New Zealand or Bust
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funflair
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Sleepy with no shop / cafe / bar or eatery but the beach more than makes up for those , met a few teachers in charge of kids groups on the beach and they were fantastic folk . One guy was ex of Bristol ( 14 yrs teaching ) and came back home because he couldn’t bear the thought of putting his son through the UK education system .
. We have loved our time here and have given the whole holiday a resounding 9/10 .
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funflair
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Tonight’s view,
I could claim that this is the view out of our “shed window” but in reality it’s that dirty that I had to stand outside
Not bad either way though and it’s a freebie spot (I would willingly pay)
Yesterday we left Fiordland and the west coast behind and now we are on the Otago peninsula on the East, I said to the guy in the campsite last night that “we were hunting penguins” to which he responded that there was a massive fine for that
so I might need to rephrase things a little, but yes we/Jen is desperate to see Penguins if we don’t find any this trip we will have come back again, we have booked a visit to Opera the Penguin rehabilitation place on Otago for tomorrow but this evening at sundown we went down to the beach rather hoping that one would just waddle up and say Hi, well no that didn’t happen but instead a great big Sea Lion waddled out of the water and plonked itself down on the sand without a care in the world.
So fingers crossed that tomorrow we see some sort of Penguin and I get a bit of peace
Watch this space……….
I could claim that this is the view out of our “shed window” but in reality it’s that dirty that I had to stand outside
Not bad either way though and it’s a freebie spot (I would willingly pay)Yesterday we left Fiordland and the west coast behind and now we are on the Otago peninsula on the East, I said to the guy in the campsite last night that “we were hunting penguins” to which he responded that there was a massive fine for that
so I might need to rephrase things a little, but yes we/Jen is desperate to see Penguins if we don’t find any this trip we will have come back again, we have booked a visit to Opera the Penguin rehabilitation place on Otago for tomorrow but this evening at sundown we went down to the beach rather hoping that one would just waddle up and say Hi, well no that didn’t happen but instead a great big Sea Lion waddled out of the water and plonked itself down on the sand without a care in the world.So fingers crossed that tomorrow we see some sort of Penguin and I get a bit of peace
Watch this space……….
Mikey RV
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There’s no penguins because that seal has ate them all.
- Dec 25, 2015
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That looks an amazing freedom camping spot. If I promise not to tell anyone else, will you tell me where it is?Tonight’s view,
View attachment 1024806
I could claim that this is the view out of our “shed window” but in reality it’s that dirty that I had to stand outside
Yesterday we left Fiordland and the west coast behind and now we are on the Otago peninsula on the East, I said to the guy in the campsite last night that “we were hunting penguins” to which he responded that there was a massive fine for that
View attachment 1024807
So fingers crossed that tomorrow we see some sort of Penguin and I get a bit of peace
Watch this space……….
Your comment about “hunting penguins” made me laugh. I’m always being taken literally by Kiwis. I think they have a little bit of Asperger’s in their breeding.
I’m not sure if that is a Sea Lion or a New Zealand Fur Seal. I think the latter. Which reminds me of the time we were walking along a beach in Otago and got talking to some Canadian marine biologists who told us they were very disappointed not to have seen any NZ fur seals during their month-long holiday. I then pointed 80 yards away and said “you’ve just walked right past one”. They hadn’t seen it because it was sleeping next to rocks.
Mikey RV would have been right about sea lions eating penguins, but not fur seals, fortunately.
Oamaru is the place for Jen’s penguins.
- Dec 25, 2015
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I am so pleased you have enjoyed your time in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Your posts on here (and those of the other Funsters currently in NZ) have been wonderful and even though I have been motorhoming around the two islands for the last 26 years you have managed to see places and sights I haven’t come across.Sleepy with no shop / cafe / bar or eatery but the beach more than makes up for those , met a few teachers in charge of kids groups on the beach and they were fantastic folk . One guy was ex of Bristol ( 14 yrs teaching ) and came back home because he couldn’t bear the thought of putting his son through the UK education system .
We have loved our time here and have given the whole holiday a resounding 9/10 .
I just wonder what we could have done better in order to get a 10/10? I suspect it was some of the accommodation you had to endure.
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Boulder beach in South Africa Martin, Jen can get in the water with them, but she might need to hold her noseTonight’s view,
View attachment 1024806
I could claim that this is the view out of our “shed window” but in reality it’s that dirty that I had to stand outside
Yesterday we left Fiordland and the west coast behind and now we are on the Otago peninsula on the East, I said to the guy in the campsite last night that “we were hunting penguins” to which he responded that there was a massive fine for that
View attachment 1024807
So fingers crossed that tomorrow we see some sort of Penguin and I get a bit of peace
Watch this space……….
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funflair
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I am sure you are right about it being a NZ Fur Seal, there was another on the beach in the afternoon and it was all furry 
It is a nice spot and the location would be a fair swap for all your help and advice, it's a 2 nights max leave by 8:30 but during the day it is a free car park anyway, its on Otago Peninsula just past the junction where Pakihau Road goes off to the OPERA Penguin place.
Edit re the seal, just shown the photo to someone at Otago OPERA and she said 100% sea lion and the other one on the beach that I didn’t put the photo of was a female, it’s all in the shape of the face
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- Dec 25, 2015
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Well, don't take any notice of what I say.
It is a nice spot and the location would be a fair swap for all your help and advice, it's a 2 nights max leave by 8:30 but during the day it is a free car park anyway, its on Otago Peninsula just past the junction where Pakihau Road goes off to the OPERA Penguin place.
View attachment 1025212
Edit re the seal, just shown the photo to someone at Otago OPERA and she said 100% sea lion and the other one on the beach that I didn’t put the photo of was a female, it’s all in the shape of the face
I was convinced it was an NZ Fur Seal because of the shape of its face, but I've obviously got them mixed up.Thanks for the freedom camp location. We'll probably be down that way in November.
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funflair
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IMPORTANT UPDATE
Penguins have been spotted
More information when WiFi allows
Penguins have been spotted
More information when WiFi allows
We’ve taken over the bar on the plane ! 
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Two on Tour
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This is Bill, ..... Bill thinks that he is a collector of clocks but at present, he has 3840 clocks and counting, but he insists that his collecting is not an obsessive addiction. 
He came over from Yorkshire 54 years ago and you would think by his accent that he stepped off the boat from England yesterday.
By the way, .... his wife collects mermaids and she has over 3,000 of them.
This long case clock was made by a prisoner on a life sentence in Christchurch prison, the case for the clock is made from thousands and thousands of matchsticks.
He came over from Yorkshire 54 years ago and you would think by his accent that he stepped off the boat from England yesterday.
By the way, .... his wife collects mermaids and she has over 3,000 of them.
This long case clock was made by a prisoner on a life sentence in Christchurch prison, the case for the clock is made from thousands and thousands of matchsticks.
Two on Tour
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A few of the views from the top of Te Mata near Havelock North.
Napier in the distance.
Napier in the distance.
We went for three weeks and hired a car on both islands. We stayed in airb&b, log cabins and the occasional hotel. It worked out cheaper than hiring a moho, which had been our original plan, and was really good fun.
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funflair
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Still rubbish WiFi but here’s the proof,
This is the endangered Yellow Eyed Penguin whose numbers are down to less than 500,
And this is a pair of Erect Crested Penguins which are not really NZ dwellers at all,
OK we sort of cheated by going to a wildlife conservation and Penguin rescue centre, the sightings were out on their reserve though, https://theopera.co.nz/ the crested pair are about 500miles off course and going into their moult they couldn’t go in the water and normally living on an uninhabited piece of of rock they didn’t understand predatory dangers and would not survive so they were cared for and then released
Well what self respecting Penguin would want to go out looking like that
This is the endangered Yellow Eyed Penguin whose numbers are down to less than 500,
And this is a pair of Erect Crested Penguins which are not really NZ dwellers at all,
OK we sort of cheated by going to a wildlife conservation and Penguin rescue centre, the sightings were out on their reserve though, https://theopera.co.nz/ the crested pair are about 500miles off course and going into their moult they couldn’t go in the water and normally living on an uninhabited piece of of rock they didn’t understand predatory dangers and would not survive so they were cared for and then released
Well what self respecting Penguin would want to go out looking like that
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Happy wife??Still rubbish WiFi but here’s the proof,
View attachment 1025784
This is the endangered Yellow Eyed Penguin whose numbers are down to less than 500,
View attachment 1025785
And this is a pair of Erect Crested Penguins which are not really NZ dwellers at all,
OK we sort of cheated by going to a wildlife conservation and Penguin rescue centre, the sightings were out on their reserve though, https://theopera.co.nz/ the crested pair are about 500miles off course and going into their moult they couldn’t go in the water and normally living on an uninhabited piece of of rock they didn’t understand predatory dangers and would not survive so they were cared for and then released
View attachment 1025799
Well what self respecting Penguin would want to go out looking like that
View attachment 1025800
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funflair
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She wants to see more now
“more” strangely enough we haven’t seen the more common Little Blue Penguin yet but there is still chance, quite a few Sea Lions on Sandfly beach as well yesterday but more of that when I have decent signal/WiFi.
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funflair
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Back on WiFi so this is still yesterday after our Penguin experience we went for a walk at Sandfly beach, it’s a steep walk down through sand dunes and they tell you keep a good distance from Sea Lions,
that’s not easy when they lay on the only path and camouflage themselves by covering in sand, the smell of fish gives them away though
It’s a nice beach for a stroll and there were 3 pairs of Sea Lions cavorting on the sand,
If you are not careful though you could literally trip over them.
so this is still yesterday after our Penguin experience we went for a walk at Sandfly beach, it’s a steep walk down through sand dunes and they tell you keep a good distance from Sea Lions, that’s not easy when they lay on the only path and camouflage themselves by covering in sand, the smell of fish gives them away though
It’s a nice beach for a stroll and there were 3 pairs of Sea Lions cavorting on the sand,
If you are not careful though you could literally trip over them.
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funflair
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So now it’s today we had a quick look at Dunedin this morning, the old railway station and Toitu Otago Settlers Museum next door were interesting, the museum was actually quite big and full of all sort from trams through early microwaves and kitchen equipment to computers and adding machinery and more,
Old Station, Dunedin Railways operates scenic tourist train services, including "The Inlander" through the Taieri Gorge, "The Seasider" along the coast, and "The Victorian" to Oamaru, departing from the historic Dunedin Railway Station.
Early computers and punch card calculating machines, They also had an old Burroughs adding machinery which Jen said she used when she first started in the Bank and also a Comptometer which my Mum used in her days at ICI, and also when seconded to some military project doing calculations in deepest darkest Wales.
We are now at Oamaru, the lady in the campsite reception said “the Penguins usually come through the back of our pitch to the building behind hopefully they are better with the rain than we are although it sounds like we stand a chance of seeing them without even going outside, how’s that for “room service”.
we had a quick look at Dunedin this morning, the old railway station and Toitu Otago Settlers Museum next door were interesting, the museum was actually quite big and full of all sort from trams through early microwaves and kitchen equipment to computers and adding machinery and more,Old Station, Dunedin Railways operates scenic tourist train services, including "The Inlander" through the Taieri Gorge, "The Seasider" along the coast, and "The Victorian" to Oamaru, departing from the historic Dunedin Railway Station.
Early computers and punch card calculating machines, They also had an old Burroughs adding machinery which Jen said she used when she first started in the Bank and also a Comptometer which my Mum used in her days at ICI, and also when seconded to some military project doing calculations in deepest darkest Wales.
We are now at Oamaru, the lady in the campsite reception said “the Penguins usually come through the back of our pitch to the building behind
hopefully they are better with the rain than we are although it sounds like we stand a chance of seeing them without even going outside, how’s that for “room service”.
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Two on Tour
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A few of the Art Deco buildings in Napier.
Spent this morning looking around the National Aquarium before moving onto Taupo.
Scuba diver feeding the fish.
Spent this morning looking around the National Aquarium before moving onto Taupo.
Scuba diver feeding the fish.
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Two on Tour
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Another good car number plate spotted in Napier, this time on an Austin Seven Special.
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Langtoftlad
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Aptly named
They're bitey little sods
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funflair
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Correct but apparently it’s named Sandfly as the sand fly’s in the wind that’s usually blowing, and there were no Sandfly’s
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funflair
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Penguin UPDATE
We were told that they may well we wandering around the campsite at 9:30-10 pm, it was raining but I guess that doesn’t really bother a Penguin, I went out about 9 and there was a Little Blue wandering across the road, we went out a walk towards the harbour and………..,,.,,
Illuminated by a street light,
This little fella was making a right racket but then went quiet as we walked towards it (hadn’t seen it at first) we backed off and gave it some space but it just stood there for a good few minutes, we then went further towards the harbour and the old red sheds and indeed there were 3 more but the poor little buggers we’re being harassed by people with cameras and phones right in front of them so we left and walked back to our campsite, there was one Penguin just outside somebody else’s van but they switched on a torch to see it we went back to our van and there was one sat at the back not far off pitch dark though so we couldn’t really see it, it sat there for a good long time and may have been joined by some friends as Jen said they kept her awake a bit in the night
We were told that they may well we wandering around the campsite at 9:30-10 pm, it was raining but I guess that doesn’t really bother a Penguin, I went out about 9 and there was a Little Blue wandering across the road, we went out a walk towards the harbour and………..,,.,,
Illuminated by a street light,
This little fella was making a right racket but then went quiet as we walked towards it (hadn’t seen it at first) we backed off and gave it some space but it just stood there for a good few minutes, we then went further towards the harbour and the old red sheds and indeed there were 3 more but the poor little buggers we’re being harassed by people with cameras and phones right in front of them
so we left and walked back to our campsite, there was one Penguin just outside somebody else’s van but they switched on a torch to see it we went back to our van and there was one sat at the back not far off pitch dark though so we couldn’t really see it, it sat there for a good long time and may have been joined by some friends as Jen said they kept her awake a bit in the night Join us or log in to post a reply.
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