BBH member. Bit of a strange setup with the office being a few doors up from the actual accommodation. Staff didn't seem too bothered about giving a good welcome, or showing me around the facilities. The showers don't have anywhere dry to stand in them - there's water all over the floor - so you end up with wet trouser legs; reminds me of family camping trips. They also don't have any paper towels to wipe your hands with - just one soaking towel... My room didn't have a number on it, which led to lots of people trying to open the door during the night. You get quite a lot of street-noise during the night - drinkers, street-cleaners, and idiots with wide-bore exhausts etc. There also doesn't appear to be any heating in the building, so I can see my breath as I type this review. They also don't have any recycling facilities, which is really odd for a hostel. One saving grace - they have a friendly house-cat.

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Now in Dunedin (Gaelic for Edinburgh), at the Central Backpackers. Just off to explore - so will enter more details when I get time.

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Dunedin (bekannt als DIE studentenstadt von neuseeland) ist das letzte grosse Ziel auf der Reise ueber die Suedinsel. Der Weg von Papatowai Richtung Dunedin fuehrte uns vorbei an Surat Bay und Nugget Point, wobei man am ersten Strand jede Menge Seeloewen am Strand sehen konnte. Die Tiere sind echt witzig, robben vom Wasser auf den Strand, legen sich dort dann in die Sonne, reiben die Nase in den Sand und beschmeissen sich mit Sand, um die Hitze abzuwehren. Wenn die Stelle dann platt gelegen ist, drehen sie sich um die eigene Achse und suchen sich den naechsten Platz.
Am Nugget Point, der seinen Namen wegen den Nuggets im Wasser hat, koennte man Pinguine sehen, aber leider nur im Sonnenauf- oder -untergang. Wobei wir leider nicht so lange bleiben konnten. Aber es wurde uns gesagt, dass die Ostkueste noch ein paar Stellen an Pinguinen fuer uns bereit haelt. Weiter gings dann nach Dunedin, wo wir uns mal wieder bei einem leckeren BBQ ein paar Bierchen gegoennt haben und somit den chilligen Freitag eingelauetet haben, der heute mit einem Rugby Match (Highlanders, das Team von Dunedin spielt heute abend!!) abgerundet wird.

Und dann heisst es bald wieder:

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=-WlW_tYEW7o und

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=oJN9irDyznM

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This is one of those places that if we had seen it before we paid, we would have run the other way. Our room was a cinderblock cell with crummy metal bunks that dug into our backs through the thin mattresses and a wobbly chair. It was cheap, but not cheap enough to make up for how awful it was. The room felt dirty and the bathrooms and kitchen (which were a short walk away) were icky. It really felt like a jail cell, except in jail I had a toilet and sink in my room, I didn't have to go outside and down the road! (which I usually don't mind, but not for this price).

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We dropped into the university town of Dunedin, just in time for the first week of term. Luckily for us, we still have livers of steel, and were able to join in with the merriment, in a game of pub bingo. Sticking to our refusal of all things caravan sitey; we bedded down for the evening in a dodgy city carpark...but luckily the alcohol kept fear at bay....or maybe it was the stench of unwashed crusties emitting from the inside of our van? the situation was starting to become dire...and after an hour and a half of driving round town trying to find some public showers...we took one extreme step...we paid to go to the cities salt pool swimming baths...and spent a good 4 hours grooming, and plugging in various electrical goods for charge!

After recharging our batteries, we headed off to Otago Pennisula; for stunning views, sea lion watching, and a quick squizz at the Albatross colony....before jumping in the van, and heading; at great speed towards Queenstown...Party party party!

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Dunedin is known as the "Edinburgh of the Southern Hemisphere".  Whilst we didn't quite think that it was on the same sort of level, it had a nice and pleasant feel about the place, although we really loved it because of its proximity to the Otago Peninsular, a real must for any sea bird and marinine mammal viewer.  Like any other NZ town or city, it had a great selection of cafes and bars and we found another excellent cinema.  It will make visiting the miserable Odeon in Exeter an even sadder experience after the comfortable cinemas we have visited here!

We did the Taieri Gorge Railway on the first day.  It was a nice enough trip and the scenary was very nice, but it wasn't as great as it was made-out to be!  Nonetheless, it is essential for the railway enthusiast and an impressive feat of engineering (although the grumpy staff we met were definately the exception to the rule that everyone in a customer facing job in NZ is exceptionally nice!).

The following day, we made our way out to the ominously named "Sandfly Bay" (anyone who has been bitten by sandflies will find it ominous, anyway!) to see if we could see any penguins.  The Peninsular is known as being an excellent place to see Yellow Eyed Penguins, which are teetering on the verge of extinction.  They are very unsocial creatures and for the most part are very shy towards humans (unlike the hugecolonies we saw in Argentina!) and it is very rare to see one without being on a tour.  We hung around for a while on the off chance (you wouldn't be able to miss anything walking on the brilliant white sand!), but decided to make our way up to the very tip of the peninsular to see the Albatross Colony.

The Albatross colony was very interesting.  We got to see the huge chicks fairly close-up and they were immense - bigger than the adults!  What surprised us more was that they were so incredibly gentle birds.  The conservationists at the colony were able to lift the huge chicks off their nests to be weighed without any agression from the adults.  Given that both of us have seen how agressive seagulls can be it was very strange to see! They have a wingspan of about 3.5 metres which is hard to comprehend how long that span is without seeing them - they were really huge birds.

We also made our way round to some of the numerous beachs on the Otago Peninsular to look for other wildlife.  We found a couple of  fairly uncommon Sea Lions on various beaches.  They are very large indeed (around 300kgs) and can be very agressive - you are told in no uncertain terms to keep over 10 metres away from them and not to get between them and the sea!  Most of the ones that we saw were very docile and paid very little attention to us, although on the 2 or 3 times that we got to a beach, the sea lion was hauled-up away from the shore so we didn't risk walking along any further because they can move pretty quickly when they want to!
We figured that it was unlikely that we would see a Yellow Eyed Penguin in the "wild" so we went to visit a colony on an organised tour.  This allowed us to get close to the chicks (at one point just a foot away when we were in the hide) and got some great views of this dangerously rare bird.  Because of the depletion of their natural environment (such as bushland and trees very near the beaches) because of farmers using it for cattle grazing, they are dangerously close to dying-out. 

Otago also allowed us to see the much less endangered New Zealand Fur Seals at close quarters.  Most of them very happy to haul themselves out on rocks on only a few metres from where you stood, before lying in the most uncomfortable looking positions and fidgitting every 15 seconds to equally uncomfortable looking positions!

We moved onwards up the coast to Oamaru, another town that is known as an excellent place to view penguins.

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5 hrs on a bus from queenstown to dunedin wasn't as bad as it could have been. my favourite was the stop at the fruitmarket, so we could all go and buy some heal;thy snack instead of somethinhg yucky from a run down cafe like most buses stop at...

Went to the museum in Dunedin to look at butterflies :D of course we got completely lost in the discovery section first, trying out all the science experiments made for kids. guess i'm just a big kid still :D

The butterflies were amazing. really cool, and there were so many of them! unfortunateedly there were also quite a lot of school kids around. lucklily they left pretty quickly. but then the seniors on tour came in. and they walk sloooooooooooooowly... and many at the time up the stairs. oh joy. but we did get to see lots of butterflies anyway :D so it was really cool :D

of course my camera decixded to die just as we entered the museum, so i donh'tt have a single picture of the event. hate cameras, they don't like me, they keep dying. now i'll have to get a new one. again. not happy.

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Draußen war es noch stockdunkel, als um fünf Uhr morgens unser Wecker geläutet hat. Wir sind schnellstmöglich aufgebrochen - trotz wolkenverhangenen Himmels. Obwohl wir unterwegs nur für einen Igel, einen Hasen und ein Wiesel gebremst haben, haben wir es nicht rechtzeitig zu Sonnenaufgang nach Moeraki geschafft - was uns aber angesichts des auch hier bewölkten Himmels nicht viel ausgemacht hat. Die Objekte unserer Begierde waren zahlreiche kugelrunde Steine unterschiedlicher Größe, die hier auf einer Länge von etwa hundert Metern am Strand verstreut liegen. Niemand weiß offenbar, wie diese Steine entstanden oder hierhergekommen sind. Einige sehen aus, als wären sie aufgeplatzt.

Wir haben auch hier eine Stunde auf Wetterbesserung gewartet, aber wir hatten kein Glück. Wir haben unsere Fahrt fortgesetzt nach Dunedin, wo wir als erstes die Baldwin Street aufgesucht haben - die mit 38% laut Guinnes Buch die steilste Straße der Welt. Diese Steigung wollten wir unserem Auto nicht zumuten, also sind wir nur das erste Stück hinaufgefahren, um wenigstens ein Foto machen zu können und den Rest zu Fuß gegangen - der Gehsteig ist so steil, daß es hier Stufen gibt.

Im Anschluß sind wir direkt ins Stadtzentrum gefahren und haben uns bei der Touristeninformation ein Info-Blatt über zwei Historic Walks besorgt. Nachdem wir unser Auto geparkt haben, sind wir teilweise den angegebenen Routen durch die Stadt gefolgt, vorbei an der Trinity Church, die wie viele ehemaligen Kirchen in Dunedin nun einem anderen Zweck (Theater) dient, weiter über die St. Joseph's Cathedral und schließlich zum Bahnhof. Das Bahnhofsgebäude ist eindeutig der Höhepunkt in der Stadt und wunderschön. Um es allerdings sehen zu können, mußten wir beinahe eine halbe Stunde warten, bis die vielen Autobusse davor abgefahren sind - denn die haben den Bahnhof leider lange verdeckt.

Nachdem wir dem örtlichen Internetcafe einen Besuch abgestattet haben und japanisch essen waren, mußte ich noch ein Versprechen einlösen und ein Foto von einem Haus machen, in dem meine Gastgeberin in den Blue Mountains früher gewohnt hat. Das war leider nicht in Dunedin wie angenommen, sondern in Waitati, einem Vorort, der einige Kilometer vom Zentrum entfernt ist. Unser heutiges Ziel war die Albatrosskolonie auf der Otago Peninsula, einer Halbinsel direkt neben Dunedin. Die Straße auf diese Halbinsel hinaus war ziemlich lang und kurvenreich und als wir schließlich angekommen sind, war es schon zu spät, um die Albatrosskolonie - weltweit die einzige am Festland - zu besuchen. Das hat uns aber nicht weiter gestört, denn dort müßte man ohnehin einen viel zu überhaltenen Eintritt bezahlen, also haben wir uns darauf beschränkt, im Informationszentrum die Schautafeln anzusehen und anschließend im Freien den Albatrossen beim Fliegen zuzusehen - mit einer Flügelspannweite von bis zu drei Metern sind es schon recht beeindruckende Vögel.

Wir haben außerdem erfahren, daß um etwa halb zehn Uhr abends die Pinguine sich vom Meer in ihre Höhlen am Ufer zurückziehen. Dieses Schauspiel wollten wir uns nicht entgehen lassen - und ganz untypisch für Neuseeland war es sogar kostenlos. Nach dem Abendessen sind wir vom Parkplatz hinunter zum Strand gegangen. Nachdem wir beinahe eine halbe Stunde gewartet haben, war trotz fortschreitender Dunkelheit ein großer schwarzer Fleck im Wasser zu sehen, der sich schnell dem Ufer genähert hat. Bestimmt an die 50 Pinguine auf einmal sind an Land geschwommen und haben sich etwas tollpatschig auf den Weg zu ihren unterirdischen Nestern gemacht - einige sind nur wenige Zentimeter vor uns vorbeigelaufen. Obwohl man in der Dunkelheit nicht allzuviel sehen konnte, war  es ein schönes Erlebnis.

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The Speights brewery was pretty cool:D lots of good beer!

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We arrived in Dunedin after a long drive from the Catlins and checked in at a campsite straight away. We decided we had just enough time for a tour of the Speights "Pride of the South" brewery. The tour took about an hour, followed by plenty of refreshments at the end. Even Cecilia quite liked the beer, especially the Apricot Summer Harvest wheat beer. We also tried some malt flavoured ice cream, which was delicious. Who would have thought ice cream would taste good with beer!

The following day we had a look around town, went to the gym and then headed out onto the Otago Peninsula, where we camped for the night.

We woke up to a glorious day and went off to explore the peninsula. We wanted to go on a boat trip, but they were booked up due a visiting cruise ship. Instead we drove to the very end to visit the Albatross Centre and intended to go to Penguin Beach only to discover that this was monopolised by a tour company as seems to be the case with many attractions in NZ. We took the hilltop road back towards the city and then went for a tour of the Cadbury factory, where we were treated to lots of freebies.

Later on, we got back on the road with Wanaka as our destination. On the way we drove through a small seaside village called Brighton so we stopped and had dinner on the beach. We then drove a bit further and camped out by a river for the night.

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Today was a long but fun day.  Left Te Anau to go to Dunedin.  It is the second largest city in the South Island and fifth largest in all of New Zealand in population.  It is famous for it’s railway station built in 1906, the Cadbury chocolate factory, Otago University, and the world’s steepest Baldwin Street.  I walked all the way up the street in the hot sun and was gasping for air half way through.  It’s cool to see how the homes were built on the street, kinda reminds me of San Francisco.  Though SF has Lombard Street, which I think is the world’s crookedest street, but I digress.

Had a toilet break at Moeraki Boulders then walked down the path to the beach to check out those big boulders on the shallow end of the beach.  Pretty cool looking boulders.

Next stop is Oamaru.  Dinner was special because it’s at a stonegrill restaurant.  I had steak cooking on a hot piece of stone and the sound of sizzling and smell made my mouth water.  After dinner, we went to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony to see them swim back home.  Blue penguins are the smallest species of penguins.  They don’t really walk upright like the other species; they have a bit of a hunch, which means they are the closest to their relatives, the birds.  Sat on the benches and waited for an hour until dusk.  They swim out to the ocean at around 4AM and swim back when it gets dark.  Since it’s summer time here in NZ, it doesn’t get dark until as late as 10PM.  Finally the first wave of penguins made their way back and it’s funny to see them walk one by one in a single file line, climbing up the rocks and walk back to their colony.  Too bad no photos were allowed as the flash will affect their vision and scare them.

And just a little rant on the side, there are big signs of photography prohibited all over the viewing section and the staff repeatedly said no pictures allowed, and yet there are still people snapping away which really annoys the hell out of me.  This dude sitting next to me knows he can’t take a picture, but yet he does it.  I wanted to stuff the camera in his face.  Finally after the second time the staff yelled at him and he behaved for the rest of the viewing session.

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We spent the night in a campsite in Invercargill nice campsite but full of strange people! Everyone we spoke to there wasnt really on the same planet as us and one of them kept calling everyone screwballs and german lawyers?! After being woken up by hailstones, we were both quite happy to be leaving. To get to Dunedin we decided to take the scenic route via the coast. We stopped off at some really nice places - Waipapa Point where there were sea lions snoozing and then we went to the most southerly point of the south island -Slope Point. We went into a cafe there and the 2 people running it were from Pontycymmer and Maesteg (near where I live in Wales for all you non- Welshies!) It's such a small world. Our last stop of the day was Nugget Point where we managed to spot 2 yellow eyed penguins- one from a viewing hut and the other from the road.

The campsite in Dunedin was one of the nicest we have stayed in so far with really friendly people. The following day we went into the town to get some information about the local area and decide what to do. After finally getting my glasses fixed and doing a bit of shopping, we went on a "Speights" brewery tour. I'd never been on a brewery tour before so it was very interesting but I still cant believe how small the place was and how much beer they produce. At the end of the tour we got to sample some of the different beers and even got to pour it ourselves from a mini bar.

On Thursday we booked to do a tour around Penguin Place, which had been developed for penguins to use and where they care for sick penguins. It was so exciting as we went under 'hidden' tunnels and got so close to the penguins, we even managed to see 3 week old chicks being groomed by their mother. It was such a good way to see the penguins close up as they are normally terrified of humans.

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We were up early as usual to catch the 7.30am ferry back to Invercargill. This was rough again and cold too but we all made it without any sickness, though a few people up-chucked back at the ferry terminal... We stopped off for coffee, but Barry, Lukas and I decided to head to Macdonalds for breakfast. I would never eat MacDonalds at home, but there are times and places and this was one of those times. MacDonalds in NZ and Oz are far more innovative than at home, and they have introduced many more products. I think at home they have started doing the healthy breakfast options with yoghurts and fruit toasts, but they also have Mega McMuffins with sausage and bacon, BLT bagels, you can add bacon and avocado to any burger, plus they have an after 5pm menu which incorporates several combinations in a KFC family bucket kind-of-way. Still crap though, even if it's tastier crap.

We headed up the coast, stopping off for some wildlife photo opportunities. First up was Waipapa which has the first and oldest lighthouse in New Zealand I think. It has a treacherous reef and is the site of the worst ship fatality in the 19th century following which lighthouses were installed on all coastlines and boats were fitted with enough life jackets for everyone. Down at the beach we had been told to look for sea lions, although by law we were not to be told exactly where, but it wasn't hard to spot the giant male sealion and his 2 females frollicking on the sand. We got quite close, but it was pretty frightening being so near such huge creatures. I was glad the male decided to lollop off to the water for a swim, giving us an opportunity to get closer to the 2 gamboling females. On the way back someone spotted a lone penguin on a rock and he was so unfazed by us that we got within 5 metres to take photos of him. I've no idea what type he is, I've never seen one like him before...

We then stopped off at one of the best examples of a petrified forest in the southern hemisphere. This occurs when volcanic ash sweeps through a forest knocking it all to the ground and preserving it. After that we then stopped off at Porpoise Bay and were privileged to see some Hectors dolphins frollicking in the surf. Hectors dolphins are endangered and quite rare so it was lovely to see them arcing through the waves. And from there we headed to some waterfalls but I was sleepy so I stayed on the bus and gave the boys my camera. They came back telling me how beautiful it was, that it rivalled Niagara Falls, that it was hot water and that they had swum and jumped in. Lies, lies!

Finally we arrived in Dunedin and checked into the Leviathon, an old hotel with converted rooms for backpackers. We were booked on the Speights brewery tour at 6pm so we headed straight out. The brewery was founded by three English men and is one of only 2 gravity breweries still working. So all the raw materials are transported to the top and the beer in its many states travels down the 8 floors. Beer has been brewed since Egyptian times (6000BC) and the term to 'go to the bouzah' is centuries old and explains why we still say the same thing. The Norwegian term for 'cheers' is 'Skule' because they would hollow out the murdered skulls of their enemies and drink from them! James Cook was the first person in New Zealand to brew beer to stave off scurvy. He made it out of New Zealand plants, but the Maori's didn't like it and called it 'stinking water'. Casks were made of Kauri wood by 'Coopers' men and lined with resin. They developed the 'star' system to indicate strength which is still in use around the world today. They make a number of brands of beers, and although their competitor is DB, who makes Heineken, they actually produce Heineken for DB in New Zealand. New Zealand malt is grown in Nelson in the North Island, and Guiness buy their malt from there because the quality is so high,

At the end of the tour we were given the opportunity to try 6 of Speights's beers; the Pale, the Porter (a dark ale developed for the English palette and so called because Speights sent home malt that had been too long fermented to the English porters and they liked it so much they released it, now knowing it was actually a quality product!), the 5 star, the Apricot wheat beer, the dark ale (tastes like coffee and chocolate) and the old favourite Gold Medal. We could all pull our own drinks so we just walked in circles round the pumps trying them all again and again. I drank quite a lot of the apricot and the pale ale before finally after an hour the tour guide closed up. I would have been happy to carry on drinking but everyone wanted to change and eat so we reconvened in the common room a couple of hours later. We had bought some beers from the bottle shop so stayed 'warm' with these, and then headed out to The Octogan, the main city centre with lots of bars in a circle. We started first in the Terrace, then to somewhere across the street, and then ended up in Bar 10 dancing the night away till late. We came home past the most amazing gourmet burger bar where I was good and absteined only for being so baffled by the menu I couldn't decide what I wanted and gave up trying!

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For those looking for free action let me suggest a stroll up the worlds steepest street. Baldwin Street is quite a trek whether you want to crawl, walk, jog or some combination of the three. I, however, walked/jogged barefooted up Baldwin Street. It was a wee bit chilly but thrilling.

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Milford Sound was onvergetelijk.. Marcel en ik waren eerst van plan af te haken in Queenstown maar hebben toch maar besloten met Yvan & Jurgen mee te reizen via de 'Southern Scenic Route' die ons via Invercargill via de Catlins naar Dundein moest leiden. Omdat deze autotrip niet te overbruggen is in 1 dag hebben we overnacht in Invercargill, een afgelegen stadje waar de bevolking over het algemeen bestaat uit sheepfarmers als je het mij vraagt - het hostel waar we zaten was overigens perfect relaxed en we hebben daar zelf gekookt. Sinds gisteren zitten we in Dunedin waar we ons opmaken voor het vertrek van Yvan & Jurgen. Dat hebben we gisteren dus gepast gevierd en vanavond zal er nog wel een drankje gedronken worden, het is immers zaterdag :-)
Overigens zijn er weer wat foto's toegevoegd her en der. Enjoy.

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