My great day

I meant to post this a couple days ago, but I didn't have the chance.



Wednesday was my best day in New Zealand so far. I'm sure you're wondering what made it such a great day so I'll tell you about it.



After spending a cold night in a little cabin at Dansey's Pass Holiday Park, about 30 minutes outside of Oamaru, we quickly got up, showered, had breakfast, bid our American hosts (who had only been there 4 months!) good-bye and headed back towards Oamaru. On the way we stopped off to see the amazing geological formation of Elephant Rocks. The Chronicles of Narnia was filmed here...this was the site of Aslan's camp (if anyone remembers that part of the movie -- I had to look it up). There is currently another movie set onsite here, perhaps another Narnia installment?



Back in town we mulled around a bit admiring the beautiful limestone buildings while we had the car brakes checked out and we secured insurance. Thankfully everything checked out well and the car got a clean bill of health. I even got to sneek in a quick chat with a good friend from home which lifted my spirits (thanks Holly!).



So we were off to see the Little Blue Penguin colony, but apparently you can only see them in the evenings and it costs $20 to see them waddle up the beach. Instead, we just enjoyed the scenery and the information about the penguins. Not the best investment of our funds or time, so we headed out to find a bed for the night.



We decided to try our luck out at Olive Grove Lodge & Holiday Park. It turned out to be my favorite hostel/lodging place. What a lovely place! If this place was closer to a larger city, it would be my ideal home. When you walk through the gates you are greated by Lyn's organic garden. Pockets of flowers, plants, and vegetables growing everywhere. And everything about this place has a creative touch, but in a sophisticated, not over-done way. There are shells and colorful stones pressed into the concrete paths that swirl throughout the garden moving people to either the lodge rooms, or the main house, or up to the inviting cozy porch where you can choose from any number of couches, tables or even a hammock to rest in.

We made up some dinner and tried a new vegetable, silver beet -- not too bad! Kinda like swiss chard or bok choy but not bitter. And then we quickly headed off to see the Moeraki Boulders. They are great round and smooth boulders, the largest of which is 2 meters or 6.5 feet, that have been entrapped in the earth's sediment and released by the crashing waves and wind. About 20 of them now sit on the beach. I think Corey will be posting some pictures soon.

Then we quickly headed off to the Lighthouse so we wouldn't miss the Yellow-Eyed Penguins coming onshore, which they do for about about 2 hours before dusk. Even the drive there was amazing! As we climbed the steep hills, it looked like we were launching into the sky, and then we'd crest the top and slowly tip the car back down, like we were on a roller coaster or something. The penguins are much smaller than you'd think (I think I've seen March of the Penguins too many times), but it was fun to spot them in their native habitat. We actually got within 5 feet of one who was exhibiting itself just on the other side of the fence.

Anyways, back to the Olive Grove Lodge for the best night of sleep so far. And to top it all off, I'm feeling much better. A resident cough still haunts me, but thank goodness for Robitoussen. (sp?)