NZ Day 3: Ever Notice that Nearly Every Brochure Says, "Open Every Day Except Christmas"?

Christmas morning we awoke to exchange gifts while staying at the Hulmes Court B&B in Dunedin, New Zealand... a very unique Christmas morning! Luckily I loved everything Dana got me and (I think) Dana loved what I got her. We popped over to the common room for breakfast, and, not surprisingly, we were one of only a few couples staying. Hulmes Court is a larger B&B, with a number of rooms across two houses. The B&B-man, Norman, chatted with us as we ate until his kitty started peeing into a potted tree. When Norman picked him up, the kitten shared its pee with some more of the floor. Good laughs. And a very good place to stay in Dunedin, just outside the city (walking distance) but a cozy place to stay. And the cats are cute... apparently mandatory for B&B status.

The next time you pick up a brochure, take a look at the hours of operations. It doesn't matter if it's a house of wax or a historic mansion, it will say, "Open every day except Christmas Day." So Dana and I did a lot of driving and walking Christmas Day. We took the scenic drive from Dunedin to Invercargill, and Dana picked out every obscure scenic drive road sign along the way. It was amazing. The first one came up after a quick left: Dana says, "There, 'coastal scenic route' quick, turn right." I made the turn but thought it had to be wrong. That sign was impossible to see, and to be the first sign on the entire route... but, it was right! As navigator, Dana is like blind man who kicks ass at tennis. At home, she's the least observant person I know, but on the road, driving at 110 km/hour, she's on fire! We didn't make one wrong turn the entire trip.

After finding a servo (gas station) serving sandwiches, we drove to Nugget Point (Tokata) and had a wee tramp, as the kiwis would say... that means a bushwalk or a hike. There were seals playing down at the bottom of the cliffs and low clouds caressing the mountains. We tramped out to the lighthouse for a better view of the nuggets. The drops on both sides were extreme, but we could still watch young seals at play on the rocks. It was a solid hike, rewarded with those sandwiches from the servo. On our way out we say another walk to see the rare yellow-eyed penguin. Since you rarely see a penguin during the day we almost didn't go... but when we did we spied a large yellow-eyed hobbling up the beach! We hurried to the viewing shelter... by now the penguin was hopping up into the dunes, presumably to a nest.


With the rest of the day we drove towards Invercargill through the Catlins, checking out the beaches full of seagull wings and kelp. We did love the sheep, of course.
Full set of day three photos here.

NZ Day 2: Christmas Eve with Boulders and Emerson's

Christmas Eve morning we woke up at the Blunden's - Trish and John at the Sefton Homestay B&B - in Timaru. They served a fantastic cooked breakfast, including poached eggs, while spinning the yarn with Trish and John. Ollie, their dog, saw us out as we head back to town. Their B&B was one of the best I have stayed at anywhere - highly recommended. However, for those with allergies like me, it seems to be a prerequisite for a B&B in NZ to have a dog or a cat, so bring your Claritine.

After a brief swing by the markets in Tiramu town centre, we were on the road to Oamaru. There for lunch we had a drive out to the little blue penguin hot spot but had no luck - you usually only see penguins at night, when you can't really see them. Back to town for a walk around the historic buildings. Most were factories of some kind but now most are art galleries or artists workshops or a combination of these. Oamaru is a great town with cafes to eat at as well. Definitely worth a stop. We also found the Criterion Hotel, an old hotel that was closed for many decades before it was reopened. Locals have mugs behind the bar, you can purchase pickled eggs from a jar, and they serve Emerson's, the best beer made in New Zealand.

Next we stopped at a place recomended by our guide book: The Moeraki Boulders. A few rocks on a beach is what we first thought, but then we read about how they are made, how rare they are, and the significance to the Maoris... and then we appreciated them. These boulders were cemented from mudstone into nearly perfect spheres, sort of like pearls. They are formed in and buried in the earth until erosion exposes them. As the beach crawls and claws at the island, more are exposed and eventually worn away, revealing their hollowness first.

Once in Dunedin we wandered around a bit - only half surprised to find it empty, but it was odd that the visitor's centre was open but had the lights off. The city itself is large, but it's also a university town, and the students were all back home. The town centres around an octagon which took us an absurdly long time to find. There were a few restaurants, but we opted for Albar. We stopped in for a drink before dinner but stayed the entire night! This place is gold: Emerson's on tap and cask, great tapas, friendly locals, and Scrabble! Yes we did play Scrabble a bit. But mostly we just enjoyed the atmosphere and planned the rest of the trip.
All photos from day 2 found here.

NZ Day 1: Bored While Drying Hands?

If you've been as disappointed as me with the lack of growth in advertising space since the birth of mini above-urinal billboards and elevator screens, you'll be very pleased to know that we have entered a new era: video ads built into hand dryers. I have seen them with my own eyes and even have photographic proof:

Marketing brilliance! A captivated audience of one for a solid eight seconds, shaking off excess water before rubbing hands vigoroursly. If you've bought my pitch, contact the supplier nearest you!

What does this have to do with our trip to New Zealand? It was in the airport bathroom! In Sydney, though. Every other photo from this trip was taken across the Tasman Sea, I promise.

At night in Timaru we walked along Caroline Bay near a fairly active shipping port. The sand on the beach was so fine it was like clay. On our first night in New Zealand we were blown away by the roses (as mentioned in the last entry) at the Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden. This public garden had hundres of rose bushes, some dating back over a hundred years. The entrance from the street is through a large piazza with a large fountain/waterfall. It's a massive piece of public works for the size of the city. I did appreciate the stairs. If it were in Sydney they would all be escalators.

Dana and I ended the night with a few handles of beer at the Speight's Ale House. The pub had great character - it was rediscovered after a wrecking crew demolished a not-so-attractive building that had obscured it. Thankfully the bulldozer stopped short when he saw the old stone building. And yes I did say night, but it was light out until 10PM. Day one photos here.

New Zealand (Aotearoa) Overview

I'm going to have to break up the blog entries - there was so much to see and do in New Zealand that we saw and did a lot! It's a fantastic place to visit, so all of you who are planning your trip to see us should tack on an extra week or three to swing by New Zealand. It's only about four hours away from Sydney. Yes, it is that far. When people from the other side of the world glance at a map, places look a lot closer than they really are, especially when they are so remote. This place is worth the trip from anywhere in the world.

New Zealand contains very unique flora and fauna. The most common theory is that New Zealand broke off of Australia when Pangaea busted up, but some believe it was part of South America. I've never been to South America, but the NZ I saw looked nothing like AU. There are some trees that can only be found on New Zealand and South America, and New Zealand has no marsupials. There did used to be a really badass bird called a Moa that was like a giant emu but with no wings at all and a height of up to 10 feet. The Moa was killed off by humans, just as many other birds on the island would be killed off by other pests. There were not many natural predators to birds before humans arrived, bringing with them cats and rats, so the native feathered animals were diverse and easy prey. Kiwis still exist, but we didn't see any of them during our trip. I did see plenty of hedgehogs but they were all dead. I cannot confirm that there are any hedgehogs still alive in New Zealand. I saw about as many dead hedgehogs along the roads of New Zealand as I saw dead wallabies in the Northern Territory. Hedgehogs were introduced to reduce pests on farms but became pests themselves and have wiped out species of insects and snails.

That all sounds so negative... well, it pretty much is. Europeans also introduced deer and rabbit since they had nothing to hunt. The deer and rabbits took off into the vast wilderness to proliferate and not worry too much about a human wondering their way with a gun. But, some amazing birds and plants do survive! The aforementioned kiwi - a small flightless bird whose egg is a quarter the size of the mother; the tui - a bird that looks like a lounge singer in a bow-tie that does impressions... no seriously it mimics the calls of other birds; and plenty of penguins. We managed to spot the rarest of them all: a yellow-eyed penguin... and during the day! He was wobbling along the beach and then hopping up to his nest. Or she. I didn't get that good of a look. We also saw heaps of fur seals and dolphins.

As far as plant life, it's pretty much the same story. We were amazed at the number and size of roses in New Zealand - they were everywhere! The roads were lined with (besides dead hedgehogs) beautiful tall flowers. These are russell lupin. They were introduced but took to the soil and spread like wildfire. The "southern Christmas tree" blooms in summer (Christmas) with spectacular, bright red flowers. These are native to NZ but it's slightly amusing that it's called a southern Christmas tree when it's surrounded by millions of pine trees.

I think that's long enough for one post. I realise now that it's all about plants and animals, but the people and scenery were amazing too! But the beer and bungy were the best. More on all of that soon.

BA Pub Crawl - Sydney

This past Thursday I was very happy that I had the foresight to take the day off before Wednesday night even began. Beer gurus Todd and Candice Alstrom were at the tail end of their visit to Australia and ready for a good night. We started off at The Australian Heritage Hotel (of course) for some Little Critters and pizza while we got aquainted with those folks we knew online but had never met in person. Michael from Matilda Bay also had some rare goodies and we'll be looking for those at the bottlo soon. Gotta love The Aussie. It's also my ma's favourite pub in Sydney.

Next stop was The Glenmore, just up the road. Great views, terrible beer. It's a good spot because they haven't really bothered to update it very much. Quick stop then on to the Lord Nelson! If you've had their recently bottled beers, you're probably as disappointed as me, but the brews are much better fresh on tap. Lots of laughs and good stories at the old pub before finding the next two stops were closed! The Palisade Hotel, a fantastic old pub on top of the hill, and The Hero of Waterloo, probably the best true old Sydney pub, closed their doors before 11... on a Wednesday! Unheard of.

Bidding adieu to Hero we made our way down to George St, checking the locked doors of Harbour View Hotel before settling into The Mercantile... and The Orient after that. Publess yet again, we were forced into the depths of Hell - Jackson's on George. I was proud to say that I had never set foot into this cesspool with an ego, but I passed the stinking gates on Wednesday night. My eyes opened in wonder at the Chimay on tap but were quickly snapped back to the stinking gates. No access for Mr Todd Alstrom. Apparantly his shorts were not in season and the bouncer wasn't having any of it. I tried to reason with the gentleman, politely pointing out that it's a Wednesday night, the pub wasn't crowded, we would spend a lot of money at the bar, and Todd's shorts were hot and sexy. The bouncer asked me if he had to call security. I asked him if security would be needed for a second opinion on whether or not he was an idiot and a monkey. We left.

Last stop: Trump's on King Street, just two blocks from where I live! Hey, it may be a seedy underground 24-hour bar but they serve Little Critters and admired Todd's buttocks. Not really about the buttocks, but they DID have Critters. A few dropped off along the way, but my night wrapped up around 4AM. All photos here. Check out the previous week's Redoak gathering here.

Sidenote: Todd and Candice are fantastic houseguests. Not only are they great fun to hang out with but they clean up well after themselves. Like cats. Candice, I do wish we had time for you to bake something for us. Next time.

Bungy!

Diving with Sharks

Diving with grey nurse sharks in Maroubra, just outside Sydney, was a thrill I had the pleasure of experiencing a few weeks ago. The dive site was at Magic Point, a short boat trip from shore. Though no one mentions it on the boat, we're all a little worried about seeing other sharks besides grey nurse. Great whites, bronze whalers and bull sharks could be in the area and would not be a welcome sight. Hammerheads may be around but they are fine as long as there is no blood in the water. Grey nurse sharks are very safe all the time as long as you don't pull on their tail or something. When the first shark swam up to a little more than an arm's distance away I didn't think about pulling about pulling on it's tail... I kind of freaked out and ascended a bit.

These animals are beautiful. My buddy Wade and I descended and found their cave very quickly. We sat tight and watched them swimming majestically around the area before exploring. There were about seven large grey nurse sharks at this location.

A blue groper took a liking to us and followed us for the rest of the dive as we passed coral, nudibraches, starfish and heaps of other fish. Wade also spotted a mask and snorkel combo that had already become part of the natural environment.

Photos from this dive here.