penguin spotting and other assorted passtimes . . .

Hello from Dunedin! Just back from an evening on The Octagon celebrating Earth Hour, complete with fire throwers, drumming circles, folk band, and a kiddie pool for floating lanterns. These scots-kiwis down here really know how to celebrate (and kept the center circle dark, with only paper lanterns, for much more than an hour + cafes ringed the octagon with candlelit tables). So those of you reading this on the other side of the dateline have time to plan your earth hour!

Liew (my Malaysian travel mate who's used to driving on the left side) and I pulled into Dunedin this evening after completing the 'southern scenic route' all the way from Manapouri. I had an amazing kayaking and camping trip on Doubtful Sound with two couples -- kiwi newlyweds from Christchurch and a young doctor couple from the Netherlands. Our guide, Will, and I rounded out the 3 double kayaks for two incredible days in the fiords. Promise to upload albums soon . . . (here's a taste)

I joined Liew in Manapouri Thursday and we headed south, overnighting in Riverton (west of Invercargill) then on to the Catlins Friday and most of Saturday. Stumbled on a great shared beach house for a night in tiny Porpoise Bay (right next to Curio Bay) and spotted a rare yellow-eyed penguin after sunset. Watched it in silence until well after dark among the petrified logs from the jurassic period encased in the rocky beach. Today we continued with stops at Jack's Blowhole and Nugget Point, finishing off the Catlins with fish & chips at Kaka Point. Also ate NZ's best oysters in Bluff (rivals to KBay?) and visited the real southernmost point of the south island (not Bluff) at Slope Point. We've had sunshine the whole 3 days (making up for 2 days of rain on doubtful sound), or as the weather reports say, "fine" or "rain clearing by morning then mostly fine."

Tomorrow we'll explore the Otago Peninsula, then split up until Wednesday when we'll drive together up the West Coast. I'm returnnig to Te Anau for a birthday kayak on Milford Sound (now that the road is open -- it was closed all week!) and Liew and her car will see Wanaka, where I've already visited. I'll be back on the Naked Bus (which is not naked and not always a bus -- discuss). I think naked refers to the no frills mystique . . .