Today, having finally realized that I was at the ocean, I did what I'd usually do there and got up to watch the sunrise. There was a belt of cloud on the horizon, so I did not actually get to see the sun rise out of the sea, but the cloud colors were striking and it made a good start to the day. At 9 a.m., I walked down the seaside path in the other direction, away from the historic Art Deco district. The first place I encountered was Marineland of New Zealand. I had, actually, seen and investigated Marineland a couple of days ago; it's right across the street, diagonally, from the YHA. Marineland was closed indefinitely to the public in 2008. New Zealand's Department of Conservation objected to the keeping of dolphins in captivity.
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