A fence made of old shoes. Couldn't resist stoping for a pic.

Victorian train depot, Dunedin. Didn't have time to visit but it is on the list for the next trip.

Otago Newspaper... Dedicated to the job

For all my cycling friends

The Naked Truth article

The newspaper pictures was fantastic.  Must be uncomfortable.

Otago Newspaper pix...the naked truth. This was from an actual newspaper .

Otago Museum, Dunedin, Feb 6

This is a small, fully packed museum focused on the Otago area, the south Pacific and flora/fauna. It is dedicated to one of the most famous New Zealanders... Sir Edmund Hillary, the first European to reach the top of Mt Everest. This is a pix of a young Sir Edmund.

Tree

The road building crew created this stand-alone tree on a hill on the Otago Peninsula coast.  You can see there are still low clouds.

Eight month old carpet shark, about 12 inches long.

Seven week old carpet shark, about 9 inches long.

Two hour old carpet shark, about 5 inches long.

A deep sea shark, part of the simulation of what we would see if we were actually underwater.

Simulated submarine ride. The real sub is in the Southern Ocean.

NZ Marine Studies Centre, Feb 6

We are on the Otago Peninsula outside Dunedin. I had a grin when I walked by the loo.
This small centre is owned by the Univ of Otago.  Bev, an American from NM was a volunteer who now works there. She, along with scientists, are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They showed us a 2 hour old carpet shark, one that was 7 days old and one that was 8 weeks old. We went on a yellow 'submarine' ride that showed creatures from the deep. I would gladly return.

Larnach Castle, Feb 6

NZ only castle and located on the Otago Peninsula. It was a windy, foggy day. My TUS yoga instructor, Rachael Laing is a 6th generation Kiwi and was married here.  You can tell the weather wasn't clear.  These low hanging clouds were on the Peninsula all day.  There were also good winds so we were glad we weren't already on the bikes.

Description of the building of Larnach Caste.

Another Moeraki boulder. There were many of them split open and weathered.

Split open Moeraki boulder. The brown, beige and grey colors were beautiful. The driftwood set it off beautifully.

Another Moeraki boulder that looks like a billard ball.

Moeraki Boulders

On the way south from Christchurch to Dunedin. Moeraki boulders are on a windswept beach and look like giant turtle eggs. They were formed by a layering process similar to that which forms oyster pearls.  No one knows why they are located only in this area.

Feeding time

These are rescued, injured blue penguins who can't be returned to the wild.  I loved seeing them being fed and lasted about 30 minutes.

Feeding time for blue penguins

Antarctic Centre. The one on the far left is molting.  The Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin and is only 13 inches tall.  They are located on the coast of Australia and New Zealand and sometimes in Chile.  They are commonly called Fairy Penguins in Australia and Little Blue Penguins, because of their slate blue plumage, in New Zealand.

Antarctic Centre

This was helpful.  It reminded me of what I had heard in England...28C = 82F and 16C=61F.

NZ Scott Base, Antarctic Center, Christchurch, Feb 5

We walked to the Antarctic Centre and went into a room that simulated a blizzard. It started out at -8 centigrade then the wind howled so that it almost knocked me over. At that time it was minus 20 centigrade...reminded me of Fairbanks, AK. I had to put on overshoes and a heavy jacket.  At one time I wanted to return to Antarctica and work for one of their summers.  Is that still a dream or not?

First full day in NZ, Feb 5

NZ is much like the US in the 1950's... Friendly, helpful people with uncrowded, clean environment. Here is a commonly used sugar packet.  Loved the sayings on the packets.

Travel to New Zealand

I left Tucson on Thur, Feb 2 and arrived in Christchurch Sat, Feb 4...31 hours total travel time with 20 hours flying time.
Marlene met me at LAX. Unfortunately, she left her iPhone in LAX at the charging station. Guess this will be an opportunity for me to learn my new iPhone.
Our hotel, Sudima, was right across the street from the Christchurch airport. We had a fantastic time visiting the Antarctic Centre.
This is my first post...much more to follow.