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East Coast (Dunedin, Oamaru, Christchurch and Kaikoura)
So we come to the last blog entry for New Zealand. The first stop is Dunedin. Dunedin was the first city in NZ and is based on an old Edinburgh blueprint. There are plenty of monuments around that look old and gothic enough to be from Scotland's capital, and it certainly gets cold enough in the winter. Other than that it isn't particularly similar.
Highlights include The Octagon. Mainly awesome for it's name, this is home to some of the best bars and eateries. The botanic gardens had a great cacti collection and crazy ducks who would swarm you to be fed. We were lucky enough to arrive for winter solstice. So we headed straight out to watch a lovely lantern parade in The Octagon. The Taireri Gorge Railway on Lou's birthday took us through hand cut tunnels so tight they scraped the paintwork. The gorge itself is spectacular and the old rickety bridges are both awe inspiring and wee inducing.
Finally. If you were to throw a stone really hard from Dunedin, you'd hit the Otago Peninsular (and probably an albatross, so best just to walk). Here is where you find all the birdlife, including the aforementioned albatross with it's massive fluffy offspring, a couple of different penguins and a cheeky shag (easy).
Next to Oamaru, Steampunk capital of New Zealand. It won this title by in fact being the only place to have any steampunk at all. Still, it is pretty marvellous to be able to have a traditional Victorian afternoon tea and then pop down the road to Steampunk HQ and see a rusty gorilla pounding on a clapped out banger (just take this as an overall apology for subsequent double entendre). There is also a vibrant weekend market down the old Victorian side streets, penny farthings to ride and a ramshackle gallery in an old grain store. The gallery looks like an old props store and is run by the artists whose work you can buy.
We also got to sample tasty cheeses at Whitestones, a place so good it supplies the TV show Scrubs with cheese for it's season wrap parties. Our hostel was a bit of a commune, but this gave it a good atmosphere. We did a bring a dish evening where we got to meet everyone. There were Malaysians, Taiwanese, Chinese and Germans in attendance, so there was quite the mix of cuisine. Lou and I have also donated our hand and footprint respectively to the redecoration project.
The one disappointment was an early morning penguin tour sans penguins, mais avec sunrise. Apparently we did see a penguin a mile up the beach, behind a tree, wearing a jaunty hat, but I'm not convinced. Sunrise was nice though.
Christchurch is a tough one. There are some incredible things happening in response to the devastation, but it still dominates the landscape. They have only recently opened up Gloucester Street, which runs through the centre of the Red Zone. Everywhere you look is rubble and abandoned buildings. This was the heart of the city, and it has been stopped dead. Now for the awesome. The Re:Start Mall is genius. Just outside the Red Zone shops and food stalls have been made out of shipping containers. Bursting with colour and at the weekend filled with bands on a little stage area and buskers all around, this place is great to explore. The museum also recently reopened, with a really good exhibition about the aftershocks. There is security camera footage from the event, the cathedral spire lays in pieces in the middle and there are collections of pictures taken by the police forensic photographers, the only people able to document the event and all that followed. The coolest thing by for though is the 'pop up' phenomena. Temporary installations have appeared in abandoned areas. There is a piano painted by local college students for passers by to play, a fridge full of books acting as a community book exchange and some art works have been moved to empty sites. You can see Lou sat at one such artwork, a pair of bulls on top of pianos.
We were lucky enough to meet up with Martin, a friend of Jo East's from the Players. He has lived in New Zealand for over 20 years, and so made for an excellent guide. We drove out to Banks Peninsular, which is another beautiful spot. Strolling through the French settlement of Akaroa was rather lovely.
The last stop was Kaikoura. Most of the week was clear and sunny and so we made the most of this coastal town. We spent the week with Sam and Sammie, a couple from Cornwall who were looking after the lodge. Most of our adventures involved seals. We walked along a cliff and down to a colony, which included a gorgeous little seal pup. Then we went for a ride with the Sams to a waterfall where seal pups frolic around all day. Our first trip also involved crayfish fritters and some of the freshest fish in town, our second jaunt ended with giant green lipped mussels cooked in white wine. The number one seal based frivolity was definitely our morning kayaking. Out in the water the seals are playful and relaxed. That is of course except for the one that surfaced right next to our kayak decimating a huge octopus.
A warning for vegetarians: this next bit is a tad graphic, so maybe skip this paragraph.
We got to see the whole show, as the seal threw the octopus around, slamming it into the water. At one point the American girl heading up the other kayak had unidentified octopus organs fly hilariously close to her face.
Here endeth our Kiwi adventure. Next you will find us in the hot and humid climes of Southeast Asia. That is if the helpful staff at Jetstar decide to let us on the flight. Apparently it's company policy to be a pain in the arse and make things difficult. Anyway, that can all wait.
Til next time.
Mike and Lou
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