NZ -- Monday 10/23 (Auckland to Dunedin)

Got up extremely early this morning – about 4:30 am and drove down to the Auckland airport. Eventually found our proper car drop-off point and made it through the relatively lax security (compared to what I’m used to back home) and got on our flight to Christchurch. It was a quick flight – just over an hour. Sat next to a friendly young guy from Christchurch who had been up in Auckland listening to bishop T.D. Jakes (or something) speak to his church. Most of the flight was cloudy but as we descended into Christchurch the clouds parted and we got a glimpse of the mountains to the west. I was very impressed. Actually, this is the first moment we used the adjective 'ridiculous' -- the first of many times over the trip.

After landing we called up Scottie himself of Scotties Rent-A-Center who picked us up and drove us back to get our car. This is a very laid back country we were quickly learning by this point – he swung by his place on the way to get our car to pick up his wife, Moira, to help him at work. When we got to the rental center we spent about a half hour watching as they pulled our car from out back (behind about 3 rows of other cars that needed to be moved first). The wait probably would have been annoying in the States but these folks were so friendly I didn’t mind at all.


After finally leaving with our car from Christchurch – a 5 speed manual on the left side scarily enough – and driving about 5 minutes down the road we had our first mishap. After pulling over to get gas (in NZ you typically receive your car empty and then return it the same way) the battery failed to start us back up. So we had to wait for Scottie to come replace our battery, which he did and we were on our way.

Spent the next 5 or so hours driving south on and off the Eastern coast to Dunedin down NZ Highway 1. It was all pleasant farm land. Learned that nobody was kidding when they said NZ had a lot of sheep. They are everywhere. After a bit of a stressful start, I eventually got used to the manual shifting with the left hand and driving on the left side started to become more comfortable as well.

We arrived in Dunedin, this day’s destination at about 3 or so and found a decent hostel – the Manor House. We got a 4 bed dorm room but fortunately we were the only two that stayed in the room. Dunedin is a very interesting town of about 110,000. It’s either the oldest or second oldest British city in the country (I read both in different places). Because of this, there are a lot of large and old Colonial style buildings in the city center along with dozens of little cafes and shops.

Coming out of Dunedin is the Otago Peninsula. It is famous for how much wildlife can be found on it. Albatross, penguins, sea lions, seals, and many more animals can be found on it. We drove out to the end of the peninsula along 25 or so kilometers of winding road literally right on the Otago Harbor. At the end there’s a scenic overlook and visitor center perched high on the cliffs above the crashing waves below. Tens of thousands of sea gulls flew around the cliffs near by and over our heads. There also were many other sea birds of various species that I did not recognize swooping by. Far in the distance, I also saw several Albatrosses with their 11 ft wingspans floating on the wind.

Also while out on the peninsula, we stopped to take a penguin tour. For $30 NZ you can take a guided tour into a Yellow-Eyed Penguin reserve. The reserve is complete with underground tunnels, trenches, and viewing stations to allow you to get literally just feet away from the penguins in the wild. The reserve is also on the beach so if your timing is good (which ours was fortunately) you can watch the juvenile penguins return from a day of feeding at sea and wade up on the beach and back to their nests. We were lucky to be the only two on our tour (the next tour had 15 or so) and had a good time with our guide who was a really friendly, helpful guy named Dave. He showed us a few things he only shows small groups – like a nesting bird right by the path.

After the wildlife viewing we headed into the city center and took a quick self-tour of the train station and ate in a cool café and drank hot tea with milk – something I find myself enjoying here, even though I’ve always disliked tea back in America.