Christchurch to Oamaru

We stopped at the Tin Shack for a leg stretcher

They had animals

and some whimsical garden furniture.

We drove a lot yesterday, but we got a pretty late start. We started from the same campground where Katie and I stayed the firsthand nights, right near the airport. On the way from Kaikoura down we were on a stretch of highway that had fresh gravel, and a tiny stone was thrown up on the windscreen, making a loud popping sound and a tiny little crack. By morning it was about 10" long, so we stopped at the campervan rental place, since it was so close, to get it checked out. They said they'd make a note in the record, so we wouldn't be penalized for it when the camper was returned in auckland. So we headed south and inland, turning away from the coast to see some of the beautiful lakes in the central valley. We arrived at the first one at 2:00 pm so we had a late picnic lunch down buy the very rocky shoreline.

There was a complete ring of barren hills around the lake, with a line of mountains behind that, some of them still snowcapped. The water is such an odd neon green blue color. Lake Tekapo
has a tiny little chapel built with the local lake stones, like a playhouse size, basically one tiny room with a stunning view of the lake. It was all decorated for christmas with little white paper ornaments on the tiny little windowsills. It must look really pretty at night with candles lit.

We then drove in a loop towards a few more of these mountain lakes, many of which are manmade,  and dammed up to create hydroelectric power stations. We stopped a few times for pictures, and to get some snacks, but kept pushing on to get as close as we could to Dunedin, which was our destination. The coastal town of Oamaru (wa-mah-ROO), looks like it was quite prosperous once, with a bustling harbor, neoclassical bank buildings and such, but as it was Sunday evening, or because it fortunes have declined, it was like a ghost town, many closed and shuttered buildings, but there was a sign to see the yellow eyed penguins on the shore, so we decided to stop and stretch our legs for a while. The visitors center said we were a little early for the penguins, as they are coming back from fishing out at sea, and would be on shore by the hundreds at dusk. Since it was 6:30 pm we decided to stay here tonight and continue to Dunedin in the morning.

We got our tickets to see the blue penguins at 8:30, and went to check in at the campground. Then we went back into the downtown strip and found a little pup that was open, and got some dinner. We drove down the coast a few blocks to the turnoff for the yellow eyed penguin viewing area first, as they were supposed to come to shore earlier than the blues.

We walked down this snaking path at the top of a steep cliff that dropped off to a rocky little strip where the ocean waves were crashing right against the rocks. We were there with maybe 35 other people who were being very quiet, so as not to scare any penguins away, but we didn't see anything! Just as we were thinking there was nothing to see, someone pointed to the beach and one lone penguin was waddling out of the water up the little strip of sand, and soon there was a muffled chorus of baby penguins crying out that they were hungry and ready to be fed. Some of the nests were way up on the cliff -- much closer to the top than I would have predicted, and a few nests were right under our noses! I really don't know how they climb that high with their awkward little waddle!

Then we drove to the blue penguin viewing spot. It's like a state park site with fenced off areas that you can't get to without paying a fee, so they can afford to maintain the nesting grounds, control human access to certain times of day, etc. A roofed pavilion gave shelter and lots of seating for the 125 or so folks who showed up each night. Lots of foreigners, many languages, and lots of children. The blue penguins are very shy as well, and only come to the beach if it appears to be empty, so we had to be quiet and no photos were allowed. They gather off shore in rafts, then make their way together as a group to the shore. It was very high tide and rough waves crashing right on the rocks, so we we were all wondering how on earth they would ever manage to get their footing and climb up the rocks to their nests! Somehow they did it, but many of them had to make 10-12 attempts to beat the waves that either bashed them up on rocks or washed them back away from them.

As dusk fell the rafts were more frequent, and they would wait as a little group near the top of the bank until they had sufficient numbers to get up the courage to cross the gravel road at the top and duck under the wooden fence that sheltered their nesting yards from the traffic.

We drove back to our campsite, it was 10:30, took showers, and went to bed.

Today we're headed to explore the Scottish settlement of Dunedin.
I've been finding it easier to upload photos Facebook than this blog, since the internet is so slow and Perry's iPad is my interface, so that's a bit frustrating. I can't seem to be able to join the photos to the text!