August 16, 2005
The drive from Christchurch to Dunedin, was for the most part unspectacular; it actually felt a little bit like we were driving through central California. Pretty industrial, flat dry land. Although the mountain range covered in snow in the distance was a nice touch, as were the occasional glimpses of ocean when we rounded certain corners. Jack drove the whole 4 1/2 hours straight, and we made it to Dunedin by 12 noon on the dot.
The drive out to the peninsula turned out to be quite stunning, with the low clouds giving way to bursts of sunshine. The peninsula and Dunedin were largely settled by the Scottish, and the area boasts New Zealand's only castle, built by some politician in the 1800's to impress his french born wife. We drove up the driveway to see if we could catch a glimpse, but found that they charged 18 bucks per person. Forget that, we drove on and reached Penguin Place in plenty of time for the tour.
Our tour took us through some burrows, covered by the folks at the reserve with natural looking materials, so that spectators can view the penguins without bothering them in their natural habitats. We learned that in prehistoric times, penguins could grow to be as big as Jack! Since it's wintertime, the birds are usually out at sea feeding during the day, and then they come back to the shores to sleep for the night. They usually travel in family clusters- 2 adults and maybe 2 young ones. Once they reach maturity, the adults will find mates, with whom they tend to breed for the rest of their lives. Some, however, will get a divorce and change partners.
We were able to spot 1 penguin coming out of the water in the left picture, and 2 coming out in the right. Can you spot the penguins?
Penguins are so funny- they really have to waddle when they walk around since they have no legs, but have such large torsos. Sometimes they will stand and stare off into space for minutes at a time. They are also very territorial. In the picture on the right, We saw the yellow eyed penguin on the left establish his home base, and order the other 2 penguins off of his property. Since they were younger, they obeyed. No big deal, they decided to go for a swim in the pond instead!
After about an hour and a half of penguin viewing, it was time to head back. It was starting to get dark and we had ghosts awaiting us. In front
No worries, we were hungry anyways, with it now being about 8 hours since we'd eaten anything. With a town filled with great cheap eateries, where did we end up? At yet another Japanese restaurant! I think of all the cuisines, I could eat Japanese food the most. I know Melissa would agree. I ordered the curry udon, Jack the tonkatsu, some sushi rolls to split between us, and a hot sake to warm us up and put us to sleep!
This morning, we left Christchurch at 7:30 in the morning, with hopes of making it to Dunedin by noon. As you can tell, I'm not finished sleeping yet. Jack, amazingly reached over me while I was sleeping, grabbed the camera, snapped the picture, all the while driving on a one lane road with traffic.
The sky was dark and somber with low clouds, and combined with the gothic and victorian architecture, I was a little creeped out. The city must be lovely in the sun though, and since it is home to the largest university in New Zealand, it thrives with a youthful spirit and great cheap food for the student budget! 
The tourist office was located in the middle of the city centre which is shaped like an octagon. With the city being as creepy as it was in broad daylight, the night walking ghost tour sounded especially appealing, so we booked our places for the 7pm tour. We also learned that the Otago Peninsula, which is about a 45 minute drive from Dunedin, is home to all sorts of wildlife like sea lions, albatross, and the rare yellow eyed penguins. We decided to drive out to a wildlife sanctuary on the end of the peninsula called Penguin Place to see if we could see any of the little guys wearing tuxedos. 
But first things first. Lunch! The Hungry Frenchman, a cozy brasserie in the Octagon enticed us with the $10 lunch menu, and we both ordered the pan-seared butterfish over a french salad. It was probably one of the healthiest meals we've had in a while! 
As we were waiting for our tour to begin, a small armada of puppies ran out amongst the visitors. This one seemed particularly enamored by Jack. 
of the tourist office, we met up with our ghost guide, a theatrical chap dressed in a top hat and an old fashioned suit. Aside from taking us down dark alleyways, through chilly corridors and to scenes of past mysterious crimes and horrific misdoings, we actually learned a lot about the history of the city, and were able to see some of the gothic theatres and cathedrals lit up at night. All in all, it was interesting, creepy, and fun! We took some photos at our guide's suggestion that sometimes, ghosts will appear on film. Nothing for us!
