TRIP Start 2/16/2008

Started Feb 26 NZ Time

After sending our last message from Akaroa, we headed back to NZ Route 1, the main road south from Christchurch which has two lanes and an third occasional passing lane. A lot of other folks seem to have the same idea for a trip so some of the towns we'd like to stay have very limited rooms available. Rather than push to Dunedin, we made a short day and stopped at Timaru, a moderate sized city with a busy downtown and not solely dependent on tourists for an economic base.  After exploring the park on the waterfront and the port area (it is one of the main shipping ports for the region) we wandered through downtown.  It was a pleasant but uneventful day but not so the evening.

About 2 a.m. we were awakened by someone knocking at our door.  Half awake, I thought it must be someone who'd had a few too many and gone to the wrong door.  A few minutes later, the door opened and our hostess (motels here are owned by local people and quite friendly) excused herself but advised as there was a fire next door and we might have to leave our unit. After a minute to gather our wits and clothes, we went outside where they had the motel hose on the fire and it seemed under control. By now we were beginning to smell smoke.  The fire truck was out on the street and soon three firefighters in full gear were spraying with their hose into the unit.  We watched as they drug the smoldering mattress over the railing next to our car, followed by the box spring.  When the mattress hit the fresh air, flames popped back up and got doused with water.

As we watched, the young man whose room it had been spoke to us.  He thought the electric mattress pad must have shorted out, although it hadn't been turned on.  He said he woke up when the smoke alarm went off and found his shoulders to be quite warm.  He went to speak with the firemen and seeing that the excitement was over, we headed back to bed.  Needless to say, sleep wasn't instantaneous!

In the morning as we checked out, hostess apologized again for opening our door, but it had seemed better than waking everyone up by yelling fire.  She asked if we had seen or heard anything unusual late in the evening.  Contrary to what the man had said, there was no sign of an electrical fire.  He also swore he didn't smoke (all units we've seen in the country are no smoking).  He was being grilled by the police who suspected he may have had a "lady of the evening" in, and perhaps she had been smoking.  Even our dull days get a touch of excitement.

I must comment that most of the places we've stayed are very well built, and unlike the States, almost no noise is transmitted through the walls.  This place had cement blocks between all units.  I don't know if this is a safety code or strongly recommended by insurance companies.  From what we saw, it would not have taken much time for a similar fire to have moved into other rooms back home.

We took our time and stopped at Oamaru, a smaller town that has an historic district.  There is also a park out past the wharfs that has "grandstand seating" to watch the little blue penguins when they come ashore at night.  We didn't see the penguins since it was noon, but we did take a walk out on the cliffs and found a seal basking in the sun.  There are also old gun emplacements on the cliffs, and after climbing up to see them, rather than go back the way we came, we tried taking another route back to the car.  We found a way, but it wasn't really an official path anymore.  At one place the boards were falling into the washout and there was a fence at the rail tracks that we hopped over.  It was quite a cliff, with a sheer drop to the wharf.


We continued on our way with plans to spend a day or two in Dunedin, the second largest city on the south island. There is a university in the town and the students had just returned to campus.  Also several sporting events were underway,  in town, so almost every place had no vacancy signs out front.  After unloading the car, we hiked into the Octagon, at the center of the city about a mile away.  With the Speight Brewery (the beer of the south) was only a few blocks further, we stopped in for the sample tray of their six beers.  All were good, and I especially liked Speight's Old Dark and the porter, the two darkest brews.


Leonard wanted to take a different way back to the motel, and we hiked up some steep hills to a parkway along the ridge line.  It wasn't quite what he'd expected and for once he was scratching his head trying to figure out the way to go.  There were more streets than on our fairly detailed town map.  Usually it's me trying to read maps and street names while going considerably faster.

After checking in at the train station in the morning, we signed up for the afternoon trip on the Taieri Gorge Railway.  With several hours to spend, we walked to the Otago Museum where we enjoyed the exhibits and learned more about Maori and history.  What the early Europeans saw as crude, is actually very inventive and beautifully constructed tools and way of life.
The afternoon train trip was worth the price of the tickets.  (Very few things here are free, and with our dollar at a low and the NZ dollar doing very well, everything is expensive, even by American standards.)  The rail cars are 1920 vintage coaches, pulled by a more modern diesel engine.  We did the 4 hour trip to Pukerangi which makes a few photo stops along the way.  We picked up a group of bikers at Pukerangi (bikes get a free ride) and another group of folks, many in period costumes taking part in a Cavalcade, an reenactment of the gold  rush of 1860, at another station on the return trip.

The scenery was spectacular.  The trip began on the plain and continued to climb along the river gorge through 10 tunnels and over a dozen viaducts, the highest 50 meters high.  Life with a digital camera is a blessing since you needn't consider developing costs (we took about 200 along with some movie clips, none of which really captured the scenery).  The train crew were also a delight with funny tales as well as a great commentary.

It is surprising how tired you get sitting on a train for four jostling hours.  Not having been able to get two nights lodging in town, we'd made reservations as far out on the Otago Peninsula as we could get.  The Peninsula forms the far side of the harbor at Dunedin and is a fairly rural setting with a hair raising road running along the water.  The Kiwis don't believe in guard rails and since we had the outside lane, with me out the furthest, I found myself leaning to the center of the car to keep us on the road in the curves.  We later learned that the tourists don't drive off the road, they leave that to the locals who get too confident upon occasion!

Our motel was a bit different from others we've had here.  The "kitchen facilities" consisted of a minuscule 'fridge, an electric kettle and a microwave.  The sink was at most an inch deep, with cold water only.  No pots, no coffee press, just plates and bowls for three.  Fortunately we'd picked up some " meat pies" at the store before leaving town, so our dinner didn't require much in the way of cooking.  The few dishes we'd use could be washed in the bathroom sink.  My biggest regret was the lack of real coffee come morning!

As soon as we finished eating, we drove to the beach where the blue penguins come ashore at night to feed their young.  We saw a couple of rafts of them come ashore, but then lost sight of them on the beach in the dark, so we returned to our motel..  Being almost at the end of the road, our room would be very quiet!

We'd reserved the room for two nights and after some discussion in the morning, decided we could manage with the limited facilities.  (Instant coffee with sufficient cocoa mix is almost a substitute for real coffee.)  Our host pointed out several interesting walks on the peninsula and gave us maps and directions, so in spite of some showers, we headed off for a day of exploring.


We returned to the penguin beach and after watching a seal pose on the beach, found a penguin nest with two young tucked inside.  After quietly taking their portrait, we went to the Albatross Center just up the hill.  We toured the museum, but opted not to take the tour - at $60 for two, we figured we could probably find some albatrosses on our own. So after some pictures of the headlands and lighthouse, we headed back to do one of the walks recommended by our motel owner.
After some narrow gravel roads over the hills, we found the hike to the "pyramids", two conical hills that are part of a wildlife area.  After climbing over a sty and walking between sheep pastures, we found the trail head.  We opted to start with the beach walk, and skip climbing the pyramids. Once on the beach, we headed for the cliffs at the north end of the beach to look for some seals or sea lions.  This beach is also habitat for the yellow eyed penguin, about twice the size of the blue, and on the endangered  species list.

We saw a lot of penguin tracks up in the dunes, but given the time of day thought we'd be unlikely to see any since they normally come ashore after dark.  When we reached the cliffs, after watching briefly, seals seemed to pop up everywhere on the rocks.  They really blend in, and until they move, they aren't obvious.  We were busy taking pictures and laughing at the antics of some pups when I turned around and found a yellow eyed penguin about 20 feet away, preening itself on the sand. We stood there, very quietly since they are extremely shy, and watched as it took a few steps toward us and continued getting every feather back in its proper place.  It was rather like watching someone getting cleaned up before going home after a hard day's work or a cat cleaning itself.


We slowly walked back to hide behind some rocks to see if it would head up the beach, but it just continued preening.  After about 15 minutes, we slowly walked back past it, and after taking more pictures, left it still getting things just so.  It would wiggle its tail and stretch out its flippers every few minutes and seemed oblivious of us.  We were even more surprised to find another one up by the dunes as we continued our walk.  This one was much more reticent, so after snapping its photo, we continued on our way.

On the drive back to the motel we checked out the town of Portebello, the only one of any size on the peninsula.  It consisted of a pub, a cafe, a small store and a coffee shop.  It reminded me of the towns in the Bahamas - very limited supplies.  The cafe wasn't open for dinner yet, so we headed back to see what I could do with cereal bowls, a microwave and the food in the 'fridge for a dinner.

At dusk we headed back to the beach to watch the little blue penguins.  This time two volunteers from the conservation department were on hand to talk to the tourists.  They said if we would sit quietly by the fence after they came ashore, they would walk past us to their nests.  The woman said they volunteer every Friday night and no mater how tired she is, it is always a delight once she gets to the nesting area, especially when the tourists cooperate, and have the chance to really observe nature at its best.  While the numbers with young still in nests was down - after several weeks, the young can fend for themselves and the parents no longer return to feed them - we did see a number come past us.  I was glad we'd gone back as we learned a lot about the penguins and the work being done to conserve them.

With more rain in the forecast - it rained quite hard during the night - we headed back to Dunedin to pick up the road south and west.  Between showers we stopped for a couple of short hikes, one to a waterfall and another along an estuary.  The scenic route took us to the southernmost point of the south island, Slope Point. So we hiked through a sheep pasture to a marker showing the distances to the south pole and the equator before continuing on to our destination, the town of Invercargill, for the night.
After settling in at our motel we spent time organizing the next few days.  We plan on taking a cruise at Milford Sound and needed to make reservations for the boat as well as find places to stay for several nights.  There is no motel space at Milford Sound, and it is a two hour trip from from where we will be staying to get to the tour boat, so it will be a long day.  We'll spend a day exploring the Invercargill area before heading north.  We found a spot in town that will be open tomorrow (Sunday) where we can use our laptop to connect to the internet which will give us a chance to send this off and get our mail.

Time Period 3/1 to 3/2

Our day in Invercargill was the first really rainy day we'd experienced.  Hearing the rain on the roof made it easy to stay in bed, especially since we'd planned to stay over anyway.  It was a break in the drought that had been ongoing during their summer, so the locals were happy, and it gave us a chance for a break from taking advantage of the sunshine to see sights.   Vacations can be work!

Having one of the more pleasant motels made it easy to enjoy a lay day. It was a quiet unit, well off the main drag, with more room and amenities than most places.  There was even a car port, but the car could have used the rain to wash the dust we'd accumulated on the gravel roads from the day before.  Our hosts had offered fresh baked cookies and veggies from the garden, and a dog that delighted in sitting outside the sliders at meal times with big soulful eyes.

We spent time in the local museum (a great place to be when it rains) where we met Henry, the over hundred year old tuatara, a dinosaur species that managed to survive in NZ.  He looks a bit like a small iguana, but has sharp ridges in his jaws rather than teeth.  Tuataras are extremely slow growing, can hibernate if required breathing once every two minutes, and, in less than ideal conditions, the eggs may take 1-2 years to hatch.  They prefer cooler climate unlike most more modern lizard species.  The museum has been active in breeding and returning them to the various far flung islands south of here.  So far, Henry has been very disinterested in any females he's met.  He had a cancerous growth removed, and they hope he'll be more receptive in the future. (More interestingly, this was basically an art museum with some anthropological galleries.)

After visiting the internet spot to dispatch our last note we spent some time looking online at possible accommodations up the west coast.  There appear to be fewer choices except in a few highly popular spots, most with equally high prices, and having seen how full places can be, we'd like to be sure of a place to spend nights.  We then drove to Bluff, the port on the SW corner of NZ.  We'd hoped to do some of the shorter hikes in the area, but the return of the rain with gusty, cold, south winds sent us scurrying to the car.  Here strong south winds herald cold fronts, and it was the chilliest day so far, with a high of 11C, compared with the 20C-25C we've been experiencing.  The forecast had 120 km/hr winds for some areas!  Thankfully not here, although the seas looked like it would have been an interesting trip had we chosen to take the ferry to Stewart Island.


We find that things are expensive here.  If there is a recession at home, it looks like inflation to us here.  Interest rates advertised in banks are in the 8% - 9% range with word on the news of a further hike.  It's a bit of a juggle to go between pounds and kilos, but food prices are higher than in the states.  Meals out are just that - out of sight and our budget!  Other than the odd ethnic place, dinners start around $30.  It's interesting to find the same wines we buy at home cost more here, and beer, especially micro brews are close to 3X cost.   Museums are one of the few bargains, some only requesting a gold coin ($2) donation.  Anything else that has a hint of tourist interest is expensive.  It would be interesting to know how incomes compare to the States.

The only inexpensive lodging tends to be backpacker dorms, and after listening to a backpacker on our train ride, that has drawbacks too, and not just having a walk to the shared bathroom.  He talked of sleeping with his valuables under his pillow (a laptop would be very uncomfortable!) and never leaving them untended since the rooms usually don't lock and are accessible to anyone.  He was on a six month trip which precluded the expense of motels.  It would help if our dollar still had the buying power it had a few years ago.  One big difference from the States is all prices include taxes, so there isn't the extra bite of rooms and meals taxes (or GST) added to your bill.  Tipping is also not expected.

There always seem to be live sports on one of the TV channels.  We've watched rugby, sculling, soccer and cricket at breakfast as well as dinner.  There have been races with bikes, sailboats, horses, greyhounds, etc.  The Kiwis are very sports oriented.  We still haven't figured out cricket or rugby, but they are interesting to watch.

A novelty for us has been the "walk" lights in the larger towns.  We've had some laughs at the sounds they make when it is safe to walk.  They make a whooping sound, not unlike a siren, and seem to be variations on the theme from town to town.

Some of the towns have a broad economic base while others are more dependent on tourism.  In the Invercargill area there was a huge aluminum smelter at Bluff, a milk dehydrator for powdered milk (an export), furniture manufacturing as well as tourism.   Dunedin has the university as well a broad range of industries (like the brewery) and still has a large draw for tourists. Along with the expected pastures full of sheep (which are everywhere!), there have been pastures of cows, beef cattle and deer.  By Invercargill we saw some that looked more like elk than deer, but according to our hosts, they are also deer.  Venison is popular and in the markets.  There have been several salmon farms and oyster farms tucked into bays, and even an abolone farm at Akaroa that was used as a source for jewelry and crafts.

March 1st was the opening day for Bluff oysters (a wild, deep, sea delicacy), but the seas were so high that the boats stayed in port.  These oysters are reported to be better than others and the season an event with festivals celebrated in the region.  Since neither of us are fans of oysters we didn't mind missing them.

Lynnea