Sunday, April 23, 2006

You Say Go, We Say Otay!

After a night in sleeping the stables of the historic Larnach Castle, today we're spending some time checking out Dunedin and the University of Otago. The region has a very heavy Scottish influence, a cold grey loch filled coastal landscape with some pretty industrial looking surrounding towns. We had a good time staying in the converted castle horse stables, it wasn't too cold despite all the racket and ubiqutous presence of hot water bottles earlier in the evening. We were served a regal breakfast, consisting of more than the expected oats and hay.

In Dunedin, we climbed the steepest street in the world, according the the Guinness Book of Something-or-others. Our independent panel of reviewers thought that this was somewhat of a ruse, being that there were many streets in San Francisco and the Berkeley hills that seemed much steeper. Will have to double check the math on those formulas.

Yesterday we went coast to coast, having travelled from the Tasman Sea to the Pacific. It was only four hours in total, but still an impressive journey to behold. A dramatic shift in landscape, for sure... whereas the west was tropical rain forest and glacial canyons, the east is more rolling pastures and drier climates.

We're staying tonight on a farm along the Otago Peninsula. Rolling hills, dirt roads, deserted beaches and (more) frolicing sheep. Reminds me a bit of the rural areas around Petaluma. The owner of the cottage is also one the three legacy families who owns a majority of the land on this breathtaking peninsula. He gives wildlife tours in a Land Rover of seals and yellow eyed penguin colonies, all on his own land. We're looking forward to immensly, especially Peggy who is a big penguin fan.

posted by ncawthon at 7:18 PM