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Published: October 14th 2007
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DUNEDIN
Dunedin on the east coast is a lovely city with Scottish roots and a statue of Rabbie Burns in the city centre. The boys have booked us into a lovely motel by the beach. We have our own apartment so its great to have our own kitchen, bathroom and TV but most importantly of all it has no smelly boys staying in it :-) The TV is a great novelty and although it is hardly on we do like to sit and just look at it as if it is a new invention.
We went to the Cadburys Chocolate Factory today which was fun although there were no oompah loompas to be seen which was dissappointing. The tour itself was pretty simple but it was fun seeing the chocolate buttons being made, finding out how they make the easter eggs, watching all the Crunchies being wrapped and the Cadburys Roses being sorted out. The big finale was the huge chocolate waterfall (or chocolate fall) which we got splattered with. Its the biggest one in the southern hemisphere apparently. We got a few free samples along the way and of course bought way too much at the shop on
the way out. We had to wear protective hats which you will see in the photos, a cause of much laughter.
We then drove for about an hour out to the Otago Penninsula to the Albatross Colony and to penguin beach where the penguins come in from the water at nightfall to make their nests. We were too early so missed out on the penguins but did see the seals.
At night we headed out to an Irish pub, The Craic, to celebrate Johns birthday. He was very impressed with his birthday cake as his last one was when he was 13. We had a great night although Dunedin is very quiet during the week. The night ended with some pole-dancing but thankfully i managed to avoid being photographed :-)
Dunedin has the steepest street in the world so of course we had to give it a go. We were rightly knackered by the time we made the top but our efforts were made worth it with the certificate that we bought at the bottom to prove we had done it :-)
LAKE TEKAPO
We said goodbye to the boys in Dunedin as we are
Kaikoura
showing off! moving on up the coast. Irene and I will see them again when we are all in Australia. On the way to Lake Tekapo we stopped at Moeraki beach which has perfectly formed round boulders on it. They are a mystery as noone knows how they got like that or where they came from. We drove to Lake Tekapo for one night as its a bit far to drive all the way to Christchurch in one go. The air here is the cleanest and purest in the southern hemisphere ( note: they compare everything here to the northern hemisphere as you will have noticed). The sky is a lot bluer than normal. We drove up to Mount John for the views after coaxing the car up. The sky at night is beautiful. We are so isolated here that you get a great view of the stars and the moon. We have to hand the car back today and it takes 4 hours to drive to Christchurch so of course the car decides to pack it in and refuse to start. We phoned the AA but would have had to wait for hours for them to get to us. Eventually some
Dunedin
no we didnt run up it :-) nice fellow got us jump leads so we all had to get out and push. Once it started we were under strict instructions not to stop at all or else the thing wouldn't go again. Im suprised we made it this far!
KAIKOURA
Driving here in New Zealand can be a bit crazy sometimes. Although there is hardly any traffic, you may not see another car for miles, they have railway lines that go right across the road with no barriers or anything. So when you approach them you have to keep checking as you cross them that there isnt a train coming. They also have a lot of one-way bridges so you need to just keep your fingers crossed that you aren't going to come across anyone on the way over! We are lucky that the roads are almost deserted at this time of year.
So the weather is terrible here in Kaikoura. Its raining all the time here. I guess we have been really lucky with the weather so far as although it has been freezing at times at least it has been dry and sunny. Its a nice town but very small and takes
Lake Tekapo
views over the lake only 10 minutes to walk around. Its a very popular place as its renowned for the dolphin swimming and the whale watching. Irene and Jenny both wanted to swim with the dolphins but the trip kept getting cancelled due to the rough seas. I had already decided just to go with them and watch as Raymond and I will do this trip in Australia.
We went for a nice meal as Irene leaves tomorrow for Oz so its the last time the 3 of us will be together. Jenny leaves the day after her for America so it will be strange being back on my own again. After our meal we went to the pub for a couple of farewell drinks. We got talking to a couple of people in the pub and this guy had just come from South Africa and had done a shark dive. He showed me the video of it and it looks crazy. The cages they go down into the sea in have big gaps, i couldnt believe it. In the video you see the Great Whites circling them after they entice them with fresh meat. He said its the scariest thing he's ever
Dunedin
Padraig and I done but i really fancy doing it. Apparently South Africa is the only place where they do great white shark dives in the wild and not in Aquariums so that will need to wait till another trip!
On my last day here i walked for about 2 hours out to a seal colony which was great. I walked along the beach for part of the way and as I came closer I decided to get up onto the road as I didnt want to walk into the midst of them. However I was too late as I came up from the beach I almost stood on a big male who was under a bush and got the shock of my life when he started growling at me! On the way back I stopped at a roadside stall and bought some fresh fish which I ate there and then once the woman cooked it for me over a fire. Very tasty.
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Linz
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OOOOOhhhhhhhhh Chocolate!!
All those crunchie bars!!!!!! My idea of heaven I would have jumped right in and probably got thrown out!! :-) X