Bye Bye Bondi…

So today I leave Australia behind…. I’ve been ‘Down Under’ since the beginning of September with 2 months in New Zealand and it’s all starting to feel a bit like home in many ways.  The familiar lingo “G’day how’s it goin?”  and “Sweet/Sweet As”  to indicate that something is good!  I am also very attached to my morning ritual of toasted banana bread with a flat white coffee and perhaps a freshly squeezed orange juice.  My favourite Sydney breccie spot being ‘Cafe Quattro’ in Hyde Park with an outdoors terrace overlooking a courtyard where chess is played by old men in deep thought using those giant sized  pieces.  I spent my time since New Year enjoying the beaches of Sydney at both Manly and Bondi, although due to poor weather along the entire East Coast (flooding and heavy rain) the swell was so big that all beaches were closed for a week.  However meantime I found a spot on Manly Cove near to the ferry wharf which has sheltered waters and soft golden sand (with a shark netted area for swimming) and in Bondi ( a place reminiscent of Bude in a funny way) the sweeping curve of sandy beach provided a great place to read my Jackie Collins trash novel and watch the posers strutting along the shoreline – just why is it that men who really shouldn’t wear speedos always do? - and someone should make it illegal to jog on beaches unless you have a really firm body – it’s just too distressing to the poor public otherwise! So here I am – my last day on Ozzie soil and reflecting on 4 months of amazing experiences in Australia and New Zealand.  To summarise  I though I would make a list:

• Flights: 1 helicopter (Bungle Bungles AUS), 1 hot air balloon (Cairns AUS), 1 pink plane (Taupo NZL - I jumped out stupidly)
• Animals: 2 sharks (Reef and wobbogong),  1 Manta Ray, 1 Koala (Maddy),  several Crocs (salties and freshies), a few Pythons,1 Kiwi, 1 possum, 1 tuatara, loads of Kangaroos and wallabies, several redback spiders, some scary looking jellyfish, a few humpback whales, 1 sperm whale (Big Nick), 1 Hectors dolphin (Akaroa), several Bottle Nosed Dolphins (Milford Sound) and loads of Dusky dolphins (Kaikora) a few horses, some camels, several Kea birds, Corrollas, blue penguins, yellow eyed penguins, Flying foxes and loads of other noisy birds everywhere….. especially bell birds singing at 4am and finally – billions and billions of glow worms (Waitomo caves)
• New Experiences: Scuba diving, Surfing, Abseiling (day and night), Night Kayaking phosphorescence, Sand boarding, Sydiving, Black Water rafting, White Water Rafting, Glacier Hiking, Bush Camping, Volcano hiking
• Wildest place: Crossing the Red Crater on  the Tongariro Crossing (New Zealand) 
• Remotest Place: The Kimberly Australia (also one of the hottest at 45 degrees)
• Wettest Place: Miford Sound NZL (those waterfalls were awesome) – tropical storm in Kakadu comes a close second!
• Bleakest Place: Coober Pedy, AUs ( it’s just  rocks…they all live in the ground in caves……also wierdest place along with ’Hobbiton’ film set (Matamata NZL)
• Highest Place: top of the Skytower in Auckland and 12,000 ft in a small pink plane (did I mention the skydive?!)
• Most scenic: Mt Sunday (NZL, Better known as Edoras from Lord of the Rings) and so many other places I can’t list them all (but they are nearly all in New Zealand!)

One day I will publish a full list of categories just for fun – that will have to do for now! So goodbye from the Antipodes and set course for Thailand….

Happy New Year from Sydney!

I must be crazy!  New Year 2007 will be forever in my memory as the most boring 14 hours followed by the most incredible, fantastic, awesome, stunning 15  minutes of fireworks at the stroke of midnight.  Arriving into Sydney on 30th December I only had time to sleep before waking up the next day and joining the mass of humanity oozing into the harbour to find a spot from which to view the fireworks. By 10am the concrete was filling up but I managed to squeeze into a space right at the front with the opera house to my right and the bridge infront of me across the water – perfect!  it was so perfect that I daren’t walk away and spent 14 hours guarding my spot (as did everyone around me) to ensure that when the time came I was in prime position!  So, without a book to read, no crossword puzzle, no soduku, newspaper or any form of mental stimulation I sat and sat and sat as the minutes dragged by in the heat and my skin turned pink.  a plane high in the sky drew patterns and symbols in keeping with the theme of ‘time of your life’ Having made friends with some Brits nearby I trusted them with my backpack long enough to walk off and find food. An hour later I had picked my way through a human carpet to find McDonalds!  I also bought fruit though and lots of water. An hour after that I had picked my way back and made everyone jealous with the smell of a Big Mac and fries! So with crowds building, squeezing every inch out of the harbour the sun set and the atmosphere turned electric.  Boats of every descriptions floated about with colourful lights to reflect the theme of time. By 9pm we were all a bit overexcited as the first fireworks whet our appetites for more to come – even they were good and it was just a warmup. With an hour glass on the bridge counting down every 5 minutes (it seemed to take forever) the magic moment arrived and the sky above Sydney Harbour  filled with light, music, bangs, fizzes and ooooh  and aaaaaaaah from the crowd. It costs $3million and 20,000 fireworks died for our entertainment. The best thing for me were the plumes of light bursting from the top of every skyscraper in the business area of the city - and the waterfall of light which poured from the bridge at the finale-  amazing! I am now exhausted, no sleep at all (I had nowhere to sleep so spent the night in a hotel lobby) and can’t check in to my room until 3pm -  I must find coffee!  Happy New Year!

Christmas in the Glen

Christmas 2007 for me will carry memories of sheep, horses, small kids, a one eyed ageing sheepdog called Glen, a lost cow and the company of a warm and hospitable family living the Kiwi farm life in the green valleys of Glen Murray, about an hour south of Auckland.  I arrived at the farm on Christmas Eve greeted by head of the family Chris Venamore, dressed in working farm clothes with Glen the sheepdog at his heels. Before long I was unpacked and settled into the guest cottage (located in a corner of a paddock with 5 grazing horses) and found myself sat next to Glen on the quad bike as Chris took me on a tour of the farm to meet the sheep, cows and horses, but more specifically to try and locate a lost cow! A neighbour’s farm was playing host to some stray cattle non of which seem to belong to Chris, but mysteriously one of his heiffers was missing.  In the few days I was at the farm, the cow never appeared.  Christmas Eve dinner was at the home of Val and Shelly Venamore – Chris’s brother in their home nearby. As we left around 10pm, the full moon was hanging in a perfect sky surrounded by bright twinkling stars! Christmas morning for me was spent in the company of ‘Rupert’ – a bay gelding who took me on a ride through the woods next to the farm.  I think he was glad to be out and was quite  a handful!  After dressing in the smartest clothes I could muster from my backpacking wardrobe, I joined the family in the car for a short trip to ‘Totra Nui’ (probably spelt it wrong!) the newly finished second residence which was the perfect setting for Christmas Day.  Family members from Auckland arrived with their children to join those already there and I was treated to a hearty meal and some good conversation with the Venamore clan whilst the kiddies ran about full of beans from opening presents.  It was a typical Christmas really!  On Boxing Day  Elizabeth joined me on horseback to ride around the bush covered valley near to the farm and help Chris to bring in some sheep ready for crutching and shearing, Glen doing his bit with enthusiasm from the back of the quad. It was a great ride in fabulous scenery and good company.  After warm scones on the verandah of the homestead (thanks to the Venamore daughters!) I offered to help with some yard chores and spent a satisfying afternoon sweeping and tidying the yard and tackroom.  By 9pm I was struggling to stay awake on the sofa watching ‘calendar girls’ with the family so made my excuses and took myself off to bed via the paddock which was now full of sheep! My last morning was spent exploring the woolshed and meeting the sheep – 2 of which were about to be dispatched to fil the freezer. Chris gave me a demonstration of shearing – on a dead sheepskin! and despite wanting to stay longer the hire car was due back at Auckland so with a sigh I hit the road and left the farm behind me bound for the city life.  

Holes and Hobbittsis…

Dec 22nd Leaving Rotorua I drove for about an hour leaving the pungent sulphurous aroma behind in return for the perfume of meadows yellow with buttercups and sweetly smelling of hay – cattle grazing alongside sheep and horses. My stopoff destination before Raglan was Matamata - a large town where the only things that matter are a) farming b) thoroghbred horses & racing and c) Hobbits.  I saw plenty of evidence for the first 2 points but not so much Hobbity stuff, until……   I boarded a bus along with 20 others bound for a sheep farm in the hills around Matamata.  Since 2002 this tour has operated  providing cash for the farmer who allowed the movie to be filmed on his land.  I calculated $1000 on the bus that day, so I’m guessing   there’s money in them there hills…. or should I say: there’s money in them there Hobbit holes?The landscape is really Hobbity – obviously! the site itself has little left apart from about 18 holes which have boarded white fascias and tufted turfy clumps on each roof – one even has a chimney. The area around the holes was used for various scenes in the first LOTR movie which I can’t remember that well  (must see it when I get home) – something about a party before Bilbo Baggins leaves with fireworks and dancing. Luckily there were no LOTR nutters on the bus but one guy who lived the whole experience with his camcorder glued to his face, slowly sweeping his lens across the landscape and up close to each hole, walking slowly and in circles a bit like Buzz Lightyear!  I kept my distance, but I’m sure that when he watches his footage I will be in there somewhere making silly faces and obscene gestures  (only kidding!).  As a visitor to the site I was able to use my imagination to .. well imagine… the movie being made. I got to stand inside Bag End and in front of it, and meet some sheep. The sheep were nice.  I told them they should sue the farmer for a share of some of the profits since they were made homeless for 4 months during filming and if that wasn’t bad enough, they were considered not ‘Hobbity’ enough sheep for the film, so other sheep were brought in for the filming.  If I were one the ousted sheep I would feel pretty peeved, not to mention distressed that my sheepness wasn’t sheepy enough for Peter Jackson. Anyway, they didn;t seem too bothered by the advice I gave them and chewed on the grass staring vacantly into the distance – or maybe they were calculating the total value of a legal case based on unfair discrimination,  backpay, relocation compensation and mental cruelty……… ?Anyway, I did enjoy the trip, and recommend it. When I asked if anyone had ever done any wierd stuff on the site, the guide told me that once a group turned up dressed as Hobbits with a tape machine and spent the whole time just dancing on the meadow below the holes whilst another German guy over 6ft tall arrived dressed as Bilbo Baggins and refused to leave staging a sit-in at Bag End – he had to be forcibly removed!  The people on my bus that day were more like sheep than the sheep in the meadow, and were quite happy to be herded on and off the bus as instructed, all without the need for a trained working dog – amazing!It was after a brief coffee stop back in Matamata that I drove onward into Waikato and headed for the coast of Raglan for a 2 day stay before Christmas.

Earthquake and mud…

My trip to White Island volcano was cancelled due to high wind so I left Whakatane bound for Rotorua.  Last night there was another earth tremor in Whakatane whcih shook my hotel room and was quite scary I don’t mind telling you! Turns out that Gisborne on the East coast suffered a large earthquake 6.8 on the richter scale and that’s what we felt in Whakatane.  Arriving into Rotorua I stopped at Hells’ Gate – a geothermal area of hot bubbling pools of sulphur and boiling mud. For a small fee you can dip yourself into the sulphur and spread noxious mud all over yourself before taking a very cold shower and floating in more sulphurous water which feels like it’s boiling you alive!  I paid my money and did all of those things – and by the end of my 40 minutes in Hell I felt a bit light headed – but at least my skin feels soft!Rotorua is how I remembered it from early November, it is a little warmer this time though. I have a free day here to wander about, I may go to the Polynesian Spa, but maybe not – will let you know!Update – I didn’t go to the spa! When I got to the YHA I had some basked beans for tea then sat on a sofa and soon was talking to an older lady from Edinburgh who had plenty of stories to tell about her life and travels – I couldn’t get away!   I had some help from a chap I had seen in Australia at one of the hostels so recognising him I got talking to him too and before long the three of us were sharing stories and photos.  I noticed the next morning that the scottish lady had latched onto another poor bloke and was telling him stories – she is quite sweet though!It’s probably a good thing I didn’t go to the spa, my skin still stinks of sulphur from the Hells Gate experience and it’s turned my silver jewellry black – bummer!Off to find some Hobbits today at  Matamata …..

Coromandel to Bay of Plenty

Dec 17th I left the South Island arriving at Auckland in bright sunshine to collect a Toyota Sprint from Omega and head north east in time for supper at Coromandel YHA.  The weather then turned sour.  There followed 2 days of heavy rain and windy gales which turned the beautiful prospect of lying on Coromandel’s peninsula beaches into driving past them with the windscreen wipers in overdrive…. shame.  A ful day of driving along the coastline from small Coromandel town to large Tuaranga city left me uninspired to stop in the crappy weather so I turned off the engine at a campsite in Papamoa (beach suburb of Tauranga) and paid for a small cabin to sleep in and stay dry.  At least I had a telly.  Next day I drove a short distance to Whakatane past Te Puke – famous for being the home of Kiwi fruit and to prove it, they have a giant Kiwi slice in glorious plastic technicolour complete with pips….. awful – I kept driving.  Arriving in Whakatane (Fackatanny) I liked the town, it’s a bit like any typical British seaside town, on a river estuary with the ocean behind a sandbar which also hides the view of Whale Island and the more worrysome White Island some 50kms out to sea and a very active volcano.  I checked into a motel, and booked onto a White Island tour in a couple of days.  My first afternoon in Whakatane was spent mooching the town centre in the rain, then I gave up and retired to my room for sme good old fashioned laziness.  The only exciting thing to happen was an earth tremor at 10.33pm  (I noted the time) which really gave me the frights!  It was like the room was possessed of a devil which was shaking my bed – really scary.  I mentioned this to a local the next day and she shrugged it off  “happens all the time” she said.  Just to be sure, I’ve packed my emergency bag (clean knickers and lipstick) and put some shoes by the door in case I need to make a run for it in the middle of the night!Second day  in Whakatane was spent walking in sunshine and humidity along the coastpath to Ohope Beach – some 2 hours of up and down hill walking with stunning views of the sea, coastline and volcano – steaming in the distance.  I caught the bus back for some afternoon tea and chilling out – I think I’ve earnt it after some exercise! Volcano tomorrow……. now where did I put my emergency bag?

Arrowtown.. Thar’s gold in them thar’ hills

The Drive from Invercargill to Queenstown is lovely. It passes through wide glacial river valleys and basins of farming land, with pretty hills and mountains in the distance.  To be savoured and not to be rushed…..  I stopped at a town called ‘Winton’  for no other reason than it looked pretty, had amazing planted gardens and borders all along the main street and public gardens – lupins, foxglove, daisies, roses etc, provided (according to a plaque) by the Winton agrocultural society – well, all I can say is well done to them.  The town itself would look fine in a wild west movie – a saloon, hotel, court building, shops with wide walkways and small church.  Pretty.   Further along the Highway the gorse and lupins are in full swing showing off yellow, blue, purples, creams in the roadside and meadows. Past the turn off to Te Anau I was on a road I had travelled before with the tour group.  However, last time I didn’t have the freedom to stop when I wanted so in Garston I stopped.  This claims to be the most inland village in New Zealand and has a sign to prove it. It also has a cute wooden church on a small hillside surrounded by pine trees giving a strong disinfectant perfume to the place, and a loo – but that’s  about it. Further along, Kingston has a fully operating  steam train and then the start of Lake Wakapitu and in the distance, Queenstown.  This scenic drive wiggles along the shoreline of the lake like Lake Como in Italy but without all the villages along the way – there are no settlements until you reach Frankton merging into Queenstown.  The Remarkables are the mountain range which dominate the views – famous from Lord of the Rings which was filmed on Deer Park Heights.  I had a booking at the YHA Lakefront so I headed there.  However on arrival I got a bad vibe about it and made cancelled the booking.  Sometimes the hostels just don’t work for me – and lucky for me I have the funds to choose something a bit better.  So in the car I drove about a bit looking for a motel or cheap hotel. I found a fab place called the Whistler Apartments with views of the Gondola and Tooth Mountain.  It is by far the best place I have stayed and not expensive. It has a King size bed in it’s own large room, a kitchen with oven, microwave, TV,DVD, Stereo, Balcony, comfy sofa, armchair, bathroom and washing machine! All for the bargain price of $100 per night (about 40 quid).  Added to that, the staff are great and I got 2 DVD’s to watch for free (Whale Rider and War of the Worlds).  As it was only 3pm, I dropped my bags and headed in the car to ARROWTOWN.  A small settlement north which was founded on Gold in the 19th century and home to a chinese population who worked the gold mines but were treated badly by New Zealand.  I’ve used a lot of adjectives to describe places I like in New Zealand, but Arrowtown is just lovely. It is the nicest town I have been to.  I admit it is all done for the tourists, but I don’t care. I went to the chinese village to see the remains of the stone houses they lived in – a shop run by a chinese chap (I’ve seen bigger kennels) but not much is left. The river runs nearby and there is still gold to be found here. This was a gorgeous day.  The warm sun, lupins, cotton trees, birdsong and bees made me feel like I was in a Disney movie!  I went in search of gold, paddled in the freezing water of the stream and picked at rocks and stones but none of them gold…….. bugger!   Bored and hungry (not eaten since Invercargill) I walked to the main street and fell in love with it immediately.  It is charming.  It’s tiny, but every shop is immaculate and original colonial stone, timber and signage.  It’s like a living movie set.  The shops sell tourist stuff, but the museum inside the millhouse was excellent- Settlement stories, gold mining and below street level, a bakery, wheelwright, schoolhouse, printers and other life like reconstructions of pioneer life.  I loved it. There is a gaol, cottages which are still occupied a village post office and green.  I spent an hour wandering and forgot I was hungry.  Before leaving though, I had a bagle and fruit smoothy in a coffee shop. Perhaps living here would feel artificial though.  It would be nice to spend more time in that river though!  A chap found a nugget here a while ago whcih was worth 30 thousand dollars.Back in Queenstown I bought some groceries and relaxed in my ‘apartment’ as the sun went down, the party people came out to play and parachuting thrill seekers floated down from the top of the gondola station……After Whale Rider and War of the Worlds I hit the pillow at 11pm with faint sounds of dance music throbbing up from the town centre – Saturday night in Queenstown!

Lands End…

The trouble with traveling alone is that there is nobody to tell you when you’re about to make a bad decision and stop you from doing it.  So it was that I left Dunedin on a shitty wet Friday and drove to Invercargill via the ‘Catlins’ – an area of forestation over low lying hills near to the coastline.  Well, it was boring.  I can’t put it any other way. It looked in parts like Devon, then Cumbria, then the Severn Estuary and finally at Invercargill it lokoed like East Anglia on a bad day.  I only stopped once on the 4 hour journey to walk to an unimpressive waterfall inside the Catlins rainforest and it was wet, water falling over mossy rocks amongst tree ferns and other rain loving plants.  In hindsight I should have headed straight to Invercargill down the Highway.  Anyway, at Invercargill I put the city on hold to explore BLUFF – the most southerly point in New Zealand  (OK I am not including Stewart Island which has people on it, but by all accounts is less interesting that the Catlins).  In the drizzle, approaching Bluff along a wetland area of mud and marshes, the only significant landmarks were a agrinutrient plant the size of The Pentagon, and a meat processing factory.  That about sums up this area.  Bluff tried to be cheerful as I slowed from the Highway along the main street with jovial signs about Oysters and a rainbow coloured sign “where the Highway begins”  whatever that means.  Along main street are remants of the shipping days, warehouses in decline, rusting equipment, dead ships stuck in the mud under delapidated jetties.  It’s all a bit depressing really and the shops and houses look like a small version of  Blackpool but without the twinkly lights and pleasure beach.  I headed up a very steep hill to the lookout point, but I can’t imagine why I did (refer to the first sentence above)  to see nothing but fog.  The Starlet was knackered and I could smell burning from the engine, so I left her to recover (I swear I could see the car panting) A spiral visitor walkway leads to the top where it tells you about the landmarks around you but all I saw was a communication mast buzzing nearby and some wet looking vegetation. Feeling stuffy from the long trip I talk a walk down a footpath to a ‘lookout’ hoping to catch a glimpse of the southern ocean.  Getting rained on and dripped on from the huge ferns and bent over trees down a wooden staircase and on and on for about half an hour – and no lookout. I arrived at a wooden seat with no sign of an end to the path and gave up. It was wet, I was cold, the view was crap and I had one hell of a hill and hundreds of steps to walk back up, so I turned round and trudged back to the car.  Determined to find the ‘famous signpost’ at the end of New Zealand I drove down the hill to Stirling Point passing seafront homes which would look at home in Torquay complete with china dogs on the windowsill and net curtains.  Past a small lighthouse poking out onto very rough looking sea the road ended with a small carpark which was full of buses and cars and the compulsory tea shop/gift shop.  I couldn’t see a sign – just some construction work and cordon, so I assumed it was being repaired or replaced. Bugger.  By now both me and the car were tired, wet, overheated from too much exertion and hungry and with no bed for the night I thought I should abandon my search for the signpost and leave Bluff to find a hostel or motel in Invercargill.  Halof an hour later I was in the surprisingly interesting and wide streets of Invercargill.  Without a map I drove around using my ‘Jedi’ senses to find something interesting or helpful – this is the best way to explore and quite stress free . If you think about it – how can you be lost in a city if you have no planned destination?  You should try it.   Passing monuments to the war dead, grand hotels, a water tower and some very smart public gardens with a golf course and an Emu I found the Southland Museum which also houses the information centre – Bingo!   Parking up, I noticed too a large advertising board for a Burt Monroe exhibition – Brilliant!  If you don;t know who he is – rent a movie called ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’.  After browsing the hotels, motels and hostels (there is no YHA in Invercargill) I picked on a funky modern looking apartment block called ‘Living Space’ which with the help of the information staff rented me a room for $80 (about 35 quid).  Now that I had somewhere to sleep I set about enjoying the city in the rain.  The Museum was OK – the usual Maori artefacts and geology stuff with some awful modern art, but the best thing was an area containing several Tuatara’s – the oldest known lizards on the planet and native to New Zealand. ‘Henry’ was about 8inches long and looked liked godzilla – he was born at the end of the 19th century. Blimey. At 540mm long and 1.2 kilos he is the heaviest Tuatara in the world but also the grumpiest so he lives alone in his pen.  I suppose if Iw as over 100 years old and fat, I would be grumpy too!  And grumpy I became very soon after as I learned that the Burt Monroe exhibit had closed 2 weeks ago – all the stuff removed – except his duck egg blue car which was locked behind a door.  Shit…. I really wanted to see it all.  Oh well.  Back to the car I found my hotel and checked in then wandered the streets in the rain but there wasn’t really much to see or do. Grabbing some food I headed back to relax, dry off, warm up and watch TV. The next morning I felt like I was in another city. With the sun shining Invercargill looks totally different and better. The buildings looked colourful and interesting and being Saturday it was quieter on the streets.  I decided to head back to Bluff and try once more to find the sign and see the Ocean.  The drive there was nicer, but still a bit bleak. In the bright early morning sunshine the peninsula looked fresher and the dereliction seemed nostalgic not depressing.  Back on the top of the Lookout I saw all the things I was told to look at by the signs in the spiral walkway thingy and it did look cool. I felt like I was at the end of the world. Which I suppose I was.  Further south than the bottom of Africa and South America and closer to Antarctica than anywhere else.  Back at Stirling Point it was too early for the coaches and I found the ’sign’ immediately (it was hidden behind a bus yesterday) so happied myself taking cheesy photos next to the arrow showing London to be 18,958km away…… then I walked along the pebbly beach near the lighthouse and watched fishing boats going out to sea. The Southern Ocean is harsh – out there the waves reach 30m high and the winds alone can break boats.  Feeling satisfied I got back into the car and decided to call it a day on exploring the bottom end and drove north towards Queenstown to spend my last 2 days in the South Island.

Along the coast to Dunedin

Here I am in the Otago region in the city of Dunedin.  I drove down here from Oamaru in drizzle and grey skies so didn’t get to see the countryside.  I had a dreadful night of no sleep in the top bunk at Oamaru’s ‘Red Kettle’ YHA hostel – the woman below me snored all night – and had the cheek to be perky at 7am when she noisily packed her bag and apologised for waking me up (I did point out somewhat sourly that I was in fact already awake and had been that way for several hours).  I got out of there asap and hit the road.  By 9am I was about 40kms south at the Maeraki Boulders.  These are geological oddities on a lovely sweeping beach below a coastline which looks exactly like Devon. I have to keep pinching myself – across the miles of ocean is Chile!  I am the other side of the world but it looks like home….. very wierd. I had a stroll on the beach almost alone (just a few other hardly souls like me) and took some cheesy photos of said boulders – which look like maltesers.  The were formed millions of years ago and became embedded in the mud and rock before erosion exposed them to the seashore. With nothing but a banana to give me strength and flip flops to keep my feet warm I treated myself to a coffee in the visitor centre before leaving just in time for the tour buses to start dribbling from the Highway.  Next stop was a bleak, windy bluff called…. prepare to snigger…….. “Shag Point”.  Honestly!  The Kiwis are so innocent they call Cormorants ‘Shags’.  I think if this headland was in the UK it would be a prime location for some other kind of activity involving ‘birds’. Anyway, I drove the wiggly gravel track to the very, very end and was the sole person there – until a motorhome arrived.  I put on waterproofs and headed down a muddy track in the pelting rain to see something interesting.  The signs promise New Zealand Fur Seals, Yellow eye Penguins, dolphins and of course Shags.   I did see Shags and Seals but after 5 minutes in the sideways rain and force 10 gale I gave up and went back to the car soaked through.  There was nothing to encourage me to stop again before Dunedin so an hour later I arrived into the frankly massive  and unexpected sprawl  of the ‘Scottish’ city named after Edinburgh.  With such scottish weather it definitely felt like I was north of the border back home and driving into the busy streets I realised I had no idea where the hostel was and how to get there. I stopped for petrol and asked directions – as usual they went on one ear and onto the petrol polluted tarmac, so I headed for the city centre and found the I-site information place in the Octagon just yards from the statue of Robbie Burns.  I parked (imagine being able to park outside the place you want to go into any English city – no chance!)  and got directions and within minutes I was at the YHA on Stafford Street.  Checking in I was told the bed might not be made (I was paying for a private room to ensure sleep this time) and I said I didn’d mind if the sheets weren’t on.  What I didn’t realise was that the girl meant that the bed wasn’t made.  As I walked to my room I found the Manager on his knees with a tool kit assembling 3 bunk beds, a pile of mattresses stacked against the wall.  I said I would come back later………..Dunedin on first site is an attractive city of imposing buildings in grey stone.  I walked back to the Octagon and Rabbie Burns where I paid $20 for a ‘window licker*’ bus tour (well it was raining and I didn’t feel like walking!) (*For ‘window licker’ see previous blog from the Kimberly in Australia) and had an hour to kill.  I wandered along George Street – the main shopping area and was uninspired to go inside or buy anything.  Feeling peckish I found a nice place called ‘Lemon Tree’ and ate a salad, tomato juice and coffee which killed enough time to get the bus.  As it turned out I was alone on the bus with ‘Coral’  a former nurse now driving buses and a sheep/deer/beef farmer on the side.  She told me her husband was killed in a farm accident and her son runs the farm now.  It’s amazing how much information you get from complete strangers!  We toured the highlights of the city from the dry seats of the bus – stopping so I could take photos.  I can now proudly say I have been to the steepest road in the world. The train Station is the most photographed building in New Zealand so I added to the stats by taking some shots myself. At the end of the tour I went back to the Cadbury’s Factory but too late for a tour, so instead I walked back to the hostel, jumped in the car and drove to the Otago Peninsular to escape the city.  I actually wanted to get out.  All the buildings, traffic, people, Christmas hype and dereliction of the poorer areas (where the hostel is) was pretty depressing to me so some fresh air was called for.  An hour later at 6pm I was looking out across the Pacific to Chile, whilst Shags, seagulls and seals did their thing in the sea and on the cliffs. I refused to pay for a ‘tour’ of the Albatross breeding area and drove back to the city to chill out.  My room is not a place for chilling out however.  The beds now complete I was able to examine my surroundings.  Pink walls, shocking pink windowframes, ageing and tired curtains, and the only piece of furniture to go with the beds is a school desk, battered and knackered, the type where the lid lifts up.  I’m not impressed, glad it’s only one night.  I have no accommodation planned tomorrow and will see something when I get to Invercargill.  I’m keen to leave Dunedin.  It strikes me as a city for old people to live in. But maybe I’m being unfair, or maybe all these wide open spaces have turned me off cities? I am  looking forward to getting amongst the forests of the Catlins tomorrow.  

Oamaru… Penguins!

A 5 hour drive south brought me to the coastal town of Oamaru.  The drive itself was pretty dull on a road with quite a lot of traffic and a detour following a bad accident in Timaru (incidentally the birthplace of Phar Lap). Oamaru is surprisingly nice to look at and very reminiscent of Leamington Spa but much, much smaller.  The main street is wide with an avenue of trees and parking for cars, the buildings are of lcoal white stone and architecture is Edwardian with pillars and romanesque frontages.  I parked at the i centre for information about the penguins then walked down the shopping street and on closer inspection Oamaru seems to be a bit.. well .. how can I put it?  run down?  The shops cater for all manner of household issues, carpets, curtains, electrics, plumbing and some dubious fashions.. but that’s about it.  At one time it must have beena thriving town as there are lots of derelict warehouses and trading posts – it reminded me of Gloucester docks before it was renovated.  It even has a Llloyds bank! Bored with the town (apart from the fab statue of a penguin) I checked into the Red Kettle hostel (Wendy and her husband are great hosts) and then drove to Bush Beach to check out the yellow eyed penguins – only found around the south east of NZL and not in captivity anywhere.  There is a viewing platform high above the beach but you can’t see much, although you can hear them.  For $16 I took the tour with a DOC volunteer to get up close and smelly with a nest containing a Mrs Penguin and her 2 babbies – all brown and fluffy!  It was realy cute and I got some fab photos. But blimey it stank! All along the coastline of the beach is native bush where they build nests high up from the beach and we saw a few landing on the sand washed up like fat ducks and waddle up to the steep cliff and disappear from view to find their nests and feed the babies.  The mother we watched was about 30 m above sea level – quite a climb when your feet are stuck together!  I suggest you try it!  All round us were other families making noise and smell but you can’t see them, so well hidden in the bush. I dashed back to hostel for some story fry dinner then out again to see another penguin colony at the old harbour  – over 200 blue penguins come ashore at dusk every night in the breeding season to feed their young having been out feeding and fetching food all day. They land in a large group of around 70 called a ‘raft’ for obvious reasons.  Once on shore they battle with the surf to stand upright them leg it up the sand to the short ramp of rocks and across a gravel track to some wooden nesting boxes manmade of course (unless penguins have evolved to use hammers and nails?).  The public get to watch from a seating platform under orange lighting. I enjoyed seeing the ickles arrive, but it was spoiled by the crowds of people and thety just don’t shut up!  Why do people ignore the requests for quiet? It annoys me no end…..  so after 2 hours of sitting in the cold and dark I am about to tuck myself into bed.PS – of you want to see the blue penguins ‘live’ check out the webcam at www.penguins.co.nz  and view the nestbox.