The time is ticking down

It is hard to believe that we have less than a month before we head back for home. There are mixed feelings about leaving.

As winter, and the cold approaching, I am looking forward to the end of our visit. The weather has kept us inside more, and we are doing less traveling.

However, I adore Dunedin and I will miss it. This is a great walking town, and I will miss the 10 minute walk to downtown. I will miss the great old houses, the stained glass windows, and the many birds we see out our windows. The view from our conservatory is amazing, and it will be hard to leave. We have met some wonderful people here, and hope to come back again soon!

I am excited to go back and start "working" again. I have bought a few treasures here, that will be packed (very carefully!) in my suitcase so I can take them home. My etsy shop is calling my name, and hopefully someone will love the laboratory glassware I found!

Cadbury, here we come!

Mom and Dad took us to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory for a tour. I have to admit I had been to Cadbury before Mom and Dad's visit (okay, I had been there several times), but a person can never go to Cadbury too many times.

Shell Heaven!

This beach had amazing shells! Tons of them! Big ones, little ones, and clams that were still alive!

Unfortunately, we forgot out bags and plastic tubs. However, Mom still had an extra clean hankie to use!

The birds are everywhere. Here are pictures of a blue heron, shags (cormorants) and an oyster catcher.

Sand Head Beach

Another lovely day and drive out exploring with Mom, Dad and Stas. This is about 20 minutes away from our house. The tides were out, and the water was calm.

Movie Set of Narnia

Just outside Oamaru, there are some huge rocks in the middle of nowhere. Actually, they are in the middle a some farmers' fields. The are called the Elephant Rocks. Apparently, if you look just right at them (or not quite at them) they look like elephants. This was also where some of Narnia was filmed, which got the girls all excited!

"What's in the bag?"

What's in the bag? Nothing. Let me see it. Nope. Are they hidden behind my back? Yes? Okay then, smile for the picture. There is NOTHING behind my back. I am NOT collecting shells. Sure, Mom......

Yellow-Eyed Penguin

We finally got to see penguins! I realize the pictures are horrible, BUT it is proof that we saw penguins.

Cheeses, Cheeses and more Cheeses!

This was another cheese store we stopped at on the way to Oamaru. Sophia REALLY thought we should buy the big round piece- no worries that is was 1 food in diameter!

In Omaru, we went to a third cheese shop, and actually got to peek in the windows to see some of the cheese being stored.

We are going to miss this view

Here are some early morning sunrise photos taken by Stas.

Happy 7th Birthday Sophia!

Sophia was lucky enough to celebrate her 7th birthday here and even had Poppa and Gramma here, too!

Her birthday came a day earlier than in the States, so that also made her pleased.

Of course Poppa and Gramma brought the best present of all- a tiara. It was hand-carried in Gramma's carry on so it would not get broken. The tiara was worn to school and admired by all!

Autumn has arrived in Dunedin and so did the $541 electric bill!

I have been hearing for months how cold winters are here in Dunedin. They are miserable. However, Kiwis could never tell me why they are so bad. Do they get lots of snow? No. How about ice? Not really, just some frost. Large amounts of rain? No, it is quite mild. So what is the problem?? The cost of electricity is the problem!

We just received our electricity bill and it was $541. Ouch! Why was it so high? Well, first I should explain about the building codes here. There is not any insulation in the houses here, and the windows are single paned. In addition, the houses do not have central heating. Finally, there are several windows which are louver glass and never quite close! So, from the get go houses are drafty, damp and a bit chilly.

However, our rental house has 7 free standing heaters that can be used to heat up the rooms. Last month when it was a wee bit chilly, we plugged them in. Hence the problem.

Apparently, those heaters are really expensive to run, thus the $541.00 charge. Kiwis usually only use one heater, used in the room they spend most of their time. They do not heat the bedroom or any other room. Instead they put on more clothing layers!

Now I finally get why winters are so miserably cold in New Zealand.

Tomorrow I will going to buy some wool long johns!

Orokonui Ecosanctuary

Late Autumn has come to southern New Zealand and with it has come the birds. We have a marvelous book that we received from our neighbors that has many of the birds that can be seen around the city.

At last count, we have seen 30 different birds!

While Mom and Dad were here, we went to a sanctuary to see some of native birds. We decided we saw more birds each morning on our back deck! It was nice to seen the native plants and trees (said Mom).

Taiaroa Head & Albatross Center

The pictures are dates a wee bit mixed up, as there are pictures on both Stas' and my computers. So, we shall travel back in time and see more pictures from earlier adventures!

This is at the Tairaroa Head, which is where the is a large albatross colony. There are also many shags here, we call them cormorants.

There is huge amounts of seaweed in New Zealand, and I love to see it dance with the waves. It reminds me of a mermaid's hair flowing in the water.

Wanaka

We stayed two nights in Wanaka, and had a super fun time. We spent several hours in the toy and transportation museum- where there were four huge buildings that hold part of one man's collection of stuff. There were 3000 cars, barbies, antique pedal cars, airplanes, star wars and much more!

Next we headed to Puzzling World, which the girls had been looking forward to for a long time. There was a huge maze which you could walk through and get lost for hours. The maze is 1/1 kilometres long, but most people walk for 3-5 kilometres trying to find the exit! Let me tell you, we were all tired that night!

And finally, someone knows how to spell Poppa right!

GOLD!!! We found Gold!

Yes we did pan for gold, and did actually come home with a few flakes. The man who taught us was very nice and was a lot of fun! He gave Leah a hard time, and she ate it all up!

The girls also became friends with the horse while visiting. The horse followed them around the paths. There was also a deaf dog named, Pip, they wanted to adopt- but she had to stay at the mining center.

Cheese, Cheese, and more Cheese, please

My Mom loves cheese, in fact, she proudly states she has never eaten a cheese she did not like. Sophia loves cheeses, too- and the older and stronger the better.

Sophia could not wait for Gramma to arrive so they could do some cheese tasting. This was the first of three "cheesery" shops we stopped at while my parents were visiting.

Leah took several polite bits, but left the majority of the cheese eating to the experts!

The blue of the water

The color of the water coming off of the glacier was the most beautiful blue. It was the blue of light topaz, almost like a powdery blue.

I was able to catch a few photos which were a very close representation of the blue in the rivers.