Foggy all the way - Te Anau to Dunedin.

03rd May 2006 AD

We got up early and the brisk morning hit us. The windows had all fogged up so for the first half hour of the drive I did my best to not run into anything!

However, for the next five hours we would find ourselves driving in pretty thick fog. It was amazing. I’ve never quite seen anything like it. And not only that – by around 12pm the sun was still in a ‘10am’ position. It was a pity I was unable to capture some photos of the fog as it made for some great scenic moments when the sun broke through and the land showed off its greenery.

Dunedin prides itself on being one of the largest cities in the world – not for population but for sheer size. As we drove along we passed a sign which heralded the outer city limits – we were still a good 45 minute drive into the city itself. The sign seemed to suggest that Dunedin had faked its way into the record books.

The city was a lot more yuppy than I had expected. We checked into our five start motel (which, for a motel, was very nice!) and then headed into town for a walk. The city landscape and architecture seemed very interesting and if we had more time it would have been well worth it just to have a walk around for a bit more.

Another Anglican Cathedral in the heart of the city...

Notice the random button underneath the bathroom sink. We had no idea what this did so we flicked it on and left the room. When we got back the floors in the bathroom area were warm! What a nifty idea for the cold winters in Dunedin!

We stopped by the ‘Hungry Frenchman’ for lunch. And whilst the serving sizes were relatively small, the atmosphere of the place was quite nice.

My fish - I love the fish in New Zealand! So fresh and tasty!

Shte1's prawns...very nice! If only they had more...

After our nice seafood lunch we headed over to the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate factory. There was lots to see and tonnes of interesting facts:

• The Dunedin Cadbury factory is the only factory in the world which boasts a one tonne ‘chocolate-fall’. In one of the three silos you make your way to the top and get to see one tonne of chocolate cascade before your eyes. Takes about 30seconds in all and smells great – though I wouldn’t stick my finger out to lick it as the chocolate’s only use is the waterfall and only get’s replaced two to three times a year!
• A Cadbury ‘Moro’ bar is eaten every thirty seconds in New Zealand.
• The Dunedin factory starts production on Easter eggs 5-6 months in advance of the season. And in three weeks NZ consumes about 10 million Easter eggs alone…no eggs are exported.

These are the fossilised remains of the first person (who appears of Asian descent) to discover chocolate beans. As you can see, the people were much shorter in those times. Scientists have directly attributed the increase of human height over the last 4000 years to chocolate... (j/k)

What's that? You're excited about seeing Chocolate? Me too!!!

After picking up plenty of samples we then headed off to Baldwin street – famously known as the most steepest street in the world. And hey, with all those freebies we figured that we should at least try to burn calories off. So off we went.

It was hard.

But we got a certificate for completing the climb.

Allow us to demonstrate appropriate stretching procedure - first the calf muscles...

Then the thigh-thingy muscle...

How steep is that again?

Oh...that steep...

Dinner that evening was at a local Japanese restaurant. I thought I had ordered a bento lunch box for us to share, but a hotpot style dish came out instead. Was still nice though :)

Noice!

04th May 2006 AD

Today was going to be our adventure day. We headed out to Otago peninsula for a wildlife trek on 8 Wheel All Terrain Vehicles. Though windy and cold we were able to see some sea lions up close. The baby sea lions seemed un-phased by our presence and actually seemed to enjoy the attention – a few of them made a short little climb near our hill and waded around in a muddy pool whilst all the tourists with us ‘Oooh’d and ‘Ahhh’d. We were also able to get even closer under a man made cement enclosure which had little holes to allow us to look through.

Our guides then took us to an isolated beach to try and glimpse one of the world’s rarest penguins – the Yellow Eyed Penguin. We stayed for about 20 minutes with not much luck – it was well past the breeding season for the penguins and we were not allowed to go onto the beach to actually look around either since the penguins were incredibly shy. The Yellow Eyed Penguin was as elusive as it's current endangered species rating...

Up close and personal with this baby seal - don't try this with the adults as they'll charge at you! We got this close thanks to the zoom on the camera and the little cement shelter we entered to look out of...

Spot the seals in the mass of seaweed...

Shh! Be vewy vewy quiet...we're hunting for Yellow-Eyed Penguins...

After the cold had pretty much frozen our appendages we ventured down to the Albatross viewing area and had lunch at the café. My goodness…NZ food is so good! I had a relatively simple smoked Salmon toasted sandwich but Shte1’s home made Venison Pie with Mango Chutney was to die for!

Smoked salmon grilled panini...yum...!

Home-made Venison pie with Mango chutney...oh my goodness!

After lunch we headed off to our final tourist location – Larnarch Castle. We found out on the guided tour that it’s not technically a castle, but just a really big mansion. The main tower does resemble a castle’s turrets, but that was more of a fashion statement rather than an attempt to be an actual castle.

The history of the home was a sad one. Mr Larnarch was a well to do accountant who moved his family here from England. The castle was the family’s holiday home, but the death of his first two wives, the affair of his third wife, and finally his business going bankrupt ended with Mr Larnarch committing suicide. The home itself is quite opulent and has been restored much to its former glory. There was an air of sadness to the place, but it was quite majestic at the same time.

After having a bit of fun in the surrounding gardens we succumbed to the cold wind and headed home to warm up.

Larnarch Castle

Another view

It was blisteringly cold when this photo was taken. We didn't stay long in the
wind - our faces were beginning to feel numb...

This hall adjoins the main home. It was built in celebration of Mr Larnarch's
daughter turning 21...what a present!

Hmm...these ducks give me an idea for dinner...

After having a bit of fun in the surrounding gardens we succumbed to the blisteringly cold wind and headed home to warm up.

Our final dinner in NZ was also going to be a treat. We didn’t really know where to go so asked some advice from the concierge. We then trotted down to the French Café restaurant and treated ourselves to a two course meal. Shte1 started with a duck entrée and had Pork for main. I had Curried Scallops on green tea noodles along with some fish. The meal did not disappoint and the atmosphere of the place was very charming.

I’m really liking NZ!

In some ways it was a pity not to be able to spend more time in this great country. There were many places we were unable to go to because of time constraints, but I pray that one day we’ll be able to return.

Green Tea Noodles with Curried Scallops

Duck Confit on a potato stack

Pork on Mashed Potato Boat

My fish...

Dunedin Town Hall...lovely in the sunset

05th May 2006 AD

We drove back to Christchurch from Dunedin. This drive was probably the most boring as the landscape was now pretty much all flat. Hardly any sheep in sight as the land was more agricultural. It was a four hour drive, but it also felt the longest. When we finally reached Christchurch the odometer read close to 1500km. It had been a great holiday, but at the same time we were looking forward to being home again. For those reading this – New Zealand is beautiful. It’s certainly a wonderful testimony to God’s goodness in his creation. Head there for some time out – but don’t stay too long… As beautiful as it may be, it is not heaven.

Most of the luggage belongs to Shte1...no really!

Fare thee well New Zealand! We hope to see you soon again...