Day 5 - From Christchurch to Oamaru

I've thrown my plans for today out the window due to the weather forecast. I had originally planned to go to Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, then to Mount Cook National Park, and continue to Oamaru (yes, I know it would have been a long journey), but the weather service has announced heavy rainfalls for large parts of the South Island. So I decided to abandon this plan.

Instead, in the morning I will first go into town, as the motives appear more beautiful with blue sky. It is already 28°C at 9 o'clock. After that, I will briefly visit the Botanic Gardens and then make my way to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.

Here, wild and farm animals, mainly from New Zealand, are shown. I am mainly interested in the Kea and Kiwi. In an aviary, interns conduct tests with the Keas, in which the time it takes for the mountain parrots to complete a certain task is always recorded.

Since Kiwis are nocturnal animals, there is an almost completely dark enclosure, a so-called Kiwi-House, where you can observe them. Once the eyes have adjusted to the lighting conditions, I can spot one and follow it in its search for food, which is accompanied by quite loud noises.

At around noon, I will make my way to Oamaru. The route is not very interesting and after about 140km, the announced rain starts and the temperatures drop to 14°C. The last 12km to the destination, I can only travel at a slow pace, so the journey takes almost four hours.

When I drive into town after checking in at the accommodation, despite the now torrential rainfalls, almost everything is closed, including the Steampunk Headquarter, which I would have liked to take a look at.

The almost horizontal rain combined with strong gusts of wind quickly persuade me to drive back to my apartment.

Lost item report: an umbrella :'-(

With this weather, I will not visit the famous penguin colony tonight.