Feb-April 2011 New Zealand Week 6 part 4

Opera House at Oamaru
Dahlia
Not a bad view
Blue Penguins at Antarctic Center

From Queenstown, we toured the remains (from gold mining days) of a Chinese village in Arrowtown. After a drive following the lakeshore to Glenorchy, we headed south to the Catlins. Here, in addition to seeing many waterfalls, we saw the rare and endangered New Zealand sea lion, the endangered Yellow Eyed penguin and a fossilized forest 140-180 million years old.
We moved up the coast to Dunedin but the rain and cold moved in and hampered our desire to see the wildlife of the Otago Peninsula. We did tour some of the historic buildings and churches in town plus taking a tour of the Cadbury Factory. We left town with a big bag of candy. Moving up the coast we saw the unusual round boulders of Moeraki. In Oamaru, we saw dozens of blue penguins, the world’s smallest penguin, as they returned to their nest at sundown after a long day at sea looking for food.
Our departure city was Christchurch, which had been hit by a strong earthquake just before we arrived in NZ. The downtown area, where most of the damage occurred, was closed off. The last thing they needed was a steady stream of tourists milling around. Many of the local attractions were closed so we visited the Antarctic Center located near the airport. This was a good pick. We spent our entire last day there learning about penguins and life in Antarctica. We took a body jolting ride in the same vehicle the scientists use in the NZ and American camps in Antarctica.