Last legs of the adventure

We are now in Christchurch after spending some enjoyable time in Dunedin.  Dunedin, as we mentioned previously, is a very unique city with a lot of Scottish heritage.  On Saturday, we walked a bit and saw the First Church of Otago.  We decided to go to a worship service there on Sunday.  We were graciously welcomed by a couple of the members (all who were quite old) and also recognized, as were a few other visitors, by the pastor.  Afterwards we were invited for coffee and biscuits.  From there, we went over to the Botanical Gardens to walk through the Rhodedenrom  Dell.  The flowers (however you spell them) were huge and beautiful.  Wait till Uncle Fred sees our pictures!  The views from there of the city were amazing, too!  We then headed over to the Otago Peninsula where we checked into the Larnach Castle for the night.  It started pouring soon thereafter, so we checked out our room (also called the Rhodedenrom room - you would think we would know how to spell it after spending a night there!) and then proceeded to go on our penguin tour.  The weather cleared up for that.  We were sure happy about that because we walked through tunnels on the 70 acre private property to see endangeredYellow Eyed Penquins in their nest with some baby chicks.  Then we walked out to the ocean area and were lucky enough to see a penquin come up to the shore from the water and then waddle over the sand and up the hill.  It was so awesome!  Jan now does a great penquin interpretation!  We also saw a white faced heron, a sea lion, several fur seals and blue penquins.  It was a great tour!  We also drove up to the Albatross Center but did not view any albatrosses.  That tour is closed because it is their breeding time.  We went back to the castle to get ready for dinner in the Castle's dining room with other guests for the night.  It was a three course dinner.  The food was pretty good but it was more fun talking to the other guests.  We are all concerned with the miners in New Zealand who are still trapped in the mine with no recovery attempts yet after three days.  After breakfast in the castle stables, we took a tour of the castle and the grounds.  Very beautiful!  Lastly enroute we stopped at Moroaki Boulders-unique boulders that are completely round in structure.  They are just sitting on a remote beach with nothing else around - its a "mystery"!

Tomorrow we will tour Christchurch and then it's homeward bound!

Pics - Church in Dunedin, Jan among the boulders, Flowers at Castle, Penguin walking up from the beach; Nesting penguin