Susan's Travel Sagas

12-5-2009

Woke up to a sunny and cloudless day. Put on a short sleeved T-shirt for the second time. Ate breakfast alone; they was one other guest(s?) but they had already eaten. Krissie, the B&B hostess was not home, but she had told me she had a booth at the Farmers’ Market selling some kind of roasted seeds. So her husband tended breakfast. Just as his wife had done the day before, he came in (did introduce himself after I introduced myself) and asked if I wanted tea or coffee. He brought the coffee back and left, closing the door and just leaving me there alone. He came back one more time to find out if I wanted toast and that was the extent of the conversation.  It was very uncomfortable  - worse that being in a restaurant even.  He didn’t know how to check me out with the credit card machine, so his daughter helped - never introduced herself at all. When I left I chose to tell him that this B&B was the coldest and most unfriendly place I had stayed in during my month in NZ. I told him I read the guest book and  it seemed all the comments addressed the comfort of the beds and the views, not the hospitality.

I drove in to Dunedin and walked over the Farmer’s Market which it took me about 10-15 minutes to go through. I did pass Krissie quickly, not sure if she saw or recognized me, but I chose not to speak to her. I took a few pictures and then went to the Octagon, the town center, where a 9:30 AM 1 hour walking tour was to begin (from the brochure I picked up at the B&B). When I arrived there seemed to be no tour. I found the I-site (tourist information office) and learned the 9:30 AM tours no longer occurred and the brochure I had was out of date. I was offered a 2 hour tour at 11 AM or a trip on double decker bus. I declined both and for $.50 got a map with a self-guided walking tour. So I walked around and looked at various old Victorian buildings and then went to Cadbury Chocolate for the 10:30 tour there (an abbreviated tour since the factory was not in operation on Saturdays.)  This included a trip to the gift ship (only accessible with a tour ticket) so they could sell the participants candy, a brief DVD show and a walk into the purple tower to see 1 ton of liquid chocolate fall down. We did get to taste warm liquid milk chocolate and got a few free candy bars as well as extras if we could answer the tour guide’s questions. It was interesting. I spoke with a young woman who was there with her mother, both from Australia, although she is starting here second year at the university. She took off five years and was living in South Africa working at a cheetah preserve, studying there behavior, raising cheetahs for zoos, and ministering to the ill at the cheetah hospital. That was really interesting.

After I walked over to look into the train station and ran into this man John that had been on the Monarch Cruise yesterday ( the math professor) who was looking for Maori artwork. Not much in Dunedin although he had just come out of a gallery that I then went in that had about as good a selection as any of  some of the better Maori artwork to be found. I stopped in the free Otago Settler’s Museum and then back to the car. I decided to try to find the “steepest street in the world” which I think I saw from a distance, but never actually got to. At that point I was anxious to get out of Dunedin and got sort of lost because I couldn’t find the sign to direct me where to go.  Circled the town once (passed some U of Otago graduates in cap and gown as today was graduation) and then onto the highway.

I drove straight through to Moeraki, a little fishing town. I found Fleur’s Place on the water. No tables so I was given the choice of eating outside (windy) or at the bar (chose the latter). Fortunately a couple who had been seated at a table decided to leave and no one else was waiting so I got the table. I ordered perch and asparagus with hollandaise sauce and new potatoes. The fish was really fresh, but a bit salty. Otherwise, the food was good. I saw that there was a book/cookbook about the restaurant that looked really interesting so decided to buy it. I spoke to the server and he arranged for Fleur to come over to sign it. She sat at the table and we had a quite a talk about the challenges or running a restaurant, her pesonal challenges in battling colon cancer, etc. She was really nice and that was really special. There was an older man playing guitar next to me with great old songs like Margaretaville, etc. and it was a really wonderful experience.

Then down the road to the Moeraki Boulders. I had to walk about 300 meters down the beach  to see them. They are these big round boulders sitting on the beach. What was also interesting was that all the waves that were coming in were leaving rims of bubbles on the beach, like soap bubbles. I have no idea why and have never seen anything like that before. From there I drove straight to Oamaru. There is a several block area of old Victorian stone buildings with some galleries, but as I arrived just before 5:00 everything was either closed or closing. Saw two wedding parties out having pictures taken - I guess since this is Spring, this is a big wedding time of year (like June in the USA). Then walked around the Botanical Gardens and took some pictures of some flowers before driving to the Oamaru Creek Bed and Breakfast.

I was greeted by Austen, the host, who seems like a very laid back but nice man. I did meet his wife Jay who had been out in the garden and their youngest daughter who took off a year after high school and is now waiting to hear about college. She wants to attend Auckland University and study planning - urban and environmental. I had a cup of tea with the three of them and learned a bit about  college admissions and tuition in New Zealand.  Austen lent me a pair of binoculars and then they took off for a picnic on the beach. I was given the run of the common area of the house and had some time to myself before I bundled up in warm clothes to go to watch the blue penguins.

I just returned from that. We sat in bleachers and washed the penguins come ashore and go to there nests. The nests look like those of the yellow eyed penguins, but interestingly these penguins seem to operate more in groups. Large groups come ashore together and they seem to spend time ashore in small groups more than the yellow eyed which seemed to be more independent. They make a honking duck like sound.There was a large group of people and we all sat in covered bleachers. The penguins came ashore over the next several hours and up a ramp among some rocks. They came in groups, stood around for awhile with some appearing to be “grooming” - getting oil from a special gland at the base of their tales to apply to their feathers to make them waterproof. Eventually they would disperse and go to their nests. Sometimes the penguin “at home” would be out waiting or even calling. Some of the penguins would stand around in groups. It was all very entertaining and too bad no photos could be taken. The penguins’ eyes are very light sensitive and they need their vision to catch fish, so there is concern, I guess, about the possible use of flash. Before the viewing was over, we were told 151 had come ashore. No pictures or videos, so it is all a great memory.

Now back at the B&B and time for bed.