"Drowsy Day" Day Trip

My super wicked uber fantastic flatmate, Kate, hired a car from Abel Rentals for the day. Yay!  The cost was $64 and we found three other people to split the cost of the rental and gas ($50 at about $2.20/liter) with us.

Alex, a fellow New Yorker, did a marvelous job of driving.  I think the "Stay Left" stickers on the windshield and dashboard helped, too.  We all got a chuckle out of him accidentally turning on the windshield wipers when he intended to use the turn signal, but I secretly knew I would have done the same.

We had a lovely drive to the Moeraki Boulders, just around an hour outside of Dunedin.  Maori legend suggests that the boulders are the remnants of a wrecked canoe.

It was low tide when we arrived.

This meant that there were some interesting things to find, besides the boulders.

We didn't have to walk far to get to the boulders.

They are not manmade.  Hard to believe, huh?

Some of them were really weird looking.

Often, people just chose to walk around, shoot a few photos, and call it a day.  Boring!

The night before, as I laid in bed trying to fall asleep, I tried to think of something different to do when we got to the boulders.  This is all I could come up with: 

I envisioned it looking way cooler than that, but I had a helluva time trying to stay in place because my feet kept slipping.

The shadows told us the sun was getting closer to the horizon; and, it was time to go and look for penguins.

We drove to Bushy Beach since it didn't cost anything - we'd have to pay at the other place.

We were mostly interested in the yellow-eyed penguins, but we saw some other local residents.

Hard to see, but the white dots are penguins...

Here's a closer look:

And, another look:

I really enjoyed Bushy Beach because you could see the penguins and enjoy the ocean.

There was a rumor online that the blue penguins sometimes walk across the parking lot of the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony.  So, we set off to see for ourselves.

On the way, we saw a ton of birds on a pier.  Some of us less knowledgeable dorks thought they were penguins, Kate set us straight - they were shag...

...enjoying the sunset...

The sign gave us hope, but we didn't see any blue penguins.

So, we took a walk down the pier.

I guess the shag didn't like having more company.

Well, one of them didn't mind us.

On the way back, we stopped at Lockies Takeaways for fish and chips to complete our road trip. Yum!

Sandy Pants, Thanks Tunnel Beach

Yesterday, Kate and I soaked up some sun by walking to the Ross Creek Reservoir.  The reservoir itself wasn't much to write home about, but we did find a pretty little waterfall on the way.

I've been told it looks awesome after a heavy rain.

Kate noticed this shag chillin' like a villain in the water.

Today, we organized a group outing to check out Tunnel Beach.  It's one of the local DOC walks around Dunedin.  To get there, we walked to the Octagon, hopped on a bus and took a ride across the peninsula.  The driver dropped us off and said to walk 1 1/2 miles and make a left.  Sounded good to us!

The walk to get there was a little steep, but there were great views on the way to the water.

I loved exploring the beach!

In case photos aren't enough, how about a video?

And, yes, there is a manmade tunnel, too.

And, yes, there is more cool stuff to see at the bottom!

Notice that the edge of the water is a little ways back...

Well, I got a little caught up in taking pictures and failed to process that this wave was coming right for me...

I turned quick on the rock that I was standing on so that I could outrun the wave, but proceeded to slip and fall flat on my rump.  I still managed to recover in time to get a snapshot of the one that got me.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature had enough of letting us enjoy the sunshine, so we headed back to Abbey College.  I definitely would recommend this trip to those in Dunedin.  Even the scenery above the beach was great!  

By far, the best $6 (for the bus) that I've spent since I've been here!

Cruisin'. Not Quite the Riviera, But, Um, Close?

This weekend, I joined fellow Abbey College residents for an Otago Harbour wildlife cruise.  The day started off decent (it wasn't raining, just gray), but started to turn while we were on the boat.

We still saw some neat things.  Some birds came out of the water from nowhere.  At first, someone thought they were penguins, but they were actually shag.  

There were sea lions, too.

Once we reached the lighthouse, the water started getting VERY rough!

So, we turned around and headed back.

Next time, we're hoping to see an orca or some Hector's dolphins.