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Published: March 17th 2009
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Dunedin
Cafes' on the Octagon - central downtown Monday 16th of March -
“You can’t be a country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of football team … but at the least you have to have a beer.” Frank Zappa
I guess you would have to call Speight’s the beer, since they are by far the most widely promoted. Dunedin is the home of Speight Beer. Today is tour day, however my allergies are never predictable so I opt for the other tour in Dunedin, the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Chocolate has never been known to make me sneeze and it is nutritious. It takes about an hour is semi-interesting and you leave with several candy bars. My next stop is the University of Otago. It has a very eclectic campus with a good blend of the old and super new architecture. One of the reasons I had come here was to get sweatshirts for the grandkids. I could only find one small shop in the Union that sold t-shirts and I soon discovered that there were no kids shirts to be found. Well, no self respecting college, let alone high school in the U.S. would be without their promotional
paraphernalia. Marketing alert, marketing alert! In my travels I have noted several other similar situations where there is a market for good quality “stuff” Not the usual “New Zealand” or “Kiwi” screen printed on a T, but good quality merchandise with a specific target. The Central Otago logo I mentioned from yesterday is a good example of what can be done. It’s not the next Microsoft but someone could make a decent living on this. Getting late so I am off to see the Otago Peninsula. Driving out the harbor road I pass through a couple of small villages and a sign to Larnach Castle. As the road climbs up the hill I think I’m in for a treat however when I get to the entry gate to pay for the tour the castle is nowhere in sight. Sorry sports fans, I am not in the mood to pay to see this castle. I’ll save that for my trip to Europe. Down the hill and on to Portobello. This is not the Portobello in Jimmy Buffett’s song Cowboy in the Jungle. It is a quaint little place so I stop for a late lunch. Ridgeline Rd. do not miss it.
Again those prone to “issues” with one-lane roads and steep inclines might not want to do this one, but for those who do, the views are breathtaking. Back in Dunedin I find an Internet café downtown, file my reports and head off for the Holiday Park. Up early (5:00 A.M.) for a sunrise tour to see penguins.
Tuesday March 17, 2009
“I didn’t sleep at all last night” from Tossin’ & Turnin’ by Bobby Rydell
I was concerned about being up for the penguin sighting so I set my alarm for 5:00 and 5:10. Just in case. Our brain is good at taking instructions like “you have to be awake” unfortunately it doesn’t differentiate as to time, so I was literally up all night. I may have gotten one or two 30 minute naps. I booked with natureguidesotago.co.nz because this local couple are relative experts. They are both Scottish and have worked in animal research, particularly penguins, seals and sea lion in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and NZ. We (they only take a total of 6) are going to a sight on one end of Sand Fly Beach, the very spot I had seen from the ridge the
day before. Out of the van and down a pretty steep hill we spill out on the beach. It is dark but there is a quarter moon bright enough to walk by. We get our first sighting when much to our guide Steve's surprise there is a penguin standing in the middle of the beach. It is so dark that all we can see is a blob, but within 100 feet. You can’s shine light directly on them but he flashes just enough of him that we can see his feet (or whatever they are). A little further down the beach we come upon a very large Sea Lion, sound asleep. We skirt on by with the intention to get a better look on our return. Up some dunes we go into a sighting hut and get ready. Almost immediately we see another penguin hopping down the rocks. I took photos of all this but frankly considering the lack of light and the distance they won’t show much. In a period of about a half an hour we spot 2 more. We along with the last penguin also saw a young sea lion swim up and come out on the
beach. Penguins are wary of these guys so the last penguin just turned around and skipped back up the rocks until the coast was clear. Rush hour is over so we head back down to the beach to find the old sea lion and find him, the young one and yet another one we had not seen in the dark. The sun is up, a fur seal dives and surfaces playfully several times parallel to the shore and it has been a great morning. I clean up and head north on highway 1 to Oamaru. Just north of Palmerton I take the turn to Shag Point. Considering the English slang I will comment no further. What a sight. There must be 150 fur seals of various sizes lying on the rocks. Their color so camouflages them on the rocks that you have to look closely or wait until one moves. I probably watched them for over half an hour. Next stop, the Moeraki Boulders. I’m not sure how to comment here. The boulders are very unique yet there are so few of them that when I followed the signs and walked down the beach my first thought was that it
was some kind of joke. What it is is the fact that most natural phenomenon in NZ are so massive that a few odd rocks on a beach can be something of a let down. Got into Oamaru around 4 and had my afternoon coffee. The Old Harbour was very interesting as it is the original town. Several streets of vintage stone buildings very well revived. At this point it is getting late, I’m getting tired so I head west to Omarama, the glider capital of NZ. This road follows the Waitaki River and there are three hydroelectric dams with the resulting lakes. I arrive in time to see Southern Soaring take up three different people for flights. Tomorrow morning will definitely be fun.
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