We finally got to Dunedin on Sunday afternoon, which was the day we had planned to get there. That gives you an idea of how long we drove. We made up a whole day of plans through driving the SS route! We went to the Larnach Castle on the Otago Peninsula. It was a privately owned castle that was built ages ago by William Larnach for his first wife. The castle has some pretty interesting history to it and a lot of it was preserved and we were able to see much of the original furnishings! We also headed to Cadbury World, NZ's Chocolate Factory! We took a tour around part of the factory, tried some raw cocoa beans, learned how chocolate is made, and watched a ton of liquid chocolate fall from the sky. Our tour guide was a cute old man who loved "chocolatey things."
On Monday, we went on a really cool walking guided tour on the Otago Peninsula and got to see animals in action! We got up close to a NZ fur seal pup colony, saw some sea lions sleeping on the beach, and saw some rare Yellow-Eyed penguins. Yes, the penguins lived on the beach, and actually never left. They stay there all year long, and sleep up on the hill under the trees at night and go fishing out in the ocean during the day. These penguins are the second rarest in the world. There are less than 200 alive now, and the infant mortality rate is 80%. The odds of survival are rough :( They share their hilly home with sheep, the most abundant animal, or creature for that matter, to inhabit New Zealand. Hmmm ... talk about "opposites attract."
After Dunedin, we headed up North towards Christchurch, and stopped at the Moeraki boulders. They are massive round, smooth boulders created by nature. There's the Maori version of how they came about and a scientific version. Of course. They were amazing(ly big)! An awesome example of nature's work at it's best!
Finally, Christchurch. On Wednesday, we drove through Christchurch to Akaroa where we did a nature cruise. The day was surprisingly sunny and we got to sit on the front of the catamaran and enjoy the sites. We saw a few swimming penguins, a seal, and a ton of seabirds! There was a 98% chance that we'd see Hector Dolphins, the rarest dolphins in the world. (They're only found near the peninsula.) Well, it was a sunny day, and that was our gift for the day. We saw NO dolphins. Not one. Not even a fin of one.
We drove back to Christchurch dissapointed, but somehow we found humor in our streak of bad luck. Thursday morning we put on our workout clothes because we were going to master Adrenaline Forest, an intense high-ropes course! We asked the people at the holiday park where it was located and they gave us simple directions, so we ditched our maps, and followed what they said. It was a 70 km drive out of town and our appointment was scheduled for 11. We stopped along the way to ask and make sure we were going in the right direction and we were told we were. So, we kept on driving. Well, we drove past a really shabby ropes course that didn't even have an actual name. There was no one there and we were a bit hesistant. Come to find, we were at the WRONG place. It was nearing 11 and we were at least 50 km from the actual Adrenaline Forest. We resorted to the touristy map following and finally found the actual Adrenaline Forest! (We were still the only ones there, and our skeptism only dissapeared slightly.)
The guide strapped us into our harnesses and taught us how to use the safety clips and all that. There were 6 different stages, each stage increasing in difficulty as well as height. There were 100 obstacles in all. We were responsible for our own safety, completely. We had to strap onto the safety line at each obstacle, unclip and reclip at each one thereafter. Our safety was ONLY up to us! They'd never have anything like it in the States. Too many people sue and don't take responsibility for their actions. We didn't even have to wear a helmet!
To our surprise, it was so much fun! We jumped across spinning logs, climbed across a wire, swung on a rope into big nets, zipped on flying foxes, climbed through barrels, and a whole bunch more. I did the first four levels and that was all I could handle. The fourth level got to be 20 feet up in the air, and that was just too high. I even had a mini-meltdown on one of the obstacles. haha. Logan completed all 6! I was so proud of him. The sixth level was 60 feet up in the air and the hardest challenges. He can tell you about it if you ask him. It took 5 hours for him to finish the entire course, and the average time is 3 hours, but I think I slowed him down in the beginning. I'm not too fond of heights :)
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