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Dunedin
We arrived in Dunedin on the 13th May. This was our second time in Dunedin, but last time the Speights brewery tour was booked up so we thought we'd do it this time round - free beer and a tour? Sounds good to me! The kiwi who was doing the tour was very enthusiastic which i liked but some of his jokes i didnt really find funny, must be the kiwi humour. The speights beer had been around for a long time in new zealand and was named after the man who started the brewery in the 1800's. At the end we got to taste lots of different kinds of beer, some nice - others not so much! You can also do a Cadbury tour in Dunedin but the full tour didnt run on a sunday so i was a bit dissapointed about that. Oh well.
Oamaru
We arrived in Oamaru the next day, and decided to spend a night here as we knew you could see two types of penguin. We set off up a very long and steep hill to get to the secluded beach whetre the yellow eyed penguins lived. But when we got there it was totally worth the harsh walk up. You werent allowed to go on the beach itself as the penguins are protected animals. Luckily we heard a loud quack and saw that there was a penguin right next to us hiding behind the bush! I couldnt belive how close we were as previously we had only seen them in the distance on the shore. And surprisingly it didnt seem to be scared of us. I managed to get a few snaps too. After spotting another one also high up, we left to go to see the blue penguins. Blue penguins are much smaller, in fact the smallest penguin in the world, just 30 cms tall. We paid a small admission fee of about 15 nz dollars and got a guide aswell. We sat on the benches and awaited. Then this 'raft' of penguins swam up onto the shore - about 50 of them, blees them, they waddled all the way up together to get into their nesting boxes. And they are also the loudest penguins! quacking away at each other, it was so funny. They would bicker and fight at each other, they maybe small, but certainly not cuddly!
Lake Tekapo
This was a pretty place, the lake was a turquoise colour, very beautiful, and this was the closest town to Mount Cook-the tallest mountain in Australasia. We stayed here one night too, as the town itself was very small. We went to an observatory that evening, to learn about the stars! Luckily it was a clear night, so the tour could take place. The Observatory was on top of mount John, they drove us up there in a shuttle bus. At the top we got an amazing view of the stars as it was pitch black. We saw the southern cross, and jupiter was in the sky aswell, which was amazing to think that we could see that from earth with the naked eye. You cant see the same stars in the north hemisphere , like, the north star you cant see from the southern hemisphere. We saw saturn through the telescope, that was cool cause you could see the ring. We were told that everything we see in the sky is what already happened, because�the objects in the sky are so so far way�so it takes time for the light to travel to earth. Also a shooting star, its not actually a star but bits of debris the size of a pea�burning through the atmosphere. But some dust does manage to make it through our atmosphere, and this adds 100,000 tonnes of weight to our planet every year alone!
Kaikoura
Where�I am today. the 18th May. Alrady been here six weeks! time is going fast and my flight is due in two weeks for Oz! Kaikoura was beautiful as soon as we�arrived here we knew we wanted two nights here instead�of one. Its right next to the coast�you can smell the sea. The sea here is more blue and clear�than englands coasts!�Kaikoura�is�full of sealife too! All sorts of whale and dolphins thrive here, which makes it a special part�of the south island. We�took a whale watching tour that afternoon�for 117 dollars. Discount with the magic bus.�It was asunny clear day too�so it was a perfect day to do�it. We rode on a boat that went very fast over the water it almost felt like a rollercoaster ride! Good thing i dont get sea sick. We saw three sperm whales above the surface, they are digesting their food and coming up for air. It was the most surreal feeling, i couldnt belive i was only 50 m away from a sperm whale! At the end of the trip we got to see some dusky dolphins too! That was amazing, they were�swimming under and around our boat - but too quick too get any good photos! They are amazing creatures, loved it. And toady we rented a bike from the hostel for $5 and went to the penisula�to the seal colony. We got close to about 10 seals but there were many more on the far side of the coast. That was really cool�too, and free!�I liked them more than the�barking sea lions! We saw them�on the rocks, untill most of them went back into the sea.����
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