New Zealand 2011 trip, Day 18, Jan 20th: Dunedin, Oamaru, and Penguins

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1/20 11:12pm, Old Bones Backpackers, Oamaru

We were up early at Hogwartz (8am) to try to fit in a big day along the east coast. I checked out of the hostel ~9:15am, with just a piece of fruit for breakfast, and asked if they named this place before or after Harry Potter came out. The owners bought the place in 2004 from the big church across the street, and named it Bishops Rest originally, and later renamed it Hogwartz. I would have been super impressed if it had been named independently...


Our room at Hogwartz. Despite the high BBH ratings, we didn't find this place too appealing after our stay...

It was all cloudy, but no rain this morning. Wendy and I walked from Hogwartz down to the city center (a few minutes), stopping at a couple scenic churches on the way. Dunedin is known for it's architecture. We checked out some shops and eateries on the way to the railroad station, which is NZ's most photographed building. There was an art gallery in the top floor.

We headed back to the "octagon" and stopped at a sushi place for a light, late, breakfast (just a cheap 7 piece combo special). We ate while watching some kids fight over a chess game. NZ sushi isn't limited to raw fish. They include tuna salad in their sushi.


We checked out the big church across the street from our hostel, and then walked down to the railroad station...


Some pics inside the station. We ate a sushi platter in the park, and watched these two kids play chess, and then get into a fight about it (while their mom ignored it all)...

Then we wandered the streets looking for a lunch place, and stopping at a McD's for 30 minutes to use the free wi-fi. Unfortunately, hotmail didn't work. Researched the Hump Ridge trail and Siberia Hut. We stopped at a fruit market, and bought some cheap lettuce, tomatoes, and bananas.

Eventually we ended up at The Palms for lunch (from Lonely planet), and ordered lamb, steamed clams, and a pea soup (all lunch special prices). Good meal, but afterwards, Wendy was still hungry, so we stopped at a kebab place, and tried the $7 lunch special. It was so good we had to order another to save for later!


Lunch at The Palms...


Followed by a kebab...

After lunch, we decided to leave Dunedin, and skip the drive along the peninsula in order to have more time north at the Maeroki boulders and Oamaru. I filled up on cheap gas (compared to west coast, though still ~$6.50US/gal), and we were driving north ~2pm. The skies were locked in cloud, and we encountered rain off and on. On the radio I learned that mushrooms have half the calories of an equal weight of red peppers (btw, peppers are called capsicums here).

We reached the Maeroki Boulders ~3pm, and walked along the narrow beach, with the high tides nearly covering the entire stretch of sand. We found a bunch of people gathered at the perfectly round, smooth, spherical boulders on the beach. Only a couple of the ~25 boulders were accessible at high tide unfortunately. The water continued to rise, and almost ran up on my feet when I was up against the wall of rock behind me. The rocks were really slippery so we couldn't run away from the waves safely. We left via the cafe steps (a short cut), but then I had to run ~2/3rds of a mile up and down a hill to get the car and pick up Wendy.


Gloomy skies as we arrive to the Maeroki Boulders...


Wendy poses next to the smooth, giant, rock spheres...


Note to self (and others), it pays to come during LOW tide. Unfortuantely, we were here at high tide, and most of the boulders were in the water...


A farm near the Maeroki Boulder cafe had a llama farm...

We then drove north to our hostel, Old Bones, outside of Oamaru. It has the highest rating of all the BBH backpackers (96%), and as we arrived, we realized why. It's located in an isolated field just above the shore, in one of the most serene locations imaginable for a $60 room. Then when we stepped inside, we were even more impressed. The place was a giant room comprising of a kitchen and lounge, with 8 bedroom (pods) on the sides, each with a door to the outside. There was a shoes off policy which meant that the floors were really clean. There was also a nice wood burning fireplace and wood fire. The bedrooms had radiant heating in the floors. Wendy said she'd be happy spending several days here. On top of everything, there was free wi-fi here too!

Wendy did laundry and hung up clothes on the raised cloth racks. After some chat about tomorrow's plan, we started dinner: Salad, yams, and fresh fish fillets we picked up at a market during today's drive. Wendy battered the fish, and made an excellent capers, lemon, butter dressing for it. For dessert we had some dehydrated pumpkin pie (dehydrated while it was still in theliquid pudding phase). Yummy.


Our hostel was located near the ocean. The 2nd pic shows the outer door to our room, and the ocean beyond the grass field...


Wendy made use of the retractable clothes racks to dry laundy. The place was gorgeous inside...


Dinner time...


A statue of the giant extinct "moa" bird stood outside on the lawn. The early settlers wiped out these large birds, which were an easy source of food. Apparently some moa bones were discovered on the property, hence the name "Old Bones". A look at our laundry filled room...

When 8pm arrived, we drove up 4.5km to Oamaru, and visited the Yellow Penguin lookout. We hung out for ~35 minutes, and saw 2 penguins in the distance, waddling in and out of the water. It was super chilly out. We bundled up in all our layers, rainpants, and scarf.


A look down at the shores from the Yellow Penguin Lookout...


After waiting a while, a penguin came out and waddle along the shoreline...


These are super zoomed in shots, since we were watching from quite far away (see 1st pic of this series)...

Then we drove to the blue penguin visitor center, where $20 each gave us admission to watch 86 blue penguins return from the ocean and make their way to their colony on land. Wendy gushed at the cute little birds. No photography allowed (flashes scare them). We sat for over an hour watching. A guide filled us in on facts. The penguins were tiny, just 10 inches, and 2 lbs. They were really cute too (Wendy says). They shake them selfs to cool off after spending 15 hours swimming in the sea for food. They can even fall asleep on their march from the beach, in burst of 6 minutes. I found the rough surf smashing into the rocks even more mesmerizing. It looked like the penguins were having a rough time with the choppy seas today.

Finally, ~10:20pm, we left, even though only 86 of the ~230 penguins had come in from the sea so far. We saw one penguin in the parking lot, who must have been lost.


A cute, but necessary sign, as penguins returning from the ocean each evening sometimes get lost, and end up in the parking lot...

Back at the hostel, everyone is relaxing in the lounge, with a fire in the stove. It's really quiet here. I had 2 bowls of hot cereal, and a PBJ.

Time for a hot shower. We booked a place in Twizel for tomorrow. Hope the weather turns good.

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