majestic bridge was looming in darkness, but the Opera House was fully lit up, and despite seeing it countless times on TV etc, was far more impressive and stunning in reality. What no guide book seems to tell you is the dozens of small bat-like UFOs that constantly circle around it in an anti-clockwise direction, giving the building a magical presence.
Then finally, after a full buffet breakfast on the house thanks to Malaysian Airlines, over 1000 channels of entertainment on the plane, and a long wait, I arrived in Kota Kinabalu, for another two weeks of picking and choosing. It may be a bit before I write again, but I will try as soon as I can - but in the meantime, there's a fairly big mountain to climb (yes, I'm obsessed with them), the Warehouse tent to test one final time, and spicy food to get used to.
Sorry for a slightly factual-based blog - I hope I didn't bore too many of you. All the best,
Simon
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Carla
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OMG!!! Penguins!!!
wow, this is neat. Im so jealous...my friend just went to New Zealand for a semester...