19.12.18 Oamaru, Annik, Rain and Penguins

Wednesday 19.12.18

It's still raining when I wake up at 7.45am. Surprisingly late. Probably because it's so gray outside. I think about what to do based on the weather report during breakfast. It's only rain-free in Invercargill at the very southern end of the South Island, still a few hundred km away. But it's not really summery there either, with only 10°C, but cool + sun is better than cool + rain.

I drive on SH1 towards Timaru and then south. I briefly turn into a village and get a real fruit ice cream there, which I have to eat in the car because it's still raining and cold. The maximum temperature I reach today is 12°C. Fortunately, at least the heater in the driver's area is working. I reach Oamaru around 3:00pm. Last time I was here, 4 years ago, the sun was shining. The place is so nice. I like these facades, the flowers - but today it's very cold and I'm freezing in my hiking pants with 2 jackets on top. In the Warehouse, I score a larger coffee mug for $2 and after a short stroll I drive down to the campground by the water. That sounds nice, but with this lousy weather it's devoid of any holiday charm. I initially get a powered site where I can't even get out of the camper because the grass is so waterlogged that I would sink into the mud up to my boot soles. So I drive back to the reception and move to the neighboring site, which has a solid surface.

Bravely, I walk through the town for 1.5 hours, where now - after 5:00pm - almost everything is closed again. On the old wooden pier, there are countless beautiful motifs that I capture during this rain break. In the camp kitchen, I meet Annik. She has been traveling in a campervan in New Zealand for quite some time and plans to stay for about 6 months. We chat and chat and then, at 10:00pm, we head towards the penguins wearing several jackets, a hood, and a hat. You can visit the penguin colony in Oamaru for a lot of money - or you can simply walk down the road towards this facility and see the Little Blue Penguins coming home in the darkness after their catch of the day. The young ones wait in burrows and holes under houses and eagerly squeal and sometimes walk towards their parents. We see several penguins and young ones, and when I return to the campground at 11:45pm, one is sitting in front of the kitchen and cannot reach its youngster who lives in a burrow under the camp kitchen because a Chinese family with their phones must take photos from the front and thus block the poor penguin's way into its own shelter. There is loud chatter - I really can't stand how loud these people always are.

I wrap myself in pajamas, sweatpants, a fleece jacket, and a fleece blanket and crawl into a cold night under my comforter. I briefly turned on the heater earlier, but I can't let it run all night.

Tanked 42l / 81$

Ashburton from: 284,013 / Oamaru to: 284,182