Leaving Dunedin, Back to Queenstown

Taken with iPhone

Up early at 8:00 am not to anxious to get going today. Off to Cadbury for morning snack of hot chocolate and a sweet bun. Check out of room at 11 and sit in the very small lobby on the internet until my taxi comes at 1:00 for the 1:40 bus back to QT and the Rees for one night. Taxi is $6.50 to the bus station. My travel agent booked and paid for my travel, hotels and tours. So I just need to show up!  

Most of the way back I slept on the bus. The rolling hills here remind me a bit of the Poconos. Nothing too high, just green and sheep!

I was greeted at the Rees by Heidi! She was still here after her helio flight was cancelled because of the weather. She just sat in the lobby all day editing photos, and she had some good ones too.  I ventured off to town for a small dinner since I'll be all day on the bus to Franz Josef tomorrow. I went to Speight's brew house so I could try the beer too. Unfortunately they no longer brew the wheat as it is out of season. So I'm settled on a summer ale that is light and tasty. The tv has a rugby game playing and I still don't get the rules. I have seen several games and might have to ask someone about the game.

Everywhere in NZ serves water and it is much better than I thought it would be because it is spring water. My meal is called chicken parcels. Chicken, peaches, bacon and cheese in phylo with aioli and sliced almonds and crunchy potatoes. It was delicious. I have not had a bad meal here but there is still time! This is the second time I have had chicken and peaches in a sauce and I've got to try and make it at home. The other time was at Giordano's in Kennett.

I need to rearrange my suitcases to get everything back in place. That is tonight's mission. 

A boring day coming up tomorrow with a bus ride from QT to Franz Josef. Leaving here at 8:00am and arriving at 4:30. I hope we stop at some good fruit stands on the way.

Good night all.

Nature Time!

I always thought this was going to be a boat to some remote location, but I was wrong. It was a van ride to the peninsula point off Dunedin.

We left the hotel in town at 1:30 and arrived at the Royal Albatross Centre at 2:30. The drove for about an hour to the penguins. It was a full day of adventure as we returned after dark at 7PM to the hotel.













Some of us had paid for a close encounter with the birds, so off we go hiking up hill about 100 yards to the viewing tower.  From there we observed about 6 immature birds still sitting on their nests. They were almost full grown, but will not fly until about 8 months old. They are pure white. Every once in a while an adult flies in to feed their baby. The infant taps on the beak of the parent to show they are hungry and the parent feeds them what they have retrieved from the sea.

Here comes the parent in for a landing. What makes these birds unique is their wingspan and their landing technique.


From the viewing tower, we can see scores of cormorant adults and infants scurrying about, but their nests are all empty and appear to be made of mud like substance. Some fly about during our visit.

This is the view back to Dunedin Harbour from the Royal Albatross Centre.

We have just completed our walk to see the yellow eye penguins, all 8 of them.  We had to detour to the grassy dunes because a large sea lion was guarding a lone female.  While walking in the grass we came upon several sea lions sleeping and resting. They can be aggressive, but not today.

We spotted penguins hopping up this hill to their evening nests. It must take forever and they didn't make much progress while we were watching. The yellow eye penguin does not really have a yellow eye but a yellow eye stripe. 

This pic really does not show the steep the walk up and down to the beach.

The walk to the van was exhausting because this brace in my shoe does not bend properly for hill climbing and I'm out of shape. At the top of the hill everyone is looking at the flat tire!! We are in the farthest Eastern part of Dunedin peninsula with no phone or cell reception  and our guide does not know how to change it or where all the equipment is located !! Finally, a Japanese guy helped him get it changed and off we went in the dark. 

By saying these roads are winding and narrow does not really describe the trip. 

Overall it was an exhausting day of winding narrow roads and lots of up and downhill hiking. I fell asleep at 9:30

Monday in Dunedin

Dunedin is named after Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a 4 hour bus ride across the South Island with several stops. The first stop was at a small side of the road fruit stand that had public rest rooms, fruit, nuts and dried fruit selections. I picked an apple, and it was delicious and juicy. We made 2 other stops for rest rooms as well. The bad news here is that my internet was not working, so therefore Google maps was not available and I didn’t know how to find my hotel. Fortunately I took a screen shot of the reservation and street name. I asked the fellow next to me on the bus and he could no get my internet working either – I am going to be lost without it. But he did know where the street was and pointed me to Cumberland St. Except I walked 10 blocks dragging my small suitcase and my 20lb backpack of camera goodies.

I passed some cool places like the University of Ontago, a museum that has a butterfly exhibit and aviary. Many places were closed because of ANZAC Day holiday. You may have seen this remembrance on tv involving honoring soldiers from New Zealand, Australia at Gallipoli. It is much like our Veteran’s Day. I turned around and walked back toward the bus stop and could see the hotel a block from my original point. I did get lots of steps registered on my FitBit however.

Across the street is a factory tour. View the photos and see if you can guess where I am.

If you didn't guess Cadbury, then look closely at these 2 cars. These two antique cars were actually used by the company to deliver chocolate at the turn of the century. The products produced here are for New Zealand and Australia consumption. Of course I had to purchase my favorite, Cadbury fingers!

Now I am starving since I didn’t really eat breakfast except for 2 granola bars and an apple. I found several restaurants open at the Octogon (center of town) and take a chance on Angus sliders with pear chutney with a side of local beer. Nice choice and I am delighted and full.

It has rained all day, I want to get everything ready for the nature adventure tomorrow. So back to the room and plan. I had to pay for internet usage and my phone is wonky. Not sure what is going on there. I really depend on it for directions.

This hotel actually has better tv than Rees in Queenstown.

Wildlife adventures tomorrow in Dunedin!