Dunedin Dreamz

Here I am in Dunedin. I have sent Morgan home, he was really harshing my NZ buzz....no, it's been quite a different trip since he's been gone, I've been listening to music really loudly and singing along to it....wait, I did that when he was in the car too.
I came down from Central Otago stopping in the prime stonefruit growing region in NZ. I ate lots of cherries, nectarines and apricots. No peaches. I also stopped in a small town that was essentially the place that started the great NZ gold rush in the 1860's. I kept thinking I was going to find a fist-sized nugget, but then I read an informative information display (it did its job!) and read that they found the gold pieces, and then reworked all the leftover earth 2 more times. That basically means that everything is gone.

I was sad when I realized I was not going to be the finder of a gold piece the size of my fist...

I then came down to the Otago penisula, which is a rugged piece of land that's home to many animals, notably Royal Albatross, NZ Fur Seals, 2 kinds of penguins, a couple different kinds of sea lions and many other birds- like seagulls! I did find one deserted beach that had me and 5 sea lions on it. There was a big bull that I got to about 30 feet from. It was crazy fat.
Then I had a strange friday night. I went down to the local to watch the cricket, and I started to talk to some locals, who invited me to a house party. Oh man, it was crazy- a bunch of "average kiwi blokes" in a garage drinking beer and telling jokes. I had one guy first tell me he thought I was a good guy, then he got drunken angry at me & I couldn't understand what he was saying (he had had throat cancer, so he sounded hoarse) and then he drew me a picture of a kiwi that was quite good. And then he tried to take back the picture....
It was a new experience in NZ.
And now I'm in Dunedin, spending the weekend, and hopefully I'll be able to find somebody to share petrol with/get a new partner in crime.
So, Monday I set out for Aoraki/Mt. Cook, then to Christchurch, and I drive up to the Picton ferry on Thursday and'll be back in Welly by 10.

Morgan has posted some of the pics he took online, and you can view them here.
Later.