Where's Malcolm? travel blog

Morning at Lake Tekapo.

A view of Mount Cook national Park from the Mount John Observatory....

Another view of the Southern Alps from Mount John.

Oarmaru.

An old building in Oarmaru, together with 70's political graffiti.

Up close but still a safe distance from an adult southern fur...

A yellow-eyed penguin on the way back to its nest. They're the...

During the trek with Jan we came across this hamlet whose resident...

....what more could a woman want?

....we needed to be wary of the local wildlife.

Looking across one of the bays towards Kaikoura, taken during the walk...


Another cold night but I wasn't complaining (hey I could be working, OK I'll stop that now). I left Lake Tekapo and headed out towards the flat and green farming countryside McKenzie country, and when I found myself way ahead of schedule (I was due to arrive at Tony and Jan's mid-afternoon) I took a detour to Oamaru which is known for its well preserved old architecture which it certainly was including the 70's political graffiti (!), and the nearby penguin colonies for which this town seems especially proud. I took a trip to the first penguin colony I could find which turned out to the the yellow-eyed colony just south of the town. These little creatures are the second-rarest penguin species in the world apparently and numbers have dwindled to some 5000, although the help of local couple Colin and Sue who at their own expense rehabilitate distressed penguins has to be admired. The next day I had some much needed exercise when Jan and I went for a rewarding 3 hour trek over some hills east of Christchurch.

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