Howdy folks. Another exciting update from the deep, deep south. The title refers mainly to the fact that this weekend was supposed to be pretty low key in comparison to last week (Mesopotamia, etc.) and next week (mid-semester break). While we did stay in the Otago region, this weekend was anything but low key...
Things got off to an awesome start with Goldenhorse coming to Dunedin to play a show at the Regent Theater. The show was damn cool and a nice contrast to when I saw them in LA. The LA gig was in a small bar and most people probably had no idea who they were. Here in NZ, where they are quite well known, the Regent was full of fans and people danced in the aisles through half the show. Here's a quick pic from the concert (L->R: Geoff, Ben C, Kirsten - Vince is behind her, and Ben K). The band were very cool and I had the privelege of popping backstage and catching up with them after the show. They play their last show of this tour in Queenstown tonight before heading back to Europe to do some shows in Scotland & England. Best of luck to them as they embark on yet another long journey!
Saturday was quite an active day but, unfortunately, I left my camera at home (which means I'll post some more pics when I get them). I headed out to explore some of the outskirts of Dunedin with Stuart & Ryan. First stop of the day was Long Beach. We came here because Ryan's flatmates recommended it.
They told us we could see a giant cave with large chambers. It doesn't really look all that big in this picture, but trust me...it's quite cavernous.
Inside, there were a couple of smaller caves within the larger cave. It was pitch black in this cave and here are Ryan & Stuart showing the camera some love. That clenched fist is merely a sign of affection.
The sides of this smaller cave had a bit of a low ceiling so Ryan & I had to crouch a bit to fit into this pic.
Here we are, standing in the large central cave chamber. In the blackness behind us is that smaller cave chamber. In front of us, the cave hangs over for another 20 m or so and remnants of a bonfire could be seen.
To give you all better perspective, this is us standing at the entrance of the cave. You can see how massively large the cave mouth is. Ryan had to mess the photo up by playing with his sunglasses. Denver, Carolina, Local Motion?! I also realized that I'm the only one not wearing my university sweatshirt. The next time we head out, I'll have to make sure I wear that USC sweatshirt of mine...
Inspired by a group of rock climbers we saw, Ryan and I decided to have a go while Stuart decided to document our feeble attempts.
After a nice lunch break at Port Chalmers, we drove around the Harbour to the Peninsula (polishing off a box of eclairs along the way). After finding out that we would have to pay to go to Larnach Castle, we decided to check out Lover's Leap.
After a long trek and some encounters with sheep, we made it to the lookout. This is the beautiful view that greeted us and we were reminded how awesome NZ is.
Looking down towards the rocks & ocean below, it's quite clear that this leap for lovers would be quite fatal.
We then went to Sandfly Bay/Seal Point to view some sea lions & blue penguins. Here, we see one of the many (well, 5 total) sea lions we saw napping on the beach. What a peaceful sleeper...
The penguins are easily frightened by the sight of a human being so in order to view the penguins, we had to hike over and around a hill before getting to a wooden bunker structure known as a "penguin hide." From within, we gazed and gazed for a few minutes before finally spotting these blue backed penguins climbing up a slope. [The pic is quite blurry because it has been cropped from a much larger image. The penguins were far away and none of us had a camera with a large enough zoom lens to get a better pic]
On the way back to the car, a couple of the sea lions woke up and had a bit of a chat with each other. It provided us with a nice opportunity for an action shot. Oddly enough, after about 2 minutes of wiggling their heads at each other, they returned to their napping.
After that little adventure, we headed home for a bit before making our way to Carisbrook to watch Otago play Auckland in Round 2 of the National Provincial Championship (NPC). Otago were in it for most of the match despite trailing but Auckland's classy backline prevailed in the end. Either way, I was just happy that North Harbour ("my team") beat Wellington while I was enjoying Goldenhorse the night before. Next week will be great because I'll be on hand to see the All Blacks play South Africa at the 'brook.
Sunday was spent on a nice drive down to the Catlins area. This region, just under 2 hours south of Dunedin, features many nice beaches and foresty locations to visit. We began the journey by leaving Dunedin on the "Southern Scenic Drive" as depicted above.
We left before 9 am (pretty early for a weekend in my books) and caught some breathtaking views, like the picture above, of the sun as it began its journey across the eastern coast of the South Island.
Next stop on the drive was Kaka Point. This little township lies just within the Catlins region and along the coast (one of the many bays/beaches we visited today). Cat, Jen & myself were the participants in today's activities.
Here's a pic of the Kaka Point beach which had a fair number of rocky areas (as you can see). In the crevices of these rocks, you could find many shellfish (looked like mussels to me) holding onto the rocks for dear life.
A short drive from Kaka Point took us directly to Nugget Point. This reminded me quite a bit of Makapu'u, probably because there's a lighthouse here too.
The lighthouse overlooks the islets (very dangerous for ships at sea) below and the name Nugget comes from the resemblance of the rock stacks to gold nuggets (shapewise).
Here's a better picture of just the "nuggets" which are, as Jen pointed out, arranged in a 9 sort of pattern.
Me, Cat & Jen posing at the lighthouse lookout. We were quite happy that the sun was starting to peek out from the clouds which, up to that point, had been obscuring it.
Next stop on the drive was Roaring Bay, named because of the winds & surf which cause the bay to be very noisy. We had hoped to see elephant seals and penguins but none were visible (even though we took a look from the penguin hide). It was a nice walk though and by this time, the sun was out in full force.
As you all have probably heard, sheep are everywhere in New Zealand. This picture just serves to back up that statement.
After seeing lots of ocean, we mixed things up by checking out the Tunnel Hill walk. This short 10 min hike leads you to an abandoned train tunnel built to help transport logs from the Catlin region up to Dunedin for use. This is the entrance to the tunnel. As the picture suggests, it was really dark inside.
None of us brought flashlights so I had to use the 2 bright, white LED lights on my mobile phone (they usually serve as the camera flash) to light our way. They worked very well and I was disappointed that I didn't think to use them yesterday in the Long Beach cave. Here's a picture looking back at the entrance from about 1/3 of the way into the tunnel.
This is the end of the tunnel, which leads out to a foresty area. The tunnel is about 246 m long and, if not for the light from my phone, would've been pretty scary walking through.
In the middle of the tunnel, there were little places you could duck into.
We ate lunch at the Lumberjack Cafe in the town of Owaka, which is situated deep in the Catlins region.
Turned out to be a good choice for a place to eat. They even had a nice little fireplace to keep the patrons warm.
I had a tasty salami & capsicum quiche accompanied by a light salad. Very yummy indeed!
Lunch was a great break and we were very satisfied before continuing our drive to Purakaunui forest. Only in NZ can you go from coastal beaches, to rolling hills to lush rainforests in the span of minutes!
Possibly the highlight of the trip was the above: Purakaunui Falls. Falling water is such an amazingly relaxing sound.
The three of us in front of the beautiful falls.
Not content with getting a picture from the lookout area, I ventured past the barriers to get a pic closer to the action.
Cat also did so and decided to take a moment out of her hectic schedule to practice her yoga & meditation.
Our last stop of the day was Cannibal Bay (hey, what a rhyme!). Cannibal Bay's name comes from the fact that they found human remains here way back in the day. According to our guide book, it's probably more likely that "the poor chap" was killed in a battle rather than eaten by cannibals. Whatever the case, it makes for a cool name.
I walked off to one side while Cat & Jen ventured off in the opposite direction. This pic looks back at the shore and, if you look carefully, you can see Cat (dot on the left) and Jen (dot on the right).
On my side of the bay, the rocks were interestingly shaped. You can see in the pic above that the rocks have an odd, "track-like" shape to them. Very likely man made, but for what purpose I'm not sure.
After rejoining Cat & Jen, I took this picture to get a view of that left side of the bay that I had been on.
Last but not least, I have this picture of a little ladybug on the Cannibal Bay beach. Very random and very cool indeed.
All in all, another fun weekend in New Zealand. I really can't complain too much about being here. Even classes are pretty cool! Well, other than the fact that I have class at 8 am most days of the week and I have a class scheduled for Friday afternoon! Anyways, I'm really, really excited about this coming weekend and what might happen during the mid-semester holiday. I've got a week to do whatever I can fit in and that should be pretty darn cool. Preliminary plans are a trip to the Fiordlands for a few days before jetting up to Auckland to visit family for a bit. Keep checking out the blog and you'll be kept up to date with the latest happenings (as soon as I can get an internet connection to let you all know what's been going on). Take care everyone, until next time...
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