Word of the Day: WIND!
A huge storm hit the eastern side of the South Island last night / today. Christchurch had gale force winds up to 140km today. I caught the beginning of the storm yesterday -- and fortunately drove out of the worst of it this morning. Another fortunate thing was that the first half of my drive today was inland (through some boring farmland) -- so protected from the coastal winds. The second half of my drive was beautiful -- but close to the coast -- so extremely windy (definitely had to keep both hands on the steering wheel).
The drive through Coastal Otago was just stunning. Ocean on one side -- beautiful green rolling hills on the other side. And gorgeous gardens.
Since I'm spending 2 nights in Dunedin -- I took my time today driving from Christchurch. Stopped at a bunch of places (mostly in search of lunch). Highlights: great farm store -- stocked up on fruit, weird stand of stores in the middle of nowhere (looked like a bunch of stores -- but really just 1 huge store -- filled with tacky gift shop stuff), Oamaru (where I did find lunch), and the Moeraki Boulders.
I really liked Oamaru -- interesting buildings in the historic district and some really cool stores. And an open restaurant that served something besides pre-made sandwiches (I had freshly caught blue cod fish & chips & salad & Carrick sauvignon blanc --- delicious!)
The Moeraki Boulders were also worth the stop -- 10 minute beach walk from a parking area (although high tide was coming in -- which meant I had to zip in & out). The boulders are concretions -- so something like giant rock pearls. The larger boulders are about 6.5 ft in diameter and are estimated to have taken 4 to 5.5 MILLION years to grow while 35 - 165 ft of marine mud accumulated on the seafloor above them.
(and who knew that there is a Maori King?!? Prince William, Kate, and George are coming to visit New Zealand & Australia next month -- and there's all this buzz on the news because they are not going to visit the Maori King -- because -- a visit to the king requires at least 2 hours -- and they only have 1 slot open for 90 minutes. Kinda funny.)
Weather: windy, mostly cloudy, 45 - 55F
Miles Walked: 4.5
km Driven: 397.3
bird pics: variable oystercatcher, albatross of some kind, pied stilt
and 1 of the more interesting public toilets that I've seen. (1) there was a shower in the bathroom, (2) you had to pull the chain several times to prime the tank up on the wall -- and then it flushed
A huge storm hit the eastern side of the South Island last night / today. Christchurch had gale force winds up to 140km today. I caught the beginning of the storm yesterday -- and fortunately drove out of the worst of it this morning. Another fortunate thing was that the first half of my drive today was inland (through some boring farmland) -- so protected from the coastal winds. The second half of my drive was beautiful -- but close to the coast -- so extremely windy (definitely had to keep both hands on the steering wheel).
The drive through Coastal Otago was just stunning. Ocean on one side -- beautiful green rolling hills on the other side. And gorgeous gardens.
Since I'm spending 2 nights in Dunedin -- I took my time today driving from Christchurch. Stopped at a bunch of places (mostly in search of lunch). Highlights: great farm store -- stocked up on fruit, weird stand of stores in the middle of nowhere (looked like a bunch of stores -- but really just 1 huge store -- filled with tacky gift shop stuff), Oamaru (where I did find lunch), and the Moeraki Boulders.
I really liked Oamaru -- interesting buildings in the historic district and some really cool stores. And an open restaurant that served something besides pre-made sandwiches (I had freshly caught blue cod fish & chips & salad & Carrick sauvignon blanc --- delicious!)
The Moeraki Boulders were also worth the stop -- 10 minute beach walk from a parking area (although high tide was coming in -- which meant I had to zip in & out). The boulders are concretions -- so something like giant rock pearls. The larger boulders are about 6.5 ft in diameter and are estimated to have taken 4 to 5.5 MILLION years to grow while 35 - 165 ft of marine mud accumulated on the seafloor above them.
(and who knew that there is a Maori King?!? Prince William, Kate, and George are coming to visit New Zealand & Australia next month -- and there's all this buzz on the news because they are not going to visit the Maori King -- because -- a visit to the king requires at least 2 hours -- and they only have 1 slot open for 90 minutes. Kinda funny.)
Weather: windy, mostly cloudy, 45 - 55F
Miles Walked: 4.5
km Driven: 397.3
bird pics: variable oystercatcher, albatross of some kind, pied stilt
and 1 of the more interesting public toilets that I've seen. (1) there was a shower in the bathroom, (2) you had to pull the chain several times to prime the tank up on the wall -- and then it flushed
I think the sculptures we saw in Kaikoura were carved out of stone from Oamaru, now that I see the word (and the buildings). What a beautiful drive!
ReplyDeleteThere was a sculptor in Oamaru working with limestone --- cool stuff (sadly not allowed to take any pictures)
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