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| Some bleddy street! |
We decided to hang about in Dunedin for
another day, mainly to do the Speights Brewery tour which looked fun – but also
as we really couldn’t be dealing with getting up early after the exploits of
the sand dunes yesterday! After booking in for another night, we mooched about
until around midday then decided to head for Baldwin Street – officially noted
as the world’s steepest residential street!
Apparently when the old town planner laid
out the plans for Dunedin (inevitably after a few too many whiskeys) he lazily
picked a grid system and gave no account for the steep hills surrounding the
waterfront – to the point where a couple of streets couldn’t actually be made!
Fortunately for Baldwin Street it just about made it as it is now a fairly big
tourist attraction – when we pulled up there were already another four
campervans there at the bottom! There are also signs at the foot of the hill
saying no turning and no exit at the top – presumably as a few tourists had
come unstuck up there.
It was quite a sight to behold – and
although it was tempting, we resisted climbing to the top (legs still sore from
Sandfly Bay). Afterwards we took a scenic drive to Port Chalmers, around the
bay from the city to have a look around and some lunch. Unfortunately we got a
bit lost once there and ended up driving directly through a cemetery…twice,
before eventually finding somewhere quiet on the waterfront to have some food.
As we exited, it turned out none of the interesting looking places we’d read
about were open and the rest looked a bit rough (the main street was opposite
the main shipping port), so we headed back to the city and decided to check out
the beach.
On the way I decided to race a train to
pass the time – but other than that it was fairly uneventful! We went and
checked out the beach at St Kilda, which was right behind the campsite. Much to
our surprise it was a REALLY nice beach! Lots of white clean sand, great views
north of the cliffs and even a bit of surf. It made me want to come and live
there even more and I annoyed Lisa planning where we would move (a house on the
hill overlooking the bay).
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| Nothing like a scenic train chase... |
Our brewery tour was booked for 6pm so
after getting changed we pretty much headed straight there. The brewery is one
of the oldest buildings in the city, and still functions in a fairly
traditional way (gravity fed over 7 floors – from top to bottom). First we met
our tour guide who immediately seemed a bit of a character and singled us out
for being the only English on the tour, then met our tour group – mostly
Australians but also a few Americans and Norwegians, who he went straight into
borderline offending with his banter, but we found it amusing!
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| Brewery views |
The tour began with a history of cooperage,
which was actually pretty interesting and I had no idea how much time and
effort went into those old wooden barrels. Next was a fairly random history of
beer, complete with waxwork models of Vikings, Monks, Captain Cook and Ancient
Egyptians (I guess they have to have some filler in there!). Next we moved into
the noisy parts of the building, complete with giant pieces of equipment which
I couldn’t hear him explain so I still don’t know what went on there.
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| Long lost relative? |
There was some major work being carried out
to upscale their production as the Christchurch Brewery had been demolished in
the earthquakes last year – but because the building and a lot of it’s
equipment inside is all heritage listed there is a limit on how much they can
modernise, which I actually think is quite cool as there will be few large
breweries without any history or character left soon.
Soon, it was tasting time which was
AMAZING. After a brief intro to the beers and cider on offer they let you loose
to pour your own for 30-40 minutes before the place closes! Unfortunately I was
driving so had to limit my intake but it was a nice twist to the usual two or
three glasses then shipping you out the door to the gift shop. Both of us
thought the Porter was the best – Lisa actually more so than me, which shows
what an old couple we have become!
The next morning we had some fun stuff to
sort out – booking flights for after our campervan rental to the North Island.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a nightmare and took us three hours to get
nowhere whilst sat in the van – in a car park – in the rain, using a phone box…
After that and a restock on food and fuel
we headed further south into the wilderness of The Catlins. After lucking out a
few times with wildlife spotting so far, we were hopeful that this remote part
of the south east corner which is famed for Sea Lions and Penguins lounging on
deserted beaches, rolling green hills and waterfalls would help us connect with
nature a little.
After finding our typically remote campsite
(down a 4km gravel track, 15km from the nearest town) and checking in, it was
late afternoon and prime penguin spotting time! We read about a couple of spots
nearby that you could view them and opted for Roaring Bay. It is just one of
the places you can watch the world’s rarest penguin – the Yellow-Eyed Penguin –
come ashore after a day feeding out at the sea. The Department of Conservation
have built a hide at the far end of the beach so you can watch without
disturbing them (as they’re fairly shy little critters!)
There were only a couple of other people in
the hide when we arrived, so we took our spot and stared intently out to sea
for the next 30 minutes… Every bit of seaweed or dark feathered seagull that
appeared on the water got our hearts going, but alas, no penguins. It also
didn’t help the hide faced directly into the freezing wind so standing with
your face being constantly blasted was rather chilly to say the least! Another
15 minutes later and I’m starting to believe these are make-believe penguins – Lisa
thought the hide was constructed as a rouse to guide unsuspecting tourists in
before the ground drops away and you’re faced with hundreds of hungry, death
staring cattle… but just as her imagination gets the better of her we finally
see one surf into the shore and start the slow waddle up the beach, but not
without stopping for a few convenient preening/posing spots on the way! About
20 minutes later another one rolled in, so we stayed to watch his waddle before
deciding we’d both actually rather like to keep our extremities and headed back
to the camper.
Fortunately, we got back in time to have a
stroll along the beach in search of some more Sea Lions – but alas, there were
none nearby and it got dark pretty quickly as the weather rolled in so we
scamped back for a curry in the van and a huddle around the heater as the rain
lashed down outside
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| We call this one 'spot the penguin'... |
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