Thursday 14 February

Oamaru, North Otago
We left the campsite on the Otago Peninsula this morning. We liked that area and could easily have spent another day there, but the campsite was very cramped. It's understandable as there isn't much flat land to spare, but we could have almost held hands with the people in the van pitched next to us. We thought about moving to another campsite, but that would have been off the Peninsular, the other side of Dunedin. We are also starting to give some thought to how the rest of the time on the South Island might be spent, we would like to get a ferry back to the North Island by the 27th at the latest. We could in fact have travelled much further today, but Oamaru looked like an interesting place. Maybe it's not as interesting as I thought, there are some fine Victorian buildings and a beautiful park, but not much else. The campsite is good though, with plenty of space.
We have booked another trip for this evening, to two Penguin colonies. First to the Yellow eyed Penguin, which is under threat as an endangered species, in fact there is a problem at the moment as many have been found dead at this time when they should be breeding. As far as we know the reason is unknown at the moment, but maybe a viral infection is involved. Then on to a colony of Blue Penguins, the smallest known Penguin. I think that both of these may be unique to New Zealand. Then tomorrow we will head inland and a bit further north, to Lake Tekapo, via the course of the Waitaki River and it's hydro-electricity dams.
I am still surprised at how 'not-warm' it is here. If I equate it to the same latitude in the northern hemisphere, we are close to Cornwall in mid August. We are both wearing fleecy tops. I took mine off for a few moments and only had on a T-shirt over a vest, when the sun came out. As soon as the sun disappeared on went my top again. I haven't worn shorts for over 2 weeks. Nobody seems surprised, they seem to think they are having a good summer here. Maybe it's the almost permanent winds. After the two both trips, to Milford and Doubtful Sounds, my face was horribly wind-burnt. We stood up on the top deck for both trips, even in drizzling rain, making the most of the fantastic views. We are going further inland tomorrow, but also higher, maybe... maybe not....