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.
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| The aquarium |
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| all these photos (above) are from the indoor tank |
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| these next 3 photos were in the tubs |
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| 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.
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| This fella didnt care how close I got to him! |
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| 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.
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| new and old cat toy mouse. Its their favourite! |
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!
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| on the journey to Te Anau |
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| 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.
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| On route to Routeburn Track |
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| Routeburn Track |
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| Routeburn Track near the turning that starts ascending to Key Summit |
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| Key Summit |
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| Key Summit |
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| a beautiful place |
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| A view to Lake Marian. Thats what we walked next directly after this mountain climb. It made this walk feel like the warm up... |
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| YEAH RIGHT! More like 3 hours one way!! |
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| it started out beautiful but became like a jungle. |
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| at least the trees were happy. |
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| 3 hours later! We made it!! |
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| Lake Marian |
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| 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!
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| At the Te Anau visitor center |
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| Te Anau lakeside |
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| Morepork at the aviary |
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