Day 27 - From Oamaru to Otago Peninsula

10.01.2015

I didn't go to bed until 1:30 am after researching ferry connections for January 24th and looking up the numbers for Europcar and Bluebridge Ferries. Now my alarm is ringing at 8 am and my first call is to Europcar. The 0800 number is not available on the weekends. I can send an email though. I am always surprised by the opening hours of such companies in New Zealand. It's high season here and Europcar is not reachable on the 0800 number? I search through my documents from Picton and find an 0800 number for the Picton office. It is written twice on the paper, but with two different numbers. I realize that one belongs to a store that sells batteries. The other one, surprise! It actually belongs to Europcar in Dunedin?! The guy is really helpful and changes my booking.

Next phone call: Bluebridge Ferries. Although I have an online account, I can't cancel a booking there. So, I have to call. I would have liked to travel with them on January 24th, but the only connection is at half past one in the afternoon and that's too late because I want to continue to Napier on that day. So, I have to cancel. I should actually get 50% of the special price refunded, but the lady wants the credit card number with which I booked the ticket and I'm not sure about that. If it's not the same, the refund won't be made. But the girl can't see which credit card I used for payment. Well, it's about 30 dollars. Worst case scenario, it's just gone.

Then the next step: another ferry. Fortunately, there are two ferry companies that operate the Picton-Wellington connection and Interislander has a very early departure on January 24th at 6:30 am, which I book for 55 dollars. Then I'll be ready to go at almost 10 am in Wellington and I also have the advantage of arriving at the terminal where Europcar is located, so I don't have to take a taxi with my luggage 3 km from the other ferry to the Europcar office.

Next, I cancel my already booked hotel and book a different one for the night of 23-24th January in Picton. It's more expensive, but it doesn't matter anymore. I will arrive in Picton sometime in the evening on that day and don't want to look for a hotel then. The ferry and the car are already sorted, so I can also book the hotel.

The last task this morning on the computer (what did we all do without the internet?) is the online payment of my parking ticket from Wellington. 12 dollars for a meter that wasn't fed. When that's done, I finish my last, now quite tough, piece of the three-day-old poppy seed baguette with obligatory cream cheese and instant coffee, and leave the motel. It was a nice place, but unfortunately I had coughing chain-smokers next door, who had completely claimed the small table in front of their door and mine, and left an overflowing ashtray there since last night. This morning from 8 am the smoking and coughing in front of my room continues and I can't even open the door to let in some fresh air. Dreadful.

My plan was actually to drive to Kaka Point today, but considering the 2 extra days, I will now make a nice stop on the Otago Peninsula in Portobello. Since I can't find anything to book online, I will have to look for something on site and if I see correctly, Portobello has three motels and a holiday park. It's the weekend, the sun is shining - so let's see. Worst case scenario, I'll drive the 15 km back to Dunedin - there will always be something available. It's an incredible 24 degrees as I leave at half past nine.

First, my highway leads through hilly-brown landscapes with the usual cattle, sheep, and pastures. Right at the beginning, I stop at a cherry stand and treat myself to a pound of cherries for 9 dollars. Delicious but expensive. I'm already in Moeraki at half past ten, where funny boulders lie on the beach - the Boulders.

The largest ones are over 2 meters in diameter. These rocks have not been rounded by the sea, but rather formed like pearls. Their origin is organic and it reminds me of similar structures (stromatolites) that I saw last year in Lake Thetis in Western Australia, and which are among the oldest living organisms on Earth. The Boulders here in Moeraki were formed about 4 million years ago, but the organisms inside are about 60 million years old. These balls are created through a process called concretion, and after further processes, cracks appear. Some of these Boulders look like footballs, others like huge sea urchins. Nice photo motifs, these ancient creatures. I dip my feet in the cold water and once again wonder why no one is swimming here. The bay is beautiful, the beach sandy - but the water is cold.

Continuing through hilly country, deciduous and pine forests, I reach Dunedin after another 70 km.

Dunedin

I visited the city last time by ship - in really bad weather unfortunately. Today, I just want to see the great train station again, try to find a thin merino shirt at the Octagon, the main square in Dunedin, and see the steepest street in the world.

When I arrive at the train station, the sun is wonderful - but there are tour buses piled up in front of the building, which are not dropping off train passengers here, but cruise ship passengers. The buses spoil every photo and I wonder why they come here specifically, to show the people this certainly most beautiful train station in the world, and to ruin all the pictures for them and all other tourists.

I put a dollar in the parking meter and walk around for an hour. Every place in the many cafés at the Octagon is occupied and I find the sweater shop from last year again and another merino shirt for myself. These extremely thin sweaters are great to wear under clothing when it's cool.

I drive to Baldwin Street by car, which is about 3.5 km outside the city. It is the steepest street in the world. It looks steep from a distance, but when you start walking up it, it's actually pretty okay. I just don't want to drive up there. However, I don't have the ambition to walk all the way up and I turn around after half, because I still want to go to a camera store in the city center to have my sensor cleaned, since I have a spot in the image when shooting blue skies since yesterday.

I arrive in downtown around half past two, find the camera store on my second attempt, and luckily they have time to clean the sensor. I'm 30 dollars poorer shortly before half past three, and hopefully rid of the dust spot on my sensor. While enjoying a coffee at McDonald's, I quickly booked a motel for the next 2 nights in Kaka Point on Booking.com. By now, I'm getting used to the prices and 115 dollars per night already seems cheap. So, it is clear that starting tomorrow, I will visit the Catlins and have a hotel for 2 nights again.

I drive along the extremely winding coastal road from Dunedin along the Otago Harbour, as the long bay between the mainland and the peninsula is called. Shortly after 4 pm, I reach Portobello, drive to the first motel, get a room for 125 dollars with a balcony and sea view, and check in. Hurray! The village shop is still open, I get some cheese, yogurt, and a bottle of wine, and finish the sightseeing tour in 10 minutes. 

The hotel lady booked me for a penguin tour at 9:30 pm. It was the last tour of the day and since photography is allowed here, I'm happy to see it again today. Since it's the last tour and I already know from yesterday that the penguins only come out in the dark, today might be even better. However, I still have to drive 10 km of curves there and back in the dark. Well, that should work too.

I sit on my balcony from 5 pm and it's not until 6 pm that the sun and warmth become bearable. While I was freezing last night and even at half past two in the morning had to get a wool blanket from the closet, it has been really warm today and yesterday during the day. But here in Portobello, there is a cold wind. So, once again, I put on long pants, socks, and sturdy shoes, and wear a lightweight down jacket over my fleece jacket this evening too.

I arrive at the Albatross Center in Harington Point at the end of the Otago Peninsula about an hour before the penguin sighting. What a sometimes really nasty driving route. Always right along the water, narrow lanes, oncoming traffic, and sharp curves that are difficult to see around. Towards the end, it also goes uphill and becomes even narrower. I am grateful for my small car every minute for that. I am focused for 20 minutes for the 10 km. Unfortunately, thick lake fog moves into the Otago Harbour just a few hundred meters beyond Portobello and at the end of this body of water, it has a hold on the entire tip of the peninsula. I am becoming convinced that it will be difficult to see the penguins tonight.

The tour has ultimately attracted about 50 people here and it only takes place once a day at 9:30 pm. All the other tours that run here during the day are for the albatross colony, especially the Northern Royal Albatross, the largest of their kind, which is endangered. For a 90-minute sighting from above the Albatross Center, you'll have to pay a proud 50 NZ$. That makes my penguin tour for 25 NZ$ look like a bargain. The Albatross Center is a pretty well-made, albeit small, information center about the life and survival of albatrosses in the world. I easily pass the time until the penguin tour starts. And yes - it will probably be difficult today to see them because the blue penguins need clear visibility to find their way home. If it's foggy, they won't dare (maybe because they can't see predators like sea lions that are certainly around here).

A footpath leads down the steep cliff and ends at a viewing platform. Although photography without flash is allowed here, the lighting is rather sparse, so at this time of day and in fog, photography is very difficult. I spend about an hour there and witness the arrival of two groups of blue penguins. 

After 20 minutes without another group coming ashore and now with complete darkness, I start the return journey with a queasy feeling. I'm grateful for my flashlight app when climbing up to the parking lot and drive back slowly at 25-30 km/h to Portobello. The fog swallows everything and I'm relieved when I have a slow-moving motorhome in front of me after a few kilometers. I wouldn't want to drive this road with such a vehicle.

I don't arrive back at the hotel until 11:45 pm. I download, review, and delete the photos, and turn off the lights.

Daily kilometers: 177 km