On the left, on the left, on the left!
I can’t believe I’m in Dunedin! I actually DROVE here today from Queenstown, a distance of 290 km. It’s the first time I’ve driven in nearly 1.5 years and only the second time I’ve ever driven on the left. And even tough I was a bit nervous in the beginning, I did great! And no, I was not one of those annoying tourists who drive really slow and everyone passes. I was comfortably cruising at 110 km/hour with the Kiwis, thank you very much!
The car I’m driving is Sally’s, a friend of Sharlene’s, and the destination where I’m driving to is Riverton on the South Coast where I’m due to arrive tomorrow to pick up Sally and Sharlene and friends from the Hump Ridge Track. Well I decided to take advantage of having a car so I took a 4-hour detour to come to Dunedin and that will allow me to drive to Riverton via the Southern Scenic Route along the coast tomorrow. So far so good. And I got lucky with accomodation too, because I didn’t book anything since I didn’t know how far I’d get and of the 2 backpackers on the Otago Peninsula, one was full and the other had one bed left! I’m grateful for that, especially because it’s gotten windy and rainy since I arrived and I would not have wanted to drive around looking for a place to stay.
The plan then is to get up early tomorrow and drive the final 9 km to Taiaroa Head from here to check out the famous albatross colony and maybe look for some penguins too before I head out of Dunedin and over to Riverton to meet up with the girls. There is a lot of other stuff to see in Dunedin, but the albatross colony is the most unique thing and it’s the main reason why I chose to come here. Let’s just hope the damn birds are actually there in the morning!
Early morning on Otago Peninsula
Lighthouse at Taiaroa Head
Albatross on the hill, upper right
Add comment January 28th, 2003