Dunedin: the last week or so, including a short break to Te Anau

Its been really hot these past few weeks. The hottest day so far was the 16th Jan with temperatures reaching 30ºC. They gave out ice lollies at work that day which was nice.

Weet-Bix is really yummy. Sabine bought me a box of them and I LOVE them!

20 Sat-
Sabine and I went to this funny seminar thing at an academic aquarium in Portobello, located at the peninsular. I think It used to be a public aquarium, but now its only used for Marine Biologists. Anyway, due to her work, she somehow knew about this photographic session today, and booked for the both of us. The room was packed with about 30 keen photographers, who wanted to learn how to take photos of marine life. We focused on the shoreline and what surprises you can see by turning over a few rocks. Actually it was pretty interesting, and we did manage to see quite a few interesting creatures under the rocks. But that were pretty small. Sabine doesn't have a macro lens so she struggled taking photos of these things. I was the only one there with a phone camera but apparently that's considered a good thing in this field due to maneuverability. Some of my shots came out okay. The place had a few tanks with some interesting small creatures and shells. The main tank at reception had interesting fish and cray fish.
Out on the shore we found this weird looking creature that was guarding(?) its eggs.
Sabine came away a little bit disappointed because she wanted to learn about the cameras people have and how to do interesting shots with settings and lens types etc. and they should have done something like this, but somehow failed to do so. Never mind. It still was a nice thing to have done today.

The aquarium

all these photos (above) are from the indoor tank

these next 3 photos were in the tubs

Next we visited the shoreline outside

21 Sun-
We went to the Ecosanctuary for the afternoon and spotted a South Island Robin. Quite a big bird for what you expect.

This fella didnt care how close I got to him!

Thanks Google Photos for the gif!

22 Mon
Our EOI application got through to the next stage on Monday 22nd, meaning we now have 4 months to collate our paperwork and hand it in. Its nearly the same sorta things that was needed for our Visas.

23 Tues-
We drove to a Justice of Peace (notary in this country) after work. It was a old couples house in Maori Hill. A nice older lady stamped a lot of the copies of our documents, having first seen the originals.

26 Fri-
Sabine had to drop off our cats at the vets because at their previous check up, Hermione had a cold, and they refused to let them stay in a normal cat hotel, instead offering their services instead. Fair enough, its all the same prices anyway.

new and old cat toy mouse. Its their favourite!

After work, Sabine picked me up and we drove to Te Anau. We drove south and along inland on a nice road I don't think I've ever been on before. We have a nice AirBnB to stay at. Its small but its a new build and has everything we could ask for, for the weekend. The drive was only 4 hours.
We met the woman who owns this place. she lives on a farm 3km away. she came and talked us through the house.
Its very hot!

on the journey to Te Anau

Home from home? Mum and Dad have this book!

27 Sat-
Sabine wanted to leave very early. and i was very groggy. However we drove north to a walking track called Routeburn Track which then leads to Key Summit lookout trail. this was a nice walk and it was early so the morning sun wasn't so strong. It had a nice lookout of Lake Marian at the top.
Next we actually walked up to Lake Marian by driving to its car park and walking up over a swing bridge at first. Then the terrain got mad and very hard going. It was suppose to be a 3 hour walk return. But its so hard going it was more like 3 hours one way. We finally reached the top and spent about half an hour there, leaving at 2.30pm. It was very sunny. All the tourists were in their twenties and thirties. its not a walk for those ill prepared. luckily we had JUST about enough water with us to make the walk viable.
I was a bit tempted to go in the lake for a swim. But i didn't.
Just after we left we noticed a whole bunch of Tom Tits that wanted to come down for a drink in a puddle. Sabine took a few great photos of them, even though it was difficult.
we came back and had a shower and a drink and then went to to Chinese restaurant in town.

On route to Routeburn Track

Routeburn Track

Routeburn Track near the turning that starts ascending to Key Summit

Key Summit

Key Summit

a beautiful place

A view to Lake Marian. Thats what we walked next directly after this mountain climb. It made this walk feel like the warm up...

YEAH RIGHT! More like 3 hours one way!!

it started out beautiful but became like a jungle.

at least the trees were happy.

3 hours later! We made it!!

Lake Marian

View point from the road of our climb to Lake Marian (located out of shot but above all those trees in the middle)

28 Sun-
We packed and headed to Te Anau lake front and enjoyed the views. We then walked to the aviary where there was a really big Takahe enclosure as well as Kaka and parakeets. After a short while, the aviary ranger gathered people around her to join her for the takahe feeding session. We were all allowed to go inside and see the bird first hand as it was being fed. They actually have two pens each with a pair with chicks, so they are doing really well here. We also saw the More Pork and parakeets being fed. I wasn't interested so much in the Weka enclosure though.
After that we drove back to the town and had a white hot chocolate, sharing a 'big breakfast' which was actually small.
After that we drove home. Sabine drove the first leg, I drove the remainder. Only took us about 3 hours. Te Anau is actually really close by when you think about it.
When we got home we only had a short while to pick up the cats before they would have had to stay overnight for one more night at the vets, even though it was arranged to have them stay until Monday anyway, but it saved us $28 regardless.
On a last note, today marks the day we have been in New Zealand for exactly 6 months!

At the Te Anau visitor center

Te Anau lakeside

Morepork at the aviary

Dunedin: 14th January 2018

The weather was better than yesterday so we went to the Eco-sanctuary. Sabine has finally given up with her old camera and as of today is officially using her new one which she's had now for way over a year, maybe a year and a half already.
Her old camera is kinda busted. It wont work on one lens and the LED screen isn't working very well at all.

The weather was nice in Dunedin but there was a lingering fast moving cloud in the mountain where the Eco-sanctuary is. It was actually quite cool to look at.

The birds were all amazing today. We decided to get yearly passes meaning we can now visit whenever we feel like it. The Tui's, Bellbird's and especially the Kaka's were at the bird feeders, and none seemed to mind humans much at all. Sabine stood on a rock near one feeder and one cheeky Kaka landed on her shoulder and stayed there for ages! It kept rubbing its head on her shoulder and then preening. It was such a cutie! Later I also saw a Red Poll and even saw a Rosella out the corner of my eye as it flew off.

After walking around we had a hot chocky at the cafe and I finally ate what they call a lolly cake. I've been eyeing these thingies up for a while now. It was okay I guess. Its a cake with hard marshmallows in it with a coconut topping. Sabines cake was a winner though. A carrot, beetroot and elderflower cake. Much better than mine. We heard some people talk about how they saw kingfishers at Allans Beach, so we inquired and headed there.

The GPS took us to the peninsular and up to this beach via gravel roads. It was an interesting ride but probably bad for the car. The beach itself was vast and quite a few tourists were parked there.

The wind was picking up the sandy beach too much. There were three sea lions but no kingfishers. Its been windy all day so I guess that couldn't be helped.

On the way back we decided to drive a different route via Portabello, and sure enough on that stretch of road we saw kingfishers on the telegraph wires. At least 2 of them. Didn't get a chance to photograph them though.

 

Dunedin: Life in New Zealand. Part 10

For the first couple of days since they arrived back from the cattery, our cats meowed like normal cats. Deep hearty proper meows. They even slurped their water like crazy which was something new to me. They dont normally drink from the water bowl so vigorously, so they must have been copying what they saw from the other cats.

We have visited two more catteries now. One was small and pokey and somehow was a bit claustrophobic, however I thought it would be fine for the cats to stay in for a weekend. Sabine thinks this was a complete no go area. We have since visited another one, yesterday in fact, which was much nicer and bigger, located on top of the peninsular. It was super fantastic with lots of space for the cats to run loose in. So we have decided to book with them too in the future. I also picked up a huge cute Siamese cat there which was begging for affection as we were being shown around. I think its good for the cats to see different places when we are away, and not always go back to the same cattery. Call me mad, but the prices are all roughly the same so why not? Our kitties are not old enough to go outside yet so seeing new places would be a good idea.

Yesterday we also went to the SPCA expecting a huge influx of kittens. At least this is what they said would happen last time we were here. Not the case though. They had some, but most of them are still in foster homes with one of the viruses kittens usually get (its a bit of an issue in Dunedin at the moment). Sabine loves seeing kittens and there isn't much to do In Dunedin so why not come here and visit some cats? And yes we entertain our cats as much as possible. They are in no way neglected.

Work was only for 3 days last week and very sparse. Hardly anyone there at all. People are still away on leave it seems. For me it was just business as normal.

One evening, two "missionary" girls knocked on our door (somehow they would have had to bother undoing the latch on the gate from the other side, just to enter our property, which isn't easy). These two girls were so called "friends" of Vicky Hammond, the previous tenant, who just wanted to call by. If they are genuinely friends, they would know that they moved out over 6 months ago. Surely!

I cooked us eggs and bacon this morning. It turned out nice and crispy. The pan had a hell of a lot of set fat after it cooled down. I'm quite pleased the bacon fat wasn't all eaten to be honest. I'm not a fan of the stuff. And yeah the fat went in the bin, not down the drain.
We had fish and chips takeout this evening. First time eating fish and chips as a take away since we arrived in NZ I think.

We've watched a few movies in the evening. We also watched Night At The Museum 3 which was amazing! I cant believe they managed to make two more films of this thing AND make them as good as the first. Whats more, this film was better than number 2 and even tied off the trilogy nicely. All 3 films are highly recommended.

Oh yeah the power went out in the late morning today. We knocked on our neighbours door and had a good chat with her about it. She was affected too. other neighbours' were too. One guy told us that his granddaughter found out (from using mobile internet) it was caused from a fire down the road. Maybe the firemen turned off the power to the area in order to fix things? It was sorted out within 2 hours so it wasn't that big a deal. It was nice chatting to a few neighbours.

I took this photo for Dad really. I bet he would love it! This will be our third one. Its really yummy!