Trip to the South Island Dunedin to Nelson

Dunedin was wonderful. We had a tough first night because the room we stayed in at the backpackers in town smelt of mildew and the mattress on the bed had spronged its springs. The next morning Glenn and I got up early, no reason to stay in bed, and went out for a walk through the city. The feel of the city was European with cool old buildings. Like the one in the picture. This is the train station located in the center of town. A pretty fancy place much nicer then most airports.



We then returned to the backpackers to check out. As we were checking out our friend Louise called. Louise was down visiting Dunedin for the holidays and she wanted to see if she could show us arround Dunedin. She met up with us at the Backpackers and took us to the Botanical Gardens a very nice spot to have lunch. We also got to meet her brother, a painter, who lived above a music shop in town. She even took us out to one of the beaches it was a very nice day and we enjoyed taking a walk. Louise had to get back to visit her mom so she left us at a Holiday park were we would stay the night in a little cabin that smelled great and had a good mattress on the bed. There was even a nice trail into the woods that surrounded the park. We took a walk that afternoon. Then for dinner we were invited to a potluck out at Mike's place. Mike is one of the main guys that organizes the Festival and he told us this potluck was a traditional pre-festival festivity. We ended up walking to Mike's place which took about two hours but was a good walk none the less. We even got to meet some of the local fisherman as we had to stop for directions at a local bar. After getting a criptic map that looked somewhat like a treasure map we continued on our way. Luckly we passed another couple on the road we asked for more clarification. Once we made it to Mike's the feast was on the table. We were pretty worn out by this time and hungary but we enjoyed the company and meeting new people. There we met Geoff and Lois who told us to come and stay with them. We told them we had a place for that night so they gave us a number to call the next day so they could come and pick us up when ever we wanted. Once we got back to the holiday park that night we remembered the guy at the desk had told us earlier there were glow worms along a path into the woods just five minutes walk. We decided to go take a look. It was amazing the cliff was just lit up with glow worms. What a great way to finish off our first full day in the South Island.

Dunedin

The next morning Geoff and Lois came out to the Holiday park and picked us up. People are so amazingly friendly and helpful here. They took us out to Geoff's fathers house where we would be able to stay for the next couple nights. Geoff even offered to take us to the Whare Flats Festival.

Les, Geoff's father greeted us at the door and preceded to tell us we would be eating lunch shortly. Geoff smiled and said, "After lunch we will give you a tour of the Peninsula."

Geoff was so happy to show us around and point out the wildlife that inhabited the Peninsula. One of our first stops was on a beach full of seals. We could not believe how well the seals blended in with the surroundings. You really could not see them until you were almost stepping on them.



We then went out to the end of the peninsula. This location is famous for its bird inhabitants. There we saw penguins and albatrosse.

A view from the end of the peninsula.



The bird in this picture is a Royal Albatrosse. There is a large colony that nests at the end of the Peninsula. They were absolutely amazing. If you see pictures of them you might think oh they are just like sea gulls but when you actually see them they are like Pterodactyl. The Royal Albatross weighs almost twenty pounds and its wing span is close to four feet. Incredible!



This is the beach were we got to see the Hoiho, yellow-eyed penguin. Geoff was quite excited that just as we got down the trail there was a couple peeking over the grass. The motioned for us to come and have a look. We crept slowly over to join them and peering through the grass we saw a mother Hoiho feeding her chic. There was really nothing that could describe this powerful image. After waiting for a bit more time there we saw more hoiho returning to their nests hidden in the grass. Geoff just could not stop beaming as he explained this is a rare most people do not get to see this. We felt honored.

Our tour of the Peninsula was amazing but we had to get back for dinner we were sure Les would be waiting. Of course Christmas was only a few days prior so Les had heaps of food in his fridge and he did not like wasting things. Luck of us dinner was not as big as lunch (we were still digesting). The meal time was so fun for Glenn and I because during the meals there was quite a bit of bantering between Les and Geoff or whomever would put up a fight. So by the end of the meal we left the table buzzing from all the good food and laughter.

Les's house was on a hill side. He had built most of the area around his house himself, putting in rock walls to support the earth and a laying bricks for the driveway. It was a beautiful place with an awesome view of the harbor. Les was a keen gardener, his yard was mostly garden and he also had a greenhouse. When he found out we did not have a garden he was disappointed. Time to start my garden. Below is a picture of the greenhouse guard.




The next day Glenn and I decided to take a walk up the hill Les's house was on. At the top Geoff told us you could see the whole town and the water surrounding. Geoff and Les came outside to see us off telling us to just follow the line of trees and we should be right. We had to cross quite a few paddock with sheep and cow and watch out...No sudden movements...There is a big bull! Thank goodness we were not wearing red. We made it pass the bull and we can see the war memorial which had a nice viewing stage from which we could see all directions. A view of Dunedin from above, it was a little windy up there.



We noticed by direction the trees grew that the Dunedin must experiences a fair amount of wind.

Whare Flats Folk Festival

This is Geoff and Lois the great couple that made our experience in Dunedin so memorable and fun. They also made the folk festival most memorable. They had to be out to the festival site a day early because they were part of the organizing crew. Since, we got a ride out to the festival from them we also became part of the set up crew. It was nice to be helpful and we felt more a part of the festival because we met people early and were able to contribute. Glenn loved helping Geoff out in the kitchen and I liked being a part of the tent assembly crew. We also got to tour around the Whare Flat Boy Scout Camp. We found some nice swimming holes and a ropes course. Here is Glenn trying to do the ropes course.




We met some amazing musicians at the festival. Ronan Martin was the first we met. He was a fiddle player from the Isle of Skye. We had a bit of a jam session in his cabin later in the day. He told us that his younger brother was going to be showing up as well sometime and he would be wearing a kilt. Hanna from Sweden was the second great musician we met. We were playing tunes for the folks in the kitchen and she popped her head around the corner to say hello and see what was happening. She played traditional Swedish tunes on the soprano sax.

Good music good friends. Ronan and Hanna with the giant guitar--does not look so big next to Ronan.




We danced in the New Year listening to a local Dunedin band called The George Street Patsys. What a fun night, as were all the nights at this festival. We were up to the wee hours every night of the festival I think we spent about eight hours in our tent the four nights we were at the festival. After all the workshops and concerts throughout the day there would be a session in the evening.




Jaque is playing the squeeze box, he is a pig farmer living in Dunedin. Ronan is the fiddle player on the right and the one that is a blur is his younger brother. He finally show up and he was wearing a kilt. It was fun to listen to the brothers play together because they both had their own style. Incredible.