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Published: February 2nd 2008
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The trip to Dunedin on the east coast was a long one. It is so funny how the AA travel times differ from our time. It told me we would be traveling 285 kilometers and it would take 4.5 hours. It may have been 285 km but we took a wee bit longer to get there, aye. We left early and stopped in Arrowtown just outside of Queenstown for some breakfast. This was the place Bill Gates and family chose to spend the Christmas holidays. It is very quaint town with most of the original buildings from the mid-1800’s. We ate in an old saloon on a deck overlooking the Arrow River. You can pan for gold there still.
Driving towards Dunedin took us through a much flatter terrain than we were used to driving. There were mountains to the north and south but the road was relatively straight and flat. That being said, the views around us did not disappoint. We followed an icy blue river that was interspersed with stacked rock cliffs. Some areas reminded me of Arkansas (except for the water color). Most of the little towns in this area were home to several thousand gold miners
that came from all over the world seeking fortune. That boom only lasted about 40 years leaving some towns surviving and some that seem to be on their last breath. Sheep are still prevalent and the closer you get to Dunedin, the more fruit orchards you see. PYO (pick your own) peaches and cherries were available every few miles. The air around us smelled wonderful!
Arriving into Dunedin in the late afternoon on a Sunday would make you believe that it is one of the towns struggling to survive! Most sidewalks in New Zealand roll up at 5pm, but on Sunday afternoon there is nothing going on at all. We checked into our hotel and decided to head out to the peninsula to see what was happening out there. Now, the road that circles around the peninsula is about ten feet wide! And my car is about 9 1/2 feet wide! And we were traveling in the outside lane, right next to the drop-off that would be the sea wall. We decided to take a short cut to the middle, far away from the scary water, and check out Larnach Castle. Now all we had to deal with was
Dunedin
Heading out to the Otago Peninsula the incredible cloud cover that we had driven into. That, along with the creepy gnarled trees growing over the road gave the whole drive a spooky feel. (Mark: think of Jack Nicholson in The Shinning. "Red room, Red Room!") Of course, we found the castle closed for the night. Have we mentioned our propensity to be off NZ schedule? We have missed several meals because we miss the ‘noon till two’ kitchen hours. It’s not like you can just run in a Chili’s and get a burger anytime. Well, we needed to get out of the clouds and into an area where we could relax for a little bit so… we headed to the beach. All of our nerves were just settling down and everyone was feeling the vibe when all of a sudden, a dark shape surfaced right next to one of the surfers on the beach. It was a huge seal feeding in the surf! It moved along, only interested in dinner, but the two surfers who we had been watching were quick to exit the water. That was enough to keep Ben off his surfboard for the evening! We ended the night with a dinner downtown, watching
a cricket match and trying to figure out how the heck they score that game.
In the morning we headed back out to the peninsula in search of Royal Albatross and Yellow-Eyed Penguins. The Royal Albatross Centre is located at the peninsula’s eastern end, Taiaroa Head. This is home to the world’s only mainland royal albatross colony. Albatross, you say? Are they interesting at all? The answer to that is YES. Very. None of us knew anything much about the albatross aside from it being a big bird. This tour taught us many interesting facts including: The Royal Albatross has a wing span over 3 meters - that is almost 10 feet! They can fly at speeds up to 60 mph! The best thing about them? They mate for life! And they work as a team to raise their children. Their lifecycle goes something like this: They hatch and hang out at the nest, gaining so much weight that they can hardly move. At this point the parents put them on a strict diet and they loose the weight and start learning to use their wings. The parents leave separately and the chick finally gets the nerve to jump
off the cliff too. At this point, the chicks spend the next four to five years at sea, waiting to reach mating maturity. The teenagers return to the colony to have ‘parties’ where they stand around and flap their giant wings and cry out to each other. Once they mate, they always return to the colony and somehow find each other in the crowd. They live in wedded bliss to 60+ years of age. (Mark - We accidently picked a good day to do this. The wind was blowing 30-35 knots. When it is windy the adolescent albatross practice flying. We observed seven or eight flying around us. When they tire, they meet up with each other on the beach and socialize, much like human teenagers.)
Next to the Albatross colony was a small cove full of fur seals and sea lions. A big guy was guarding the entrance so we had to sneak around him to look at the little ones swimming around the beach. I have read where these guys are a lot faster than you would think so I was keeping my distance. Ben on the other hand was keen to get the best picture possible
so he was right up in the middle of the pack.
Next stop was the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Conservation Reserve. Through a system of trenches and hides, you can view the penguins trekking up from the beach (a very long way for such a little and legless bird), nesting and if you are lucky like us, having a hissy fit right in your face. These little guys, aka hoiho, are some of the most rare penguins in the world. There are only about 4,000 left on earth and the majority live right here in NZ. The chicks don’t look anything like their parents who have a yellow band around their heads like Batman. The chicks are fat little blobs of brown fur, sometimes even outweighing their dads. (Mark - Much like their human counterparts. Just Kidding.)
After all this touring, what could we do but head to the nearest pizza joint and feed the beast (the beast being Ben Robbins). This particular pizza joint was covered in American paraphernalia and hosted a menu filled with aptly named pies. Ben chose the Homer Simpson, complete with spaghetti and pineapple. The rest of us had NYC’s best.
Before we could
leave the city, we were told we must take in the Dunedin train station. We packed up early and thought we could catch breakfast at the café there. Nope. It was closed. What was I thinking? It was a Tuesday. Just when we thought we could not possibly see another thing in Dunedin, we remembered that this was the home of the world’s steepest street. It does not look steep to the naked eye (it is supposedly 19 degrees) but tell that to the little kid who ran down it while we were there. He came screaming down the street with panic written all over his face. He had so much momentum that he could not stop. He finally slowed himself with the bumper of my van and then nearly died in the street right next to our van. Well, not really died-died, but burned his little bare kiwi feet. (Mark - Sarah picked him up and carried him off the street to a patch of grass. I think his feet were smoking.) The paramedic who came over to check him out rendered him ‘fine’. He said, "You know what is wrong with your feet, aye? You ran down Baldwin
Street. Don't do that again, aye mate?". Then his parents told him to get up and get to the car. That is how they grow 'em up tough here! My kid would have had ice bags, a Happy Meal and me keeping the ice cream flowing for a week. Oh - so that's what I did wrong...
On to Christchurch. 226 miles and 5 ½ hours. Whatever.
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Cindy Holland
non-member comment
Great blog!
Hi Sarah! I have spent part of the day reviewing the NZ info you sent me with the links, etc. and reading your blog. It is overwhelming because there is so much to see and do. The great info/advice on your blog and the info you sent has helped me focus a bit more. Sounds like it will take a bit to get used to driving a camper van under these circumstances. I remember it was tense driving in Ireland. I am not sure that you ever get used to it. I did not know that your husband is a radiologist. I am a VP at Arkansas Children's Hospital and radiology is one of the areas under me. Thanks for you help! Cindy