DUNEDIN TO INVERCARGILL

We decided to skip any city exploration because 1) it’s a big place; 2) we get lost; and 3) our alternative is the intriguing Otago Penninsula. Dunedin, Celtic for Edinborough, is the South Island’s second largest city. I have to ask people to pronounce things very slowly so find out it’s Dun–KNEE-din. I also asked people about the New Zealand versus the Aussie accent. Australian speech is broader and a bit more harsh. I could hear if after they pointed it out to me. And the large Scottish influence gives way to many idioms containing a WEE bit of something. Charming. We’ve encountered such friendliness from people on the street and I am always thinking about our own people in comparison. We urbanites have a very different and fast-paced life style and deal with a density of population that can erode some of our better qualities. We go on to Otago Penninsula, up the middle road in order to see both the ocean and the Harbour. It’s rewarding and mystical with the overcast burning off a bit as we go. We continue to the Taiaroa Head, site of the Royal Albatross Center. If it’s windy at mid-day, you may see some birds in flight, but just now, because it’s mating season, the Center has only live TV viewing and there is no ability to see the actual birds. We get lucky and do see a bird on the ocean, but he was very far off in the distance. Still, there were 2 fat seals, lots of nesting cormorants, some beautiful black kelp, and wonderful sea views. We talked to some Aussies on holiday who helped us spot all the action, including the Albatross. Did you know that they can sleep while flying? We’d seen the Yellow Penguin reserve on the way up, so we returned there, hoping to take a walk around. Since it’s private property (belonging to a sheep farmer who became an advocate of the yellow-eyed penguins), we take what turns out to be a private hour-and-a-half tour. It was fabulous! The place consists of a series of paths covered by a roof and allowing viewing through slats on the sides at certain points. Otherwise, the paths’ exteriors were bordered by shrubs and plants. All of this keeps the human visitors out of the penguins’ way and most importantly out of their visual field. They are terribly shy and don’t like to be around other penguins when nesting, let alone human beings. At this time of year, most of the penguins are sitting atop their nests, which they’ve built into little “A” frame cottages supplied by the farmer. They like the same locations each year and all have been named and tracked over the years by the Reserve’s staff. We see one male sitting on the nest and the female standing nearby, checking out her feathers. She, the slacker, is supposed to be out at sea feeding herself so that the mate can take his turn in a day or two. We see several more penguins in their nests over the grounds and then happen upon a juvenile lounging at the manmade lake while another adult has a swim. It was a pretty awesome experience to see these rare birds. Lunch is at Glenfallock Woodland Garden, which is just as delightful as it sounds (the place, not the food). We leave Otago for our several-hour journey to Invercargill, seeing storybook hillsides and what Ron thinks may have been tens of thousands of sheep. Our route takes us occasionally to the coast and across many rivers and one-lane bridges that are common here. We’re tempted whenever we see signs for waterfalls so do take a hike to see two particular beauties. Then, we take a turn off to Curio Bay. We are so lucky! It is spectacular! The wave roil, spray and crash and the currents are crazy. It’s very chilly and windy, but we can hardly tear ourselves away. Food and shelter must be gotten, so off we go. Invercargill is at the tip of the south island so we are half-way around in our journey and will now head inland. The town is easily negotiated so we find a delightful apartment where the proprietor doesn’t even bother to take our credit card. She said the morning would be fine. Her husband later told Ron that it might snow tomorrow! New delights.