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Published: December 27th 2006
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Santa!
Dunedin's santa parade Merry Christmas!
Sorry we have been so slack about our blogs, but in the past few weeks we haven't been doing too much that merits an entry. Kirsty has been working hard during the week at her speech therapy job, and I have been learning all sorts of things about the specialty foods business. The cafe that I work in sells products from all over the world, and most of it are things that I have no idea about. I am constantly asking the other staff to translate into kiwi for me, and they all find me very amusing. I usually work saturdays, so most of the time we only have sunday to explore the area.
That said, we have been up to a few things, and have seen some pretty cool stuff. Since it has been so long since our last entry, what I am going to do is post one entry for the things that we have been doing in Dunedin, and another for our recent trip to Queenstown.
So...
In the past few weeks, Kirsty and I have continued our exploration of Dunedin and Otago, and we both have been finding that the area
Our Flat
We are on the bottom left. is really growing on us. The people are really friendly, and the city feels like a small town, very accessible and warm (although not always in the temperature department.) We watched the Santa parade, with all the local floats and bands. It even felt a bit like home as we were in hats and gloves in the chilly weather. (It is supposed to be summer here you know!)
A few weekends ago we continued our exploration of the local beaches and checked out Allan's beach. This is on the peninsula, slightly farther up than sand fly bay, and a shorter walk as well. Like most of the other beaches we have been to, Allan's had wonderful coastal scenery, and beautiful soft white sand. Unlike the others however, this beach seemed to have its own surly bodyguard. As we walked north to take a look at the sea cliffs, a Sea Lion came up over the dune and apparently didn't like what we were doing. He started down after us and chased us halfway down the beach. At first Kirsty thought he might just come over to play, and we snapped some good pictures as he came closer, but then
Our View
From our flat down at the city and the harbor. Thats the peninsula in the background. we decided to heed the warnings and set off in the other direction. After a few minutes he forgot about us, and chased some surfers away from their gear that they had left on the dune. They were attempting to get their boards and wetsuits back from him, as I was trying to distract the big guy. He didn't seem to be buying it. Eventually he seemed to lose interest, and he set off into the dune, maybe setting up another ambush for the next unwary tourists who happened to come along. I read later that this time where the cubs are being born, and they can get very protective of their "nesting" areas. By the way, they are a lot faster than they look. I felt a bit like the late great "croc hunter," putting myself in harms way to get these shots. (May he rest in peace)
Last weekend we set off on another adventure as we booked ourselves into a train trip heading up the Taieri river gorge. This used to be the main line heading into the gold fields of Central Otago, but is now the largest privately owned rail line in the southern hemisphere.
Surly the Sea Lion
This is the guy who chased us around Allan's beach It leaves from the beautiful central rail station here in Dunedin, and makes its way north into some ruggedly beautiful country. The train is run by enthusiasts, a lot of them volunteers, and we heard some interesting stories of the pioneers of the region as we wound our way up the Taieri river. We crossed many bridges and viaducts, one of them is the largest wrought iron structure in the southern hemisphere (the biggest in the north is the Eiffel tower.) After a few hours and some stops to get off and stretch our legs, the train headed back down the gorge back into town.
Last week I took one of my days off to head out to the harbor mouth to "the mole," a breakwater that extends out from the western edge of the harbor mouth, and which is across the water from the lighthouse and albatross colony at the head of the peninsula. I got some good pictures of southern fur seals, and luckily didn't get chased around.
For Christmas Kirsty and I decided to get out of town. She had some time off, and the Cafe I work in closes from the 24th through the
8th of January. We decided to head up to Queenstown in central Otago. It is the number one resort destination in New Zealand, and if you have ever seen anything about this country, it was probably about Queenstown. For Information and pictures about this check out the next blog.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Talk to you soon, Kirsty and Rob
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