Otago Peninsula

Kia Ora! ... I should probably be using it for my hellos while I'm here I have been hearing some of the local lingo, but whatever is not already in my vernacular thanks to the internet, seems a bit stiff for me still. I'll try, but no guarantees I'll blend in. So! Today was nice - we just had the Otago peninsula to check out, and if we had just driven the thing straight through, it was an hour between our place and the farthest point we could drive. Of course, we did not just drive straight through (well, not at first), and made several stops along the way. So, the Otago peninsula is....is pretty long, and the water is that beautiful cerulean blue. It travels far, and is surrounded by steep inclines around the whole shoreline, but there are small hamlets/towns/etc that pepper the peninsula that you can drive into. The few we saw seemed to really only hold a restaurant or two, a fish and chips shop, some other type of store, and possibly a hotel. The homes seemed to be snuck further uphill, and I'd guess that they all have pretty great views of the.... Harbor? I actually don't know what that body of water is called? The only name I could see has it listed as the "Otago Harbor". So Harbor it is. But yeah, the homes must have amazing views. So, driving right at the base of these cliffs at the edge of the water gave us some great views, but the occasional stop off gave us a chance to stretch a bit into the peninsula, so we weren't just on the water's edge the entire day. (Check out this map! The pink is pretty close to our drive today.)

We started with a few stops along the water, but then we saw a sign for something called the Glenfalloch Gardens. The Gardens were open, but apparently they have a cafe that's only opened from Wed-Sun And with how beautiful this garden was, I never wished for it to be wendesday more. It would delightful to have lunch there. But what was nice was that almost no one else was there. Perhaps because Monday in general, OR because people think just cause the restaurant is closed, the Gardens must also be closed. However that assumption doesn't work on me We went up the drive to an empty parking lot, saw someone gardening (IN A GARDEN? I know, crazy.) and asked if we could walk around. They said yes and off we went. Bird calls surrounded us, and the flowers were bursting with blooms. There were SO many bees. If you know me, or if you've ever spent time outdoors with me, you'll know that bees and I don't mix, but I was pretty proud of myself. I let them do their thing and only mildly panicked a handful of times when they got too close. No stings! (I know "they don't bother you if you don't bother them" but when I hear that *Bzzz* my brain goes, FEAR , and logic goes out the window.) We wandered for a bit, did come across a handful of others enjoying the space, (not just people working), but then we decided to move on. Back down the road! Where we then saw a sign for Larnach Castle.

Dunedin has a significant Scottish history and population, and it was readily apparent with this Scottish castle built in the 19th century (1871). But our drive up to the castle took a pause when we saw a girl who had become stranded in the middle of the road. Her car was inoperable and the road we took was narrow - it wasn't busy, but people also couldn't get by. When we arrived, an elderly gentleman was already trying to help her, so Sarah and I also got out to help. Not super sure what we can do but not harm in asking right? Together the four of us managed to clear the road a bit and create enough space for cars to go by, and the gentleman went off down the road. Sarah and I stayed with the girl though while she waited for assistance. I hope you never break down in the middle of the road, but I have kinda been there. And it sucks and your stress suddenly skyrockets. So we hung out cause our goal today was to meander anyways, we didn't have to be anywhere. And she was grateful. But we did notice that everyone who did drive by (I think if I recall correctly) it was like 4 cars that came by? (like I said, not a busy road), but everyone asked if we were okay, if help was coming. Checkin in. It feels like that's not the case in America. We all just gawk as we drive by, maybe only stopping if it's like, *really* bad. But people were willing to wait with her and us and it was nice to see. Eventually help did come, we gave her a goodbye hug and left. Pause over. I'm glad we *were* able to pause. Sometimes trips aren't like that- we pack it so full of things with time stamps that we don't know if we can wait. It only took like, 30ish? minutes. Maybe less. And yeah, we didn't really do anything but provide company, but I know that can make a difference when you're waiting for a tow company. But anyways, we continued on to Larnach castle - the only castle I think in New Zealand? Yes! Only castle. Built by a Scottish Baron, but who apparently was born in Australia? It's definitely a home for someone who considers themselves nobility. It IS beautiful. And when we arrived, we asked the attendant we bought our tickets from if she had any tips on what we must see. She took a look around really fast, then went, "If you go to the top of the Turret, you'll get amazing 360 views." We took her tip to heart, did the castle tour first (self-guided, but you could start in the gardens) and when we got to the top? *Chefs kiss* She knew what she was about The sky was blue, the views amazing, and no one was up there. You could see Dunedin, the Otago Peninsula all the way to Harrington Point (where there's a Royal Albatross center we were aiming for) and more. We could have stayed up there for a while, but by the time we were done touring the castle, the weather had started to turn. Clouds were rolling in - not threatening rain clouds, just, cold and gray windy ones. It blocked the view, even from the a bit further down the hill. We had lunch at the castle (AMAZING by the way! Tea and a Sweet and Sour Pork Meat pie for me, and a sausage roll for Sarah, and I had something called an Afghan biscuit?) When lunch was over, it wasn't *as* windy as when we sat down to eat, but still gray and colder, but we still enjoyed the Castle gardens a bit. We're gonna see *a lot* of gardens this trip. And it's my fault. I like flowers. But so 3 for 3, each garden we've seen so far has a dedicated New Zealand Plant section. The castle had a teeny bit of an Alice in Wonderland theme, elsewhere, but I truly think my favorite part (besides the view) was the long arch tunnel that had a teeny tiny little sign that said, "Grass is resting" Same grass. Same. We left shortly after, and took a different winding and narrow road down the mountain back towards the harbor (I missed one turn!) and MY GOD People were zoomin up and down the roads. I'm getting better at driving on the left, but like, Y'ALL I'm not whipping around turns. I picked up this bad habit of honking as we kinda get to blind curves cause I don't trust these mofos. I think it actually helped though. We didn't see any other places to stop really until we got to the Royal Albatross Center. A place where a guy decided he was gonna help save Albatross's, so then he just *did* it. He helped protect eggs from poachers, and helped get the colony to stable levels. Penguins also call the area home, The Blue Penguin, and of course, SO many seagulls. It's at Harrington point like I said earlier, and from where *we* were, we could barely see a lighthouse. It still runs today actually! It's just not manned. Apparently this particular part of the peninsula is SUPER historically significant - the treaty signed between the Maori and English had a signing here (it was signed in a few places, but this was the only place on the South Island apparently), there was a military base here was several guns and a MASSIVE rotating *hidden* gun. So for wildlife and history, Otago Peninsula is the place to be. But we were at this particular location for the wildlife (the history is neat! but I didn't know ahead of time) We did a bit of walking around, but actually we DID have something scheduled. We were going to see the penguins return to their nest from the ocean. At 8:30. We got to the center at like....4:30. And it briefly closed at 5. Or so we were told. So we looked around a bit, but headed back down the peninsula briefly so we could have dinner in Dunedin, but then we returned at 8. That's when I learned about the history - we had a nice little presentation before we went down to the beach. The penguins don't return until it's getting dark, so we had some time. When we did make it down, we waited....really not that long. 5-10 min? before the first group of penguins showed up. (The conservation team has their timing down!) I started off a bit apprehensive of not being able to see anything - I kinda got forced behind everyone else. I could kinda see the beach if I stood on the higher part of the platform, but as the viewing continued, people moved and shifted. I still got almost no good pictures (low light and no tripod, what you gonna do?) But it was cool to see. I actually did see the blue sheen to their feathers, and they are SO tiny! They also have no fear of people, BUT they did have a sealion on the beach they had to look out for. (Dude was chillin on the far end, and sleeping, but still.) We saw like, over 100 penguins, maybe even 200+. We heard their calls as they arrived home, as they warned the others of danger, and got to watch them run from the ocean to the hillside where they made their nests. We kinda got told to leave by our guides at one point (it had been a while) but penguins were still coming. But it was also getting late. So we climbed up the stairs, ran into a few more penguins, and then we were once more driving down the peninsula. We got back late, so I tried to finish this post before bed, but that did not happen. But now it is morning, this is typed, and we need to have breakfast before we hit the Southern Scenic route!