Dunedin to Wanaka

On my last full day in Dunedin (Wednesday the 20^th) I finally did a touristy thing and took a tour out to the Otago peninsula. It was another “return” for me, as I had visited the peninsula during my first ever week in NZ more than six years ago.

My lasting memory of that excursion was a view from Lanarch castle that had reduced me to tears. It was really neat to revisit the same site and discover that little had changed, and that my memory had served me quite well.

The Otago Peninsula

There were only three of us on our little tour (really, this is a great time of year to visit) and we were brought to the above mentioned Lanarch Castle, the Royal Albatross Centre, and Nature’s Wonders Naturally in rapid succession.

In the 10 whole minutes at Lanarch Castle I took a few dozen photos (thank goodness for digital photography) and raced back to the bus.

Lanarch Castle

Cool sculpture in the award-winning gardens in front of the castle.  it brings to mind someone hunched over into the crook of their arm. 

In the 15 minutes we had at the Albatross Centre, I took all of five – one tres cheezy staged shot of myself looking wistfully out to sea, one of the only albatross that I saw, and three of the HUGE flock of seagulls (“meet a girl like you-ou-ou”). It was a bit boring, and smelly, frankly. Apparently if you pay to tour the grounds you get to see them nesting, which I’m sure is much cooler – alas, time and money was not on my side.

Camera?  What camera?

The highlight of the day was, bar none, the Nature’s Wonders Naturally. Owned by a family of sheep farmers, the land occupied by the company is home to stunning views of the sea, a healthy colony of seals and not one, but two kinds of penguins – the little blue penguin, which stand at about 25cm tall, and the very rare yellow-eyed penguin. Squeee!

To navigate the somewhat rugged terrain, we were bundled onto eight-wheel drive vehicles and given attractive green ponchos so we blended in better with the landscape. As we jostled over bumps, splashed through puddles, I was giggling like a little girl. Of course, my enjoyment of the excursion wasn’t hampered in any way by the fact that our driver and guide was an attractive redheaded kiwi (a weakness of mine).

These are apparently a Canadian design.  Who knew?

The seals were cute and chill – some five-month-old pups were sleeping not five feet from the path while others frolicked in the shallow water. The penguins were cute too, if a little inactive. They’re nesting at the moment, and those who weren’t sitting on the nests were out hunting. Still. PENGUINS!

A yellow eyed penguin.  Too bad it's not in focus.  It was a fair ways away.  These little guys are quite nervous and are known to have heart attacks if people get too close.  so sad.

Sleepy seal pup and playful seal pup. they were cute. 

Penguin beach.  The (hot) guide said that no human has been on that beach in 10 years, so the penguins are pretty chill.

A little blue penguin.  He was no more than 5 feet from me.  These guys aren;t too bothered by humans, so we could get really close without disturbing him.

Wednesday was significant for another reason – I voluntarily ate fish. The guide convinced me to try the blue cod fish and chips (or, as kiwis say it “fush und chups”) at this dingy little takeaway shop in town. Lo and behold, it was pretty good. Don’t expect me to be chomping on lobster or oysters anytime soon, but I may indulge in some more deep-fried fishy goodness from time to time.

Thursday began dull and grey in Dunedin: perfect weather for spending in a bus. Luckily, that was just what was on the agenda. I boarded the Atomic bus at 10:00 and over four and half hours, the bus wound its way through a few mountain ranges and much rain. As if like magic though, as we pulled into Wanaka, Mother Nature shrugged off her dark, wet shroud and showed off the bright blue sky she'd been concealing.

I'm here.  You're not.  Neener neener neener.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh…Wanaka.

A little history here. When I was here some 18 months ago, my usual travel companion and I could not stop singing – to the tune of Adam Sandler’s Hanukah song from his days on SNL – “tell your friend Veronica, that I’m in Wan-a-kaaaa!” It’s been running through my head for the past two days.

Anywhoodle. Wanaka. Is. Beautiful. The fact that I’m emphasising this says a lot when you consider the sheer plethora of panoramas this country has on offer. It’s awesome. Trust me.

An oft-photographed tree just casually growing in the middle of a big lake.  No biggie.

Wanaka is often overlooked by thrill and party seekers for nearby Queenstown, the self-proclaimed Adventure Capital of the World. Too bad for those who skip it, cause they’re missing out.

Nestled on the shore of Lake Wanaka, at the base of a bunch of mountains and near skiing and hiking in Mount Aspiring National Park, the town is decidedly a touristy spot, but not in a gaudy, showy way. There are a few chain stores in town – Flight Centre, Paper Plus, New World – but there are no McDonalds, Starbucks, or Burger Kings to be seen. The vast majority of businesses are independent and quaint.

The whole town is dominated by the snow-capped mountains to the West, and I’ve spent much of my time just gazing at them in reverence.

Other things I’ve gotten up to since I’ve been here:

• Gone to see Inception at the kooky Cinema Paradiso where the seats are couches, chairs, and even a car. Great venue. Great flick.

In Cinema Paradiso during intermission.  That brown lump on the napkin on the pillow next to me is the best cookie ever.

• Watched the parade that signals the official opening of WanakaFest, a community festival going on this long weekend (Labour day is Monday).

The wanaka dancers do their thing in this tiny and cute parade.

• Hiked up Mount Iron, which at only 750m in height is dwarfed by the many mountains around.

Mount Iron seen from the other side of the lake.

• Visited the Rippon Winery – the home of some of the best wine I’ve ever had.

At $16.50 a bottle, this is the most expensive wine I've ever bought in NZ (yes, I can be cheap). It's worth it though.  It's delicious. 

• Took a nap by the lake.
• Done my homework K
• Found a job of sorts.  For the next week I'll be spending two hours a day cleaning an old gym that's been converted into a 12-room lodging.  In exchange, I'll have a free place to stay.  Should be OK. I start tomorrow, so I hope it's OK.  I'll be sure to gripe if it's not :)

One final picture: I got to feed an orphaned lamb at the place where I saw the penguins.  How cute is that?

A brief glimpse of Tongoriro National Park and Wellington

When I last checked in with you folks, we were nestled in the foothills of the mountains in Tongoriro National Park.  I’m very glad we had arrived during daylight hours and had a nice – if distant – look at the mountains, for the view that had so enchanted us on Tuesday was completely obliterated by Wednesday morning.  The mountains were fully shrouded by the thick clouds and fog that had moved in overnight.  Fie!

The forecast had promised the clouds would burn off, so we valiantly headed deeper into the park to Whakapapa village wearing clothing we had deemed appropriate for the excursion – nylon pants, t-shirts, cardigans and rain jackets. 

At the i-site (the visitor’s centre) we enquired about short walks in the area, specifically about the Meads walk – a half-hour walk to a rock wall that was used in some scene in LOTR (still not sure which one). The woman at the counter directed us to head on up to the ski fields, and to take a path behind one of the lifts. 

Let’s remember that it’s early spring here and that we were up in the mountains.  Hence, there was still snow up there, and the ski season was still in full swing (it’s a school holiday this week).  Remember those nylon pants, t-shirts, cardigans and rain jackets we were sporting? Well, we quickly discovered that they were definitely not warm enough. 

We pulled out all the extra layers and cold-weather accessories we could and girded ourselves for a nice challenging walk through the mist. 

Toasty!



We couldn’t see more than 10 feet in front of us for a while, but only for a short while, cause about five minutes after setting out up that slippery, snowy hill, we were in a clearing, and it appeared that we were at the end of the walk (30 minutes my sweet patootie).  The fog suddenly lifted and we were standing in front of a 10-15m high rock wall that we assume was the star of the show.  We took a few quick photos, then headed back to try and warm up. 



Quick!  Someone tell me what scene this is in! We haven't figured it out yet.



We drove (and by “we” I mean Nick) to Wellington all afternoon. Along the way we skirted some truly alarming rock faces that were either seemingly on the brink of tumbling into the road, or had done so already.  We didn't get a picture of it, but one section actually had a car-sized boulder that had rolled across two lanes of road to the other side.

Eeek!  And this was luckily a place where there was a shoulder to the road.  Usually it was just sheer rock face jutting out right next to the pavement.

, and arrived just in time for rush hour.  We swung by two backpacker hostels which had come highly recommended by our travel books and quickly rejected them (the first smelled of a delicate bouquet of old hockey equipment, cat pee and cigarettes; the second’s front porch was writhing with at least 20 disaffected youth. They reminded me of a bunch of cats just lazing about in the sun looking entitled and bored with life).

We ended up at the YHA which was so much nicer than any place I’ve ever stayed in Wellington.  When next I’m back in Wellington I’m not bothering looking anywhere else (and if ever you’re there, do the same.  Trust me.)

We really didn’t see much of Wellington.  A short walk along Cuba street and the main drag was about it.  I did point out a café where the LOTR actors had apparently frequented on occasion, and noticed that the piercing studio that had given me the now-defunct hole in my lip six years ago was equally defunct itself.

It was an early night, as we were expected at the ferry terminal at 7:30 to make our way to the South Island. 

Well…it was meant to be an early night, and Christina and Nick, comfortably ensconced in their cosy double room, did get a full night’s rest.  I, on the other hand, was in a six-person dorm and got lured into a long conversation with a kiwi bloke from somewhere on the North Island who was very sweetly accompanying his niece and her friend to a Paramour concert in town the next night.  They were all very nice.

Who wasn’t nice were the other two twits from our room who loudly stumbled in at 4:00 a.m. More precisely, they loudly and repeatedly attempted unsuccessfully to open the door at 4:00 a.m.  When I got up to open the door for them, they proceeded to turn on the lights and slowly and noisily get ready for bed to the backdrop of my passive aggressive sighs.

I so wanted to return the favour when my alarm went off two and half hours later, but I couldn’t do that to the uncle and girls.  So instead, I did what all nice roommates should, and got ready in the dark trying to make as little noise as possible.  I did get one final passive aggressive act in and used the twits’ nice face wash and moisturiser they had left in the washroom – that’ll teach them! (Not that they’ll notice, but whatever).

On a positive note, that morning was clear and bright, and for once, Wellington wasn’t being hit with gale force winds, so the sea was calm. In short, it was a perfect day to take the ferry.

Just look at that brilliant sunshine.

The crossing from Wellington, on the North Island, to Picton, on the South Island takes three hours on the HUGE ferry boat. It’s a great ride that starts off with great views of Wellington – a picturesque city built into a steep hillside, which means that nearly everyone seems to have a view of the ocean. 

Wellington in the a.m.

The middle section is open sea, which is still quite pretty, and then the last hour or so is through Marlborough Sound, which is particularly stunning.  I was hoping to see dolphins as I had during the crossing last time since Nick has never really seen any (don’t worry, that’s a situation that has been taken care of since then – stay tuned!).  Alas, there were none. 

The Marlborough Sounds -- ahhhhhhhhhhh.

We did see thousands upon thousands of jellyfish though.  So that was cool.

A quick tour of Picton – including the cute park on the water, complete with its own ride-able miniature train and affable conductor – and we were off to Kaikoura, stopping many times along the way to get photos.

How much does this man love his job?  So much!  In case you're wondering, a ride on the train costs 0.20$.

Picton from the boat.

The Ferry in Picton.

Coast, train, and plants

East Coast of the South Island

Nick and a sleepy seal.

Self timers are awesome.