OUR LAST PORT OF CALL IN N.Z. PORT CHALMERS - January 30th

Elvis paintings from the Christchurch Saturday show in the park

There was a sign that I saw that read

THE ROMANCE OF LIFE IS LOST THROUGH 

SPEED & EFFICIENCY

Truer words were never spoken.

Speed and efficiency have indeed taken a back seat to the quiet beauty of New Zealand and I am sorry to leave this paradise.  Port Chalmers is on South Island - not the furthest south island, but perhaps the best of them all.
Peaceful, pristine and unspoiled, life works at a pace that I have found unequalled anywhere we have visited. The air is fresh. The numerous trees and vegetation give it a heavenly fragrance.  It is unfortunate that it is so far away from where we live because it would be wonderful to vacation here. Perhaps because of its distance its a good thing.  That way it will remain unspoiled - All It takes is people to screw everything up!

We arrived to a blustery day.  Overcast and cool.  Our scheduled tour was to a Yellow-eyed Penguin Sanctuary.  These particular penguins are rare and only found in this area. We boarded a bus to the sanctuary for a 35 minute drive.  The roads are really narrow - about 1 1/2 lanes wide so we did not travel fast.  Like most of New Zealand, the main roads are right along the coast and the views as we twisted and turned on this road was spectacular

We arrived at the sanctuary and after a lecture about these penguins we started to trek down towards the dunes on the beach.  We walked down steep steps and paths in the grass all the while our guide telling us to be very quiet and once we see the babies not to take flash pictures.  He emphasized that the use of a flash camera would hurt their eyes.

We walked for more than 30 minutes down, down, down this steep hills.  I couldn't help thinking of walking up, up, and up the steep terrain. Once we got to the "blind", a series of long tunnels dug out of the soil and covered with camouflage.  And their they were! Baby penguins left on their nests which the parents dug out of the soil.  Too cute!  The photo here is of a baby about 2 months old.  The penguins in the next photo were standing and were about 5 months old. His parents had gone fishing.

We stayed about 20 minutes photographing the babies then sort of started back up the hill on a different
path that took us out over the cliff to see wild seals.  Len walked down the cliff but I sat down to rest while a few others went with Len.  He got some fantastic photos of these young seals. Here's one.

They had a hospital and here is a penguin we saw.

Back on the bus we took a different road back to town over the tops of the hills.  It was surreal.

Sheep all over the hills and beautiful farms throughout. in town we stopped at an old railroad station - a beautiful building with mosaic on the floor and stained glass windows.


To the ship we went, not looking forward to another night of rocking and rolling.
I did not expect it to be as rough a ride as the night before. Boy was I wrong!  It was far worse.  All the open decks were closed.  The Captain has been walking throughout the ship in the evening looking for problem areas. We ate nothing and went to bed.  .  Tomorrow we go through Fjordland - one of New Zealand's national parks.


Marina made this towel rabbit on our bed.