Wellington Journal

South Island Days 5 – 7: Scots, Chocolate & Penguins

I’d have to say that Dunedin was the loveliest city I didn’t really see on our south island trip.  My virus (or whatever it was) hit its peak while we were there, and even the parts I did see, I only vaguely remember.  I do have a clear sense, however, of a city with beautiful architecture.  And our hotel room beds; I remember those also.

We arrived in Dunedin on Saturday evening, and by that time it was clear that whatever I had wasn’t going away by itself.  So the next morning I went to the walk-in weekend doctor, so that he could give me the Kiwi version of aspirin and tell me it would probably go away all by itself.

In the meantime, Sara & the girls went exploring.  At the downtown railway station – a building prominent enough to have its own Wikipedia entry – they happened across a couple of young girls practicing their bagpipes.  Kids these days!  They also managed to get some pretty nice shots of churches, parks, and whatnot, which I’ve added to the Picasa website.

(The bagpipes aren’t too terribly surprising, as there seems to be a large Scottish influence in this part of the south island.  In fact, Dunedin, the name, is an anglicisation of Edinborough!  There now, you’ve learned something new.)

An example of Dunedin architecture

Bagpipe practice downtown

Missing an ad hoc primary school bagpipe concert is one thing (possibly a good thing?), but failing to see the Cadbury World chocolate factory, when it’s located just blocks from our hotel?  I think not.  So I roused myself in the afternoon, and we all took the tour.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures on the tour (the Oompa Loompas are quite shy, you see), but I got some shots of the girls playing in the 1920s Cadbury delivery truck, and the mechanical puppet window which – considering its originality – was probably conceived and built around the same time (see below).  The factory tour, it turns out, was a tour of a factory, and factories, it turns out, aren’t really that exciting.  But we got some free candy and made it out of the gift shop with our wallets mostly intact, so I was able to put aside any feelings I might have had about paying a corporation to spend a couple of hours embedded in their advertising.  And considering the quality of Cadbury’s chocolate (and ice cream!), I can’t be too upset.

Cadbury World

 

A ready-made Cadbury ad, if I ever saw one!

 

On our second day in Dunedin, we headed out to the tip of the Otaga peninsula to see the penguins.  We went to a special yellow-eyed penguin reserve, located on a small beach at the end of Harington Point.  That this beautiful, pristine beach, just thirty kilometers from one of New Zealand’s largest city could be a penguin reserve instead, oh, a multi-bazillion dollar resort, is a testament to the laws of supply and demand.  There are many, many such beaches, and there just aren’t that many people.

There are, however, sheep.  And seals.  And penguins.  (And albatrosses, though I didn’t get any good pictures of those.)  And they all seem to be living together peacefully on the Otaga peninsula.  Here are a few photos to prove the point:

The Yellow-Eyed Penguins have themselves some sweet-as beach property

 

They’ve even got little condos

The one little guy we were able to get close to

We saw this little fellow from within a rabbit-warren of blinds that are strung out along the edge of the sanctuary.  They were so intent on keeping the people away from the natural habitats that it felt like we were on safari.  In tunnels.  Hunting small, flightless birds.

Not a postcard, just your run-of-the-mill NZ view

You can find more pictures, including ones of Ali & Meg who for some reason aren’t in this blog post, and a shot of Katie’s hair that goes to show just how incredibly windy it was out there, up on the Picasa website.

UPDATE

Sara complained that I’d not included some of the best pics of the Otaga peninsula, so here you go:

Lonely Seal

We got to watch this seal slowly make his way across the beach and into the water.  We tried to get a good movie of it, but neither Katie’s nor mine really turned out all that well, so you’ll just have to imagine the waddling.

Sheep and Seals Living Together

It was a little hard to see in the original picture, but what you’ve got here are some sheep and some seals hanging out together in the same little meadow by the sea.  Since neither is a carnivore, I suppose it’s not all that amazing, but it does feel a little strange, doesn’t it?

Labels: South Island trip

posted by Dug @ 7:17 PM