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It was another beautiful sunny day in paradise and hard to believe that this was the day we had to say goodbye to wonderful Otahuna Lodge. Jimmy gave us an excellent breakfast to set us up for the day ahead (enough for several days ahead if the truth be told!) and then there was time for Steve to give us a tour of the garden before it was time for us to be on our way. Oh how we hate to say good bye to all you lovely people, but you can be sure that we WILL be back!!
Frank took us to the airport to collect our car and then we found our way to Highway 1 and followed it all the way for 3 hours to Oamaru. Some interesting little towns along the way but fairly flat with lots of sheep, cattle and alpacas in the fields. We also crossed many wide, braided rivers by long bridges and the sea was never far away.
We finally reached Oamaru at about 4.30 pm. We had just a little hiccup in finding Pen-y-Bryn Lodge, our home for the night, as the sat nav provided by Hertz insisted that we turn round and go 89km back the way we had come. Luckily we were just a little sceptical and phoned our hosts who were able to put us right.
Pen-y- Bryn Lodge is a fascinating place, built in 1889 for John Bulled and is said to be the largest single storey home in the South Island. It is a beautiful old building and our hosts, James and James were very welcoming and hospitable. They treated us to coffee and then wine and canapes plus interesting conversation before sending us off to see the penguins down near the harbour.
Every evening raft upon raft of blue penguins, the smallest penguin variety, come in to shore and climb up the rocks on the way to the breeding colony at the top. It is a fascinating sight and not to be missed but it is very chilly out there so be sure to wrap up warm!
We went back to the Lodge and enjoyed an excellent dinner then took our wine and cheese into the sitting room where we relaxed in front of the blazing log fire and enjoyed more conversation with James and James before retiring to the Victoria room. Believe it or not we had hot water bottles in the bed and very welcome they were too!!
Frank took us to the airport to collect our car and then we found our way to Highway 1 and followed it all the way for 3 hours to Oamaru. Some interesting little towns along the way but fairly flat with lots of sheep, cattle and alpacas in the fields. We also crossed many wide, braided rivers by long bridges and the sea was never far away.
We finally reached Oamaru at about 4.30 pm. We had just a little hiccup in finding Pen-y-Bryn Lodge, our home for the night, as the sat nav provided by Hertz insisted that we turn round and go 89km back the way we had come. Luckily we were just a little sceptical and phoned our hosts who were able to put us right.
Pen-y- Bryn Lodge is a fascinating place, built in 1889 for John Bulled and is said to be the largest single storey home in the South Island. It is a beautiful old building and our hosts, James and James were very welcoming and hospitable. They treated us to coffee and then wine and canapes plus interesting conversation before sending us off to see the penguins down near the harbour.
Every evening raft upon raft of blue penguins, the smallest penguin variety, come in to shore and climb up the rocks on the way to the breeding colony at the top. It is a fascinating sight and not to be missed but it is very chilly out there so be sure to wrap up warm!
We went back to the Lodge and enjoyed an excellent dinner then took our wine and cheese into the sitting room where we relaxed in front of the blazing log fire and enjoyed more conversation with James and James before retiring to the Victoria room. Believe it or not we had hot water bottles in the bed and very welcome they were too!!
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