Albatrosses and Blue Penguins

Today I'm going to finish telling you about our road trip together with Giigan's parents Eeva-Inkeri and Jaakko. Last time I left us in Queenstown, which was more or less only a eat-well-and-get-a-good-night's-sleep stop for us. The following morning we continued to Te Anau and Milford Sound, which we've already told you about. We were supposed to go on a cruise on Doubtful Sound the very next day (11th March), but a problem had occured with the operator's ship, so the cruise got cancelled. At first we were a bit annoyed by this unfortunate turn of events, but we quickly recovered and came up with alternative plans, mainly to the benefit of our distinguished guests.

While Giigan and I laboured in the kitchen of our hostel, earning remarks like "that's the best meal I've ever seen cooked at a backpackers'", Eeva-Inkeri and Jaakko went on a half-day tour to the Manapouri underground powerstation (more on it in a later blog post). In the evening, with only minutes to spare, we had time to drive them to the Te Anau cinema screening an exclusive 30 minute scenic film giving a unique bird's eye perspective of the Southwest corner of NZ, before rushing them to a tour of the glowworm caves in Te Anau. A few speed limits might have been broken that day, but I dare say a day can't be much more successful than that.

Ready for a day on the road.

Leaving Te Anau the next day, we drove to rainy Invercargill, where we quenched our thirst at the Invercargill Brewery and visited the Southland Museum. Most of the daylight left was spent driving to Dunedin, where we stayed the night. Fortunately the weather cleared up the next morning, and we had a great time showing the Otago Peninsula to Jaakko and Eeva-Inkeri. At the Albatross Centre on the tip of the peninsula, we even saw a couple of Royal Albatrosses lazily soar past. Mine and Giigan's highlight was visiting the Emerson's brewery, whose Pilsner was the first organic beer in NZ. Emerson's beers remain some of our absolute favourites over here.

Good times in Dunedin.

After a brief visit to Baldwin Street - allegedly the steepest street in the world - we left Dunedin and headed for Oamaru. We've written about Oamaru and Dunedin before, so I won't go into much detail again. Suffice it to say, that in Oamaru we visited the Blue Penguin colony. Blue Penguins are also called Little Penguins, because they don't grow taller than 25-40 cm. Their eyes and backsides are a beautiful blue color. They're quite charming creatures. For $20 you can watch them from a gallery as they come home just after sunset. Watching their arrival is very enchanting, partly because they behave so adorably.

In Oamaru the penguins have to climb a rocky ramp out of the water and cross a gravel walking track in order to reach their colony, comprising some 20 burrows on a green lawn. If this doesn't sound scary enough, most of the time there's a fur seal or two dozing not far away on the gravel track. Luckily for the blue penguins, NZ fur seals, contrary to leopard seals for instance, don't find the penguins to be any kind of culinary delight.

The penguins who are coming home for the night won't all arrive at the same time. Since they don't like moving alone over scary terrain on land, they'll wait for a few buddies to arrive before attempting to cross the gravel track. Even in numbers, scuttling the 3 or 4 metres from the edge of the ramp to the relative safety of the lawn, is no trivial undertaking. The group of four or so penguins will hesitate just on the edge of the gravel track, backtrack, inch a few feet forward, repeat, and wait for a leader that won't arrive, sometimes for a surprisingly long time. A serious attempt to cross is usually a result of the other penguins shoving one to the head of the pack, or everyone except one taking a step back. Once some penguins start crossing though, the whole business is over in just a few seconds, as no one wants to be left behind or be the last.

Something of a joke on the road to the penguin colony.

Watching this is very comical. Sorry to dissapoint you though: no pictures were allowed to be taken of the penguins, not even without a flash (thanks to all Asian tourists who can't operate their cameras properly). Here's an external picture of some blue penguins if you're curious as to their appearance.

Our last full day (14th March) in the company of Giigan's parents was spent walking along said gravel track that the penguins were afraid to cross, visiting the other attractions in Oamaru (Whitestone cheese factory, NZ Malt Whisky Company, Victorian-style buildings, etc.) and driving back to Christchurch. In the evening we celebrated the successful road trip at the Italian restaurant Cafe Valentino, eating and drinking like kings and queens one last time (kova paluu arkeen koitti meitä tämän jälkeen...).

The chefs at Cafe Valentino know how to put a smile on Giigan's face.

Many thanks to Eeva-Inkeri and Jaakko for visiting us here on the other side of the world. We enjoyed every second of your visit!

MORE PICTURES are available through this link.

Red fish and yellow-eyed penguins

Another week has gone by, rather quickly if you ask me. Work didn't go as well for me this week as last week, but it was still decent.

Today I was volunteering for Greenpeace for about an hour and a half. We walked from the Cathedral in the city centre to the Art Centre market and handed out Greenpeace's consumer guide how to avoid the most unsustainable seafood to people we met on the street. That is, the others were doing all the talking and handing out the guides, while I was having fun being our ocean's campaign mascot: Sammy, the semi-sad Orange Roughy fish. My upper body covered by the round red fish costume, I went with the flow, approached families, let children give me a pat (or a tug on the tail!) and posed for many a walker-by's camera.

JBB as Sammy, a semi-sad Orange Roughy fish.

It felt good for once doing something not as an employer and without any performance pressure, but simply for the importance and good of doing it.

A couple of days ago I talked to an elderly guy who had some very interesting thoughts on the origin of the climate change the planet is experiencing. Is it due to human activity since the Industrial Revolution? Because of the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? A consequence of deforestration and ocean pollution? No, no, no! There is a much more logical and plausible explanation.

The whole mess is the fault of the French.

You heard me right! The French have caused global warming! (At this point I should inform you that some Kiwis still hold a huge grudge against the French for bombing the Rainbow Warrior in the 80s.) It's all because of those countless nuclear tests the French did on the atolls in the South Pacific years and years ago. What happened, was that the series of nuclear explosions in the exact same spot over and over again, caused a change in the inclination of the Earth, thus changing the seasons and the climate we had up until then!

Proof of this can be found in the fact that the French eventually stopped their nuclear tests. Was this because of public outrage and environmental organisations like Greenpeace demanding the tests to cease and the Pacific to be made into a nuclear free zone? Again, no. The opinions of the little people don't matter. Governments will do as they want. The tests ended simply because someone way high up, had figured out what the nuclear explosions were doing, i.e. ultimately giving birth to the tool of our own self-destruction. (I'm still talking about climate change. And I'm serious.)

What a conspiracy theory. I was dumbstruck having heard that. What do you respond to something like that? It's not like you can convince someone that deluded of the truth. Poor humanity.

Alright, so that, I guess, pretty much sums up my week. In order for the blog to ever catch up with current events, I'm going to tell you how our journey continued from Dunedin, where I left you at the end of the last post.

The Southern Scenic Route is a coastal journey starting in Dunedin and ending in Te Anau, the heart of Fiordland (or the other way around). You can get the free map of the route at any information centre; it shows where all the attractions are located. There is lots and lots to see, but unfortunately many of the attractions are not located within easy access from the road; to some you need to walk for an hour or two to reach. Other attractions, like the Cathedral Cove, are only accessible a few hours every day due to the tide. Preferrably, you'd split the drive onto several days in order to see as much as possible. We, on the other hand, chose to drive the whole leg in one day. This made us miss some things, but ultimately I don't think it's something we'll regret.

What we did see though, was one of the many waterfalls in the Catlins region (negligible), the 160 million year old fossilised forest at Curio Bay, some yellow-eyed penguins and the Blue Rocks in Riverton. Curio Bay is absolutely worth a stop if you drive the route. The fossilised forest is viewable depending on the tide, and looks really just like imprints of tree logs in the rock cliffs of the beach. When we jumped out of the car to go down there, it was pretty stormy, so we also got to see some huge waves breaking into the cliffs.

Waves crashing into the cliffs in Curio Bay.

We were also lucky enough to spot two yellow-eyed penguins in the bay. They were standing further up the beach next to some low-branched trees and bushes. One of them frequently flapped its wings at a high speed drying the feathers.

A yellow-eyed penguin in Curio Bay.

Because the weather was less than enjoyable, we ended up driving all the way to Invercargill pretty much without further stops. Invercargill was a bit of a disappointment. The largest town in Southland and portal to Stewart Island lacks character and has the charming feel of an industrial town. It has enough promise to tickle one's tentacles of curiosity for an hour or two (at most), but to spend a day and a night in Invercargill would probably mean a day and a night that could have been better spent in a number of other places in NZ. Don't fall for it.

Leaving Invercargill not only improved the scenery, but also the weather. By the time we very briefly stopped in Riverton to switch driver and take three photographs of the curious Blue Rocks, we could almost discern Stewart Island 30 km out at sea.

The Blue Rocks in Riverton.

From there it only got better the further we drove north towards Fiordland and its main town, Te Anau. Gradually we passed into more and more mountainous terrain, eating up the miles with our green petrol-drinker. The sun didn't have much time left above the jagged peaks by the time we arrived in the cozy little town in the most iconic part of the country. Before finding our accommodation (Barnyard Backpackers, a very idyllic place we like very much) 9 km out of town, we quickly familiarised ourselves with the lakeshore and the shopping street, as this would become our base for a while. Te Anau, which lies on the shore of Lake Te Anau, the second-largest lake in NZ, is after all, the gateway to some of the best tramps in NZ, Fiordland National Park, as well as the magnificient fiords like Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.

Dusk over Fiordland as seen from the Barnyard Backpacker's hostel.

If this text was more boring than usual, hopefully the next couple of entries will be more inspiring as I cover our first trip to awesome Milford Sound and our four day tramp on the Kepler Track! 'Til then, keep it real!

Some things old and some things new

Time ticks fast in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Trees have turned into crimson conflagrations and leaves are flying through the crisp, sometimes even cold air, falling to the ground and becoming every gardener's tedious chore. Autumn is here; progressing and slowly turning into winter.

The departure of the last of our Finnish visitors, Juuso and Eeva, two weeks ago in Queenstown, also marked the end of our 2½ month vacation since leaving Tauranga. We had to start searching for jobs for our last months in New Zealand.

As I'm publishing this, I sit at the desk in my new room in Christchurch. I'm sharing a flat with four other people the next 11 weeks, until early July. A week ago I started working for GP again here in Christchurch. Meanwhile, Giigan has our car and is still in the Queenstown area. He's looking for some steady work there, but has already done some sporadic work on a vineyard in Wanaka.

My room in Christchurch as captured by my lousy phone camera.

I'll tell you about the flat and post some proper pictures of it later, as Giigan currently has the camera. Before I go into telling you about how our road trip through the South Island continued from Christchurch two months ago, I'm just going to point out the new "current status" section below the map in the right column. As suggested by Juuso, we'll use that area to just very briefly comment on what's going on presently and what our plans are (since the events in the blog are lagging behind...).

Alright. Moving on to the old bits.

After Sanna and Kaisa departed Christchurch, Giigan and I headed towards Dunedin. Dunedin is the second largest city on the South Island and lies 5 hours south of Christchurch along the coast. The drive is pretty boring, especially the first 1½ hours. This is because the road goes through the Canterbury Plains, which is the largest area of flat land in NZ. The only thing you see is straight road, farmland and up to a kilometre long irrigation systems.

Things get interesting when you arrive in Oamaru, 120 km north of Dunedin. In the 19th century Oamaru was a thriving city, the wealth of which can still be seen. Namely, the old town centre is still full of old limestone buildings. Walking through the historic district you can admire the Victorian architecture while stopping at, among others, a second-hand bookshop, a stone carver's shop or the New Zealand Malt Whisky Company.

The buildings weren't the only old things in the historic district in Oamaru. The dog is alive of course, even though he looks stuffed!

As you may remember from the blog post about the whisky festival in Christchurch, the only NZ whisky in the world is available through this bottling company, which is based in Oamaru. Even though you wouldn't be interested in buying whisky, their store is worth a visit. The ground floor holds a café and a shop, where you can buy all sorts of nice trinkets made in New Zealand (besides the whiskies). On the first floor you can have a look at the festive Barrel Room (wouldn't mind attending a party there), and on the top floor there is an art gallery. The whole interior is very elegant.

The Barrel Room at the New Zealand Malt Whisky Company.

Oamaru is also known for being the childhood hometown of the famous Kiwi author Janet Frame. Furthermore, Oamaru is a great location to spot some penguins! There is both a Blue Penguin colony and a Yellow-eyed Penguin colony within just a few kilometres of the town centre. We have visited the Blue Penguin colony, but not when we were passing through Oamaru this time, so I'll leave telling you about it to another post.

Between Oamaru and Dunedin we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders, which are huge mud and stone spheres that lie on the beach half sunken into the sand. We were favoured by a low tide, so we got to see the boulders very well. They are naturally formed and quite peculiar, but I won't try to explain their origin to you. You can click the link to read up on it if interested.

Giigan by one of the Moeraki Boulders.

Once we got to Dunedin, we ended up staying there for about four days, since we liked the city so much. This wasn't only because the hostel we stayed in (Hogwartz) is one of the best hostels we've been to, but because the whole city has such a vibrant feel to it. Maybe this is a result of Dunedin being a university city and there are lots of students there, maybe it's the architecture which sets the city apart from all other cities in NZ. With its many gothic churches and dominant stone buildings, Dunedin feels like a city in Scotland. In fact, Dunedin was the destination of many Scottish immigrants, and the name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh.

Besides just walking around the beautiful city centre and the university campus, we (naturally) had to visit the Speight's Brewery, established in 1876. We went on a brewery tour and learnt, for instance, that the brewery is one of only a few gravity-driven breweries in the world. Moreover, we learnt that the water comes from a spring deep below the brewery (even though the brewery is located in the city centre), and water from the spring is available free of charge for the public through a tap outside the brewery. The water's claim to extraordinary purity has made it hugely popular; there was always some people on the street by the tap filling up huge plastic water bottles!

After the tour we got to quench our thirst by tasting the full range of Speight's beers.

Dunedin lies at the head of the Otago Harbour, a long and narrow bay formed between the mainland and an equally long and narrow peninsula called the Otago Peninsula. Driving to the tip of the peninsula makes a good day trip from Dunedin, but you need a car of your own as there is no public transport there. At the tip of the peninsula there is an Albatross Centre, where you can visit a museum-of-sorts about albatrosses, pay $45 to go on a tour to the Royal Albatross colony (100 metres away), or just stand outside the centre and wait for one of the giant birds to soar by and watch it for free.

Larnach Castle, which is New Zealand's only "castle" also lies on the Otago Peninsula in a breathtaking location. Budget travellers like us can choose to only visit the garden surrounding the castle. This is a good option if you're not so keen on paying the high entrance fee inside the castle, even though it's not completely free either. But if it's a sunny day, you can borrow a petanque set (free) from inside the castle and play in the petanque court after having walked through the colourful garden with its many native plants and flowers. The Larnach Gardens are, for instance, the only place where we have seen a young Kauri tree. In its youth, the Kauri bears little resemblance to its older self (we saw thousand year old Kauri trees on the North Island).

View from the gardens at Larnach Castle.

You can watch yellow-eyed penguins at Sandfly Bay on the peninsula too, but the walk to the beach is rather long. They are best viewed either at dawn or from 3 pm 'til dusk. We didn't venture down to the trenches and hides on the beach as we were hungry and wanted to go back to our hostel and cook some food!

On our last full day in Dunedin we played a round of golf for the very first time in New Zealand! The course was Chisholm Links; like the name says, a true links course by the windy ocean. The course was very much to my liking, and Giigan wasn't complaining about the view and layout either while playing his very first 18 hole round of golf!

Chisholm Links, Dunedin.

In the evening we drove to Baldwin Street, which is the world's steepest street according to the Guinness Book of Records (some controversy exists around this, of course). It has a maximum gradient of 19° (quite steep, I assure you). The street is a few kilometres from the city centre. We also drove to the top of Signal Hill, from where you have a fabulous view of Dunedin, spreading out on the steep slopes of the hills leaning down into the Otago Harbour.

You'll hear a bit more of Oamaru and Dunedin when we write about Giigan's parents' visit to NZ, so for now this will have to do. In the next blog post I'm going to tell you about the southernmost part of the South Island; a road called the Southern Scenic Route to be specific. Meanwhile, you can sign this online petition to put a stop to genetically engineered (GE) rice being allowed in the European Union! And people in Finland/Helsinki: the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior 2 is visiting Helsinki next Sunday (26th April). Doesn't happen too often so take this opportunity! Everyone is welcome onboard!

MORE PICTURES from Oamaru and Dunedin are available here!