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Published: August 6th 2007
Penguins Crossing
Just before viewing our first wild penguinsWe woke up in Christchurch and naturally started the day at one of the city's three Starbucks, but wanting to expand my horizons, I did not order the usual latte. Instead, I went with a flat white (see yesterday’s posting). I haven’t seen the flat white at a Starbucks outside of New Zealand, but it is for the moment my preferred espresso format.
Josh and I did some shopping for bike and camping gear. Astrid and the girls engaged in some power craft admiring at the local Arts Centre. Christchurch was holding a rally for VM owners. The streets were packed with VW bugs and campervans of all sorts (this triggered a rather vigorous outbreak of punch buggy). Without the corrosive effects of salted roads, the vehicles clearly last much longer here - hence the survival of many dozens of 60-70’s era VW bugs.
We ended up our day in Oamaru, as we worked our way down the eastern coast. We arrived at the ideal time to view a blue penguin breeding colony. The blue penguin is the world’s smallest penguin and they can be observed coming in from the sea to overnight in their shore nests. It was a sight to be seen. We had perfect weather for viewing. The birds, having spent all day many kms off shore, come in from the sea and preen for a while before moving en mass into the green hills.
We had dinner at the Star and Garter, new Zealand’s oldest restaurant. While it has presumably seen better days, it was a very charming place with fine food. After dinner Astrid and the kids ran “like penguins” with their knees together ( I didn’t see any knees on the penguins). The penguins would have found it very amusing.
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junior
non-member comment
VM bugs
I guess the acronym for 'Wagon' is upside down because of the southern hemisphere.