Dunedin to Oamaru

January 25, 2009

Quick look at the picture (remember to double click to enlarge it) and see if you can find the penguins in it. There is a prize involved and there is a bonus if you can tell me what species they are. No luck huh. Too bad.

Left Dunedin by way of a trip up to the summit of Mt. Cargill which is the big hill overlooking the city. Other than being crowded by a plethora (nice word huh) of antenna and telecommunication that masks the view of the harbour and the area was fabulous. Headed up the coast road (the scenic route of course) to Oamaru. Stopped for a really nice burger at the Seaview café (which was in the middle of nowhere) except that Lana didn’t really like the three or four generous pieces of beetroot on the burger. Hoped for some views of dolphins but had to settle for the famous boulders of Moeraki.

As far as I was concerned, they looked exactly like large dinosaur eggs that had been laid on the beach and of which some of them had hatched. Look at the picture.

Oamaru itself is a town that time passed by. They had some of the best Victorian/Empire type buildings from the day when they were an important shipping port but since then things haven’t been going quite as well. On the other hand they were the site of the last whiskey distillery in NZ and all of the last stocks are stored at a beautiful old limestone building called Whiskey. If you go there try the 20 year old cask unfiltered stuff. Knocks your socks off.

Oamaru is also the site of a blue penguin colony although you have to pay to watch from a grandstand as them come in from the sea at sunset. We decided instead to go to a beach nearby and waited for a few hours (in perfect weather mind you) to wait for the yellow eyed penguins to come ashore. They eventually did and the way they just pop out of the waves is nothing sort of magic. The beach is empty and then it isn’t.

They spend all day out catching fish and then come home to a bunch of people on the cliffs watching them. Made me think that we were in a suburban neighbourhood watching a bunch of autoworkers come home, chat with the neighbours and then preen their feathers before they gathered up enough courage to face the family. In this case they eventually made their way to their burrows up in the scrub behind the beach.

Had a drink at the local pub with one of the locals who had spent a career in the bush cutting timber but who now whips off oil paintings (which are pretty good) when the mood strikes him. He was an interesting guy, who was missing a few teeth, and who thought that Canadians were the same as Americans. When I asked him if that meant Ozzies (Australians) were the same as Kiwis he got very offended at first and then apologized to all Canadians.

When we left the next morning we checked under the car for penguins as they sometimes get lost and end up around town. Always better safe then sorryl