from Dunedin, NZ
But that’s alright, because we got lots of sunshine yesterday!
We’re currently in Dunedin visiting with Liz’s sister Laura, and Laura’s fiancé Nelson. We made our way down the coast from Akaroa, stopping in Oamaru for a night at a completely mediocre Top 10 holiday park. Top 10’s are supposed to be the best holiday parks around, and are priced accordingly, but I’ve been less than impressed thus far. Mostly filled with campers and sites less than a couple feet from eachother, crammed into a little grassy space with simple bathrooms and stove/sink for $26 per night for the two of us. We really need to swing by the Department of Conservation office here and grab a map with their campsites, since they tend to be much more scenic, and cost as little as nothing and at most $10. We’re more than willing to forego the kitchen and flush toilets for a bargain, a nice view and a smidgen of privacy.
Oamaru was a simple rural city of approx. 28 thousand. We went and watched the yellow-eyed penguins in the early evening as they made a very steep climb up the side of a hundred-foot cliff to get back to their nesting sites for the night. We also had a walk through the historic downtown filled with beautiful white limestone buildings and a nice church.
The drive down to Dunedin yesterday morning included a few stops along the way to enjoy the brilliant sunshine and magnificent views, as we opted to avoid the well-travelled SH1 highway and instead followed a couple of more relaxed, scenic, and local coastal roads. Upon arrival in Dunedin, a walk along the beach with Laura and Nelson was followed by wine and a filling pasta and roast vegetable dinner with some trip-planning thrown in. A night sleeping indoors on the floor of Laura and Nelson’s little rented room, along with the luxury of a borrowed pillow, provided a excellent contrast to our windswept, cold, and damp night huddled in the tent at Oamaru. This morning was swim and gym at the city’s main pool complex, which turned out to be very refreshing after a week of almost no vigorous exercise.
The plan from here is to sleep another night on the floor, perhaps heading out to the wildlife-filled Otago peninsula tomorrow. After another day or two around here we’ll be heading south to explore the Catlins coast, which is apparently less-frequented, more rugged, and more beautiful than anything we’ve seen thus far. The car has definitely been worth it, even though I think I may have to paper over the gas gauge so I don’t have to watch our fuel bill climbing at $1.50/litre. It’s great to be able to pull over for an hour and explore the countryside or enjoy the views wherever we want.
Due to the poor facilities in this particular soulless internet cafe, I won’t be uploading photos of penguins and rocks and such until sometime in the next couple of days.
I hope everyone is well back in Canada, and enjoying the late-March cold and snow!