New Zealand: Oamaru & Dunedin

After arriving in Christchirch (South Island New Zealand) on 01 December, we picked up our Hertz rental car and drove about 3,5 hours to Oamaru. One of the main attractions in Oamaru was the Blue Penguin Colony. Blue penguins are the smallest of the world (just 25cm high and weighing 1 kg). We were told that they return ashore each evening at around 08:30 PM, so we had to hurry up to get to the penguin viewing point on time. The day was cold (you would call it "cold" after spending three weeks in Thailand!) and rainy, but the penguins didn't want to come out on time. In the end they came out of the ocean in groups; they looked like as if they were returning home after a hard day in the office. By that time it was quite dark, so we could hardly see them. After leaving the viewing point we were wandering around this small city desperately looking for food (it's surprising that most of bars/cafes/supermarkets get closed quite early). Obviously coming from Sydney to Oamaru was a big contrast :)

Next day we left Oamaru (thank God)for Dunedin - the second-largest South Island city and main centre for Otago. Dunedin is a cosmopolitan and atmospheric city with its cafes and student life and elegant Victorian architecture. Locals from Dunedin make jokes about Oamaru: they say that usually people move to Oamaru to retire (and we can believe that!).
Dunedin is about one hour drive from Otago peninsula and we went there (to Otago) to check out albatrosses, yellow-eyed penguins and seals. From the moment we came to NZ it feels like during our trip to the South of Argentina a year ago (the weather conditions, penguins, seals... and in about a week glaciers will come into the picture)!