23. to 26.12.2017 - Dunedin

23.12.
we are still amazed by our new accommodation in Dunedin (pronounced: Danieden). What a fantastic location.

But let's start at the beginning... After a hearty breakfast, we said goodbye to Ella and her amazing farm. After about 2 minutes of driving on a gravel road, our car was completely covered in dust on the inside. All three female occupants complained loudly to Jo: close the window! Only then did we realize that the trunk was still open. Sorry Jo ;-)
The drive to Dunedin was unusually uneventful. In Dunedin, the girls first inspected every second-hand shop. After a coffee and chocolate cake, we drove to our accommodation. Ann and Jürgen with their daughter Ilana are Belgians who have been living in New Zealand for 10 years.
The house is located above the bay of Dunedin and the view is breathtaking. We are beginning to understand why the Kiwis call their country Godzone (God's own country) here.
In the late afternoon, we went to Otago Peninsula to observe penguins and albatrosses.
The little blue-eyed penguins only come ashore at dusk (9.30pm) and you can see them very well (video). There were also a few large seals and above us were several albatrosses circling!!!!
We were all very, very impressed.

24.12.
This morning, Ann prepared a great breakfast for us, including croissants, which Maja was very happy about, and an extremely delicious whole grain bread, which is hardly available here. We talked at length with Ann about New Zealand, the Kiwis, and her experiences in this country.

Our destination today is Moeraki Boulders. These are spherical rocks with a diameter of 220cm, about 60 million years old, lying on the beach. Very nice photo motif, see teaser. Maja and Jana enjoyed the beautiful waves on the Pacific side. Afterwards, the bathing beauties cooked a delicious Christmas menu after an extensive shopping trip at Pack'n'save, including an aperitif. We then enjoyed dessert on the evening terrace with a sundowner and a starry sky over Dunedin.

At this point, we would like to wish all of you a wonderful and peaceful Christmas.

25.12.

It's raining... for the first time on our trip. The temperature dropped to 14°C and everything, really everything, is closed today on Christmas Day.

We took a short walk, but then it started to rain harder, so it wasn't much fun for long. But thank goodness we have a super nice host family who welcomed us with coffee after our walk. We sat together for a long time and talked a lot about New Zealand and life here, and learned more about their reasons for immigrating.

It felt a bit like Christmas at home, sitting under the Christmas tree and talking with dear people :-).

At first, I was a bit sad that we couldn't do much today. At the same time, we realize that a short break is good and allows us to digest the many beautiful experiences.