All along the Eastern coast

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And a rather odd New Years Eve it was.

I went down to the local bar to have a drink, walked in on a heavy metal/grunge band playing their own version of Gangsta's Paradise, and got chatted up by a local sheep and beef farmer who, after exchanging about 5 sentences, started asking for my number. Not sure what he wanted to do with it, as he'd just told me the furthest he'd travelled so far was Christchurch.



On the first day of the new year we made our way to Dunedin(our first stretch of motorway since Auckland!!), to a campsite in Portobello, on the Otago Peninsula. It was a lovely sunny day, and we got there early in the day, so we did some washing, hung it out to dry and went off to visit the Royal Albatros Centre. The reserve is on the headland of the peninsula, and as we made our way there we noticed a big cloud of mist hanging over the water and land. The rest of the peninsula was bathed in sunlight, the mist dissolved as soon as it got a bit further inland.

We had a little lecture on albatrosses(albatrice?) and then went out the back of the building to see them nest. Unfortunately there were only 3 nests visible from the observatory this year, AND it was misty. So we basically didn't really see a thing. Still, pretty interesting to learn some albatri facts. For instance, after leaving the nest as juveniles, they don't come back to dry land for 5 to 7 years. They hunt and sleep, all at sea. The tour lady told me it was pretty funny to see them land after so many years at sea, they need a while to get their 'land legs' back.

The rest of the day was spent putting washing away, sunbathing and wishing Europe a happy new year.



After a quick stop to walk up the steepest road in the world(Baldwin Street in Dunedin) we drove up the coast to Oamaru. I had my eye on a campsite right in the harbour, which had penguins coming through in the evening on their way to their nests. Unfortunately they were fully booked, so we ended up a bit further into town. We didn't spend much time there, but quickly made our way to Bushy Beach, where you can observe yellow-eyed penguins coming back to their nests in the early evening. About 20 cars were parked by the entrance to the path up to the observatory, and about 40 to 50 people were patiently waiting with binoculars and big cameras with massive lenses. There was also a small path going down to the beach, with signs everywhere saying to please not go down there after 3 pm, so as not to disturb the penguins.

We stood there for about an hour and a half, breathlessly staring down at the beach, and spotted one penguin in the distance, until 2 COMPLETE IDIOTS overlooked the cars, the people and the signs and had made their way down to the beach for an evening walk. No way any penguin was going to show up now. We left, and I hope someone punched these 2 twats in the face when they got back up.

We moved on to the harbour, where the blue penguins have their colony. At the sanctuary you can book a seat to see the penguins come home and also get some information on them. It was very commercialised, with a lady talking over a microphone, and stands with seats alongside the path the penguins take to get to their manmade nest boxes. Also, about 60% of the people in the stands were Asian, so after one group of penguins had landed on the beach and made their way up, they all started leaving. It was an amazing experience though, to see all the penguins waddle past, quacking away, meeting their partners and chicks. We stayed until it we were chilled to the bone and it was pitch dark, and while we made our way back to the parking area we met more penguins on the side of the road and in the bushes, who obviously did not get the memo about the nest boxes in the sanctuary.



The 3rd of January was a wet one. It rained, it was cold, it was windy. We didn't really want to venture far from our warm camperhome. So we drove to Lake Tekapo, windshield wipers on full speed, and found out when we got there that the campsite was full. They did have an overflow area with unpowered sites, with use of the facilities in the campsite included. We took it, and I packed a small bag and went to the Hot Springs down the street. Not really springs, but basins with chlorinated water, and extremely busy(the red-faced monkeys in Japan sprang to mind), but it was still nice to spend the afternoon floating in warm water and sweating it out in the sauna.

When we woke up the next morning it was bright and sunny, and it turned out that the overflow area is actually the best place to be because it's right at the lake's edge! We ate breakfast with the most amazing views, then went to check out the famous little church you see in all the pictures. Unfortunately it was swarmed by busloads of Asian people taking selfies, so we decided to drive on to Lake Pukaki instead. OMFG. The. Most. Beautiful. Lake. In. The. World.

Bright blue water, green forests in the front, Mount Cook and other snowpeaked mountains in the back. Breathtaking.

We drove along the lake for a bit, and had a lovely walk along a deserted beach. We had lunch, and then finally started making our way towards Christchurch, and, unfortunately, our long way home.

We stopped at a campsite in Geraldine, and were surprised by the charme of this little town. It had a lovely little town centre with nice shops, and the campground was in the centre but still very green and friendly.



Today we drove up the coast to Banks Peninsula, where we have a site booked for 2 days in a campsite up on the hillside, overlooking Akaroa(I can see the lights twinkling down in the harbour as we speak). Here we want to spend our last full day chilling out and enjoying the sun. Tomorrow we will have to start facing the reality of packing suitcases, finding out what we have to do with Bertha before we hand her back in, what time we have to be where, and lastly, start our monster of a 40 hour journey. ugh.....



So my next blog will be from good old Limbricht! Of course I'm gutted the journey is almost over, but I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone again! x

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