My adult kids and I will be celebrating my birthday and Thanksgiving in St Heliers, Auckland, New Zealand. I am so excited to share my favorite places in Auckland with them and tackling some adventures such as climbing Rangitoto. We will make a traditional American groaning feast for my Kiwi friends and then we will pursue our own adventures.
Every trip begins with booking tickets on Air New Zealand. For $50 one of their helpful advisors will help make more complicated reservations over the phone. Sometimes there is a savings if you are traveling to several places within New Zealand during your stay. This trip I made all of my reservations on line. Their easy to use site allows me to book my flight, pick my seat and let them know if I have special dietary requirements or need to bring an extra bag.
With my bookends of arrivals and departures (and notice that you lose a day on the way over from USA and live your last day twice on the way back), I begin to fill in the middle points. If I have confirmed dates in certain places I typically log on to Booking.com and make my hotel reservations, Kayak.com for auto reservations and then Trip Advisor for ideas for things to do and for reviews of hotels if I am undecided on Booking.com.
I am going to South Island for a combination of penguin viewing and cycling. Penguin viewing was my highest priority: I want to see both Fiordland penguins and yellow eyed penguins. And I want to visit Stewart Island (mainly for kiwi birds). My challenge was figuring out the best places to see these and then create an itinerary that is reasonable and fulfilling.
New Zealand Penguins website is a life saver. It lists several options for each type of penguin that I want to view. I decided to visit Lake Moeraki in South Westland, Stewart Island in Southland, and Dunedin in Otago for my three penguin stops. I created a matrix for Dunedin since there are so many options. I have begun searching the various penguin guide websites and emailing for more details. I will soon have my tickets or reservations.
The complicating factor is the cycling. I really would like to cycle the Otago Central Rail Trail from Queenstown to Dunedin (the last bit by train). I had to establish the timeframe for that before I could solidify my penguin plans. And I had to make some adjustments to my plans. Originally I thought I’d drive from Queenstown to Lake Moeraki to Invercargill to Dunedin, but the cycling trips begin in Queenstown. Some quick changes to my itinerary and voila! I am able to do everything I want to do.
It is a very full schedule, and not everyone would find four days of cycling the “relaxing” bit. I am super charged about it.
I was given a skein of “Cocoon Amethyst” by Rare Yarns of New Zealand when I was in Dunedin in September. (Remember the lovely ladies of Twisted Stitch?) I left New Zealand without a pattern, so recently, as I looked at the gaps on my Christmas gift list, I logged onto Ravelry website and found a pretty project for my young friend Grace Julie. It is called “Diamond Lace Mitts” and can be found in a Rare Yarns publication and only requires one skein. I could not find the book, so I emailed Rare Yarns and they sent me the pattern–complimentary.
Wool and pattern from Rare Yarns, NZ
These mitts are relatively easy and fast to knit. I made these up in two evenings of knitting while lounging with the family immersed in Thanksgiving holiday conversation. I sewed them in about 20 minutes on the plane trip home using my Auntie’s small hands as my model. I like how they turned out and they will keep Gracie’s wrists and hands warm during her German winter. The yarn is delightful to work with and quite strong and the overall effect is very pretty.
I really like Rare Yarns, yet there is only one yarn shop in Maryland (USA) that sells their wool. So I guess I will need to stock up when I am in New Zealand in February.
In my pre-trip planning I experienced some frustrations in trying to line up penguin experiences. The Otago Peninsula in
Royal Albatross Centre at end of Otago Peninsula
Dunedin is one of the few places in New Zealand guide books where penguin experiences are specifically called out, so I was a bit mystified that it was such a challenge to arrange. I was not able to arrange a yellow-eyed penguin tour so I signed up for Blue Penguins Pukekura at the Royal Albatross Centre.
The drive on the Otago Peninsula Low Road was an adventure. Even though I had a firm grip on the wheel part of me had to smile at the “at your own risk” road. Not a great place to be in a storm unless you have a life jacket in the car. Also, stay sober! Driving all the way to the end to the Royal Albatross Centre is worth it. The Centre is interesting and I recommend arriving an hour before sunset so you can watch the albatross arrive to their roosting area for the night. (There is also a cafe to grab a bite to eat or hot drink).
This particular evening the blue penguin viewing started at 6:30 p.m. Thumbs up for the jackets provided as an extra barrier against the cold and for the Maori welcome. The stairs are also well lit to the platform at the bottom of a gentle beach along the harbor. Unfortunately, this is not a wheelchair accessible experience.
Landing beach for little blue penguin rafts
The sandy beach was easily visible from the viewing platform and we only had to wait a short while before the first raft of penguins arrived. Because of the gentle approach, the penguins could assemble in the bay and arrived on shore together. About 100 yards off shore we could see their dark shape and the thrashing water signal their approach. Nothing however prepared me for their burst on to shore and sprint to the grassy area about 15 yards beyond the surf. It was so charming and funny. They are adorable. Again flash photography is prohibited.
Everyone was in a super good mood by the time we started the steep climb up the hill. We handed our jackets over and began the “fun” drive back the coast road. It was actually not as worrisome as I expected.
The next day I serendipitously discovered the office of the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust on Lower Stuart Street. They are celebrating their 25th anniversary of restoring habitat, funding research, and promoting penguin appreciation and education. I have seen other communities celebrate an individual (Rio Vista humpback whale Humphrey, Dingle dolphin, and of course the Loch Ness monster!), yet I found it sweet how Dunedin and the Otago region embraced their special stewardship of the yellow-eyed penguin.
Dunedin is sometimes referred to the Edinburgh of New Zealand because of its Scottish roots. It is also a university town, with most NZ doctors trained at the medical college here. It seems redundant to say it is a beautiful location as everywhere in New Zealand is in different ways. I really enjoyed the central business district with the interesting railway station and the Octogon in the center of town. Dunedin is also one of many cities in NZ that prides itself on its gardens (Christchurch, Wellington to name others). My main purpose was to see the penguins but if it had not poured rain I would have also gone to the Dunedin Botanic Garden or the more recently planted Dunedin Chinese Garden. There also was not time to go to the only castle in NZ–Larnach Castle and gardens. All give me reasons to return.
selfie in front of Dunedin Railway Station
New Zealanders are also known for their love of sports of all sorts. Rugby is king, and Dunedin’s skyline is dominated in the harbor area by Forsyth Barr Stadium, built for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks beat the Springboks (South Africa) in Auckland on September 14, as part of the Investec Rugby Championship and they were facing Argentina in a few days in La Plata. The sports commentators were buzzing about this and that to do with rugby, but the eyes of the nation were firmly fixed on the America’s Cup.
When I arrived in Auckland the race was being broadcast on every television in the Auckland airport. I had already been “educated” by Kiwis on my flight who were returning from watching the race in San Francisco. I already knew that the average Kiwi was way more passionate about the race than 10 Americans put together. And I learned quickly not to argue with people who clearly knew way more about the competition and sailing than I will ever know. So I asked questions like, “Oh, how did the American’s cheat?” When I commented that I hope the Cup returns to NZ so I can watch it in Auckland, they would nod vigorously and launch into a detailed explanation of how NZ will change the rules to make it more competitive. As one fan pointed out to me, when they hosted the America’s Cup in 2003 there were many more nations participating and some women-only teams.
By the time I arrived in Dunedin (after my time in Oamaru) the American team had roared back to tie up the series and there was just one race left–sudden death. Bad time to be “American Julie” in New Zealand.
Coincidentally I decided to see if the railway station was as lovely inside as it is outside and stumbled upon the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. (It is.) The admission is just $5NZ, and the friendly older gentleman who was at reception was enthusiastic about all sports. For a country of 4.4 million, they have a remarkable number of world-class athletes. You might think the Hall of Fame is dominated by rugby, actually, there are terrific athletes in a wide variety of sports, including sailing. There were several handouts provided including one confirming that the All Blacks got their name from their “sable and unrelieved costume” as early as 1893. And they have performed the pre-match haka as early as 1888, but did not become a ritual until the first World Cup in 1987.
NZ Sports Hall of Fame entrance one floor off ground
My host pointed out that the Americans had done a remarkable job recovering from the NZ team’s 8-1 lead in the America’s Cup and I could feel the sting in his voice. So later when I saw a list at the exhibit for Sir Edmund Hillary of the most important sportsman of the 20th Century (as voted by American sportswriters), and I saw that the great mountaineer and inductee was 9th, and I saw that Lance Armstrong was 2nd, I crossed out Lance’s name and showed him that Hillary was actually 8th. We had a lovely chat about sports and sportsmanship.
It made me think about the sporting paradoxes in the USA: we love an underdog, and everyone loves to hate a team (like the Yankees) when we feel that they “bought” their championships, and yet, people are lined up to buy a team and spend billions to have a championship too. We have many gracious sportsmen/women, and we tend to forgive some very bad behavior, like John McEnroe and Tiger Woods because of their sports prowess. And we tend to turn a blind eye to cheating if everyone is making money, and then express outrage when the person gets caught.
As much fun as I was having, I had a date with penguins that evening, so I drove to the Hotel St. Clair in the beach suburb St. Clair. I found it on Trip Advisor and this hotel property is terrific. My room had a great view of the sea and a television. In the morning I was able to watch the final America’s Cup race at 9 a.m. before checking out. If you saw the race then you know that after the first turn the result was never in doubt. The NZ sports announcers grumbled a fair bit about the technological advantage and about “Herbie” the hydraulic system that helped the Oracle boat get on its foils more quickly. (I read later that this was greatly exaggerated.) As the American team celebrated their victory, one announcer made a snarky comment that since Brit Ben Ainslie was on the team, Britain would no doubt say they won.
I expected people to be disappointed and Kiwis were really demoralized. They would hear my accent and they would congratulate me on the American team’s win. I realized from previous conversations that it did not help to point out that people in the US were not nearly as caught up in the America’s Cup as they are in NZ. I had my own “shock and awe” at how much faster the American boat was in the last 9 races, so I nodded when they talked about the technological advantage. I also tried to point out that there were Kiwis on every team, so really they could not lose, but that fell on deaf ears.
One woman I met was still holding her “lucky bear” she got when New Zealand won the cup in 1995. She was near tears when she talked about the loss earlier in the day. On Friday when I walked with the American women, one of them shared that she read in the paper that psychologists are concerned that Kiwis over-identify with sports teams confusing their own self-esteem with how well their team plays. Hey, I used to be on that emotional roller coaster when I followed USC’s football team more closely. In a country where most of the population lives very close to the sea, and most people have a rudimentary understanding of sailing, and a heritage of sailing (whether you harken to the amazing Polynesian/Maori traditions or the British Navy), so sailing is probably always going to matter more to most New Zealanders.
I was glad when I got to Auckland that people were recovering and celebrating the achievement of fielding a terrific team and coming close to winning. There was mostly praise for the Captain Baaaahker (Barker with a NZ accent). The Auckland Museum honored the team by lighting the museum with their team colors for 3 consecutive nights. And hundreds of people greeted the team at the airport.
The New Zealand Herald is still covering the post-race “news”, but the All Blacks win over the Pumas in Argentina helped to soothe the national psyche.
I was planning to do a yarn crawl in Dunedin. I researched several yarn shops in advance. On my first day in Dunedin I had a little bit of time, so I went to the first couple of wool shoppes on my list. The first was unfortunately typical of New Zealand. Here I am in the land of the best wool in the world and the yarn and patterns are all targeted to Grandma. It is shocking how the fashion knitting craze has completely evaded NZ thus far.
The name of the next shop held some promise: Seriously Twisted! I walked up to the Octogon and found the shop. At first I thought it was only ready made knit wear, albeit of good quality. Then I spotted Janene Weir working on a project in the rear of the shop. She was weaving what looked like luxurious fur into a crocheted scarf. It was lovely. I quickly learned that the shop owner and knit wear designer Linzi Irving created a way to take the pesky possum and treat the fur to make it look remarkably like mink.
Possum were introduced in NZ by some demented person years ago and now threatens native bird and bush species. You can feel good about wearing this fur as you are doing something for the environment. It is a hollow fibre so it holds the heat and provides warmth. It can be combined with merino wool for the warmest gloves I’ve ever owned. Or used as a fur trim as Linzi does.
At first I was focused on the beautiful scarves, and then Janene showed me a beautiful wrap. I tried it on and it was so light, and soft, I did not want to take it off. After wearing it around the shop to look at their lovely NZ yarn selection, and other sweaters, I realized that it was the perfect topper for my World of Wearable Art outfit.
Linzi arrived about now and the three of us had a fun conversation about the status of knitwear design in NZ, the World of Wearable Art, my blog, and a dozen other topics. It is amazing how knitting can foster kindred spirits. I left the shop quite pleased with my purchases and happy to have made two new Kiwi friends.
P.S. I did find a couple more yarn stores and they were all like the first–too much acrylic! and too many designs from 1980.
Linzi Irving original designs at Seriously Twisted
Need you ask? The answer to any question involving chocolate is an unqualified YES!
I had some extra time the first day I arrived in Dunedin but missed the last tour. The hostess encouraged me to book a tour for the next day to secure a spot since the winter school holidays were starting. I returned the next day at 10:30 a.m. and joined a group of Chinese, Australian, Kiwi and American chocolate fans for a 1.15 hour tour.
Cadbury Factory visitor centre and tours
If you listen carefully you quickly realize that many of the women on the tour have elaborate chocolate fantasies. While walking by a large tub of chocolate being stirred provocatively, “Ohh, I’d love to take a bath in that.” After the guide teased us saying that we would be stopping in the silo for a surprise at the end of the tour, “Ohhh, I hope they pour chocolate on us.”
Cadbury Chocolate Company was started in England by Quakers. I have learned a lot about the company over the years between my pastors who are Quaker history buffs and chocolate eaters, and I read an entire book about the company a few years ago. The family’s commitment to slave free chocolate and worker health and education was quite unique. Sadly, the Kraft company bought it a few years ago and now much of these commitments are part of history.
The factory in Dunedin is quite old and has just gone through a kind of total quality management process to remain open for certain specialty Cadbury products. Their competitive advantage is the quality of the milk chocolate crumb they make, mainly due to the superior quality of NZ dairy milk.
We all donned hair nets and took off all of our jewelry and listened to our tour guide with rapt attention. He quickly had us trained to walk to the left and try to answer questions as he was quite liberal with the chocolate rewards. It was not just the three little girls who were trying for treats. Fortunately, he was very generous with the samples.
I love dark chocolate, and yet I happily ate a Picnic bar, a Dairy Milk, and a Carmello bar in a relatively short span of time. When I left I was in desperate need of a coffee. All in all, this was one of the happiest places I have been–giving Disney a run for the money. Everyone on the tour was just as pleased as me, and the operations are impressive.
Crunchie Mountain: Crunchie bars are hokey-pokey covered in chocolate
At the end of another easy Air New Zealand flight, we landed in Auckland ahead of schedule. As soon as I got through customs I made a beeline to the coffee truck for a flat white. If you have not been to New Zealand and imbibed on the famous “flat white” allow me to explain. The En Zed flat white is essentially a latte. Except that New Zealand dairy cows are all grass fed and it makes for incredible tasty milk. And Kiwis are not hung up about Cuba so when a coffee crazy guy from New Zealand decided to import roasters and introduce espresso drinks, he went to Cuba where they have the best coffee in the world. Put the two together and YUM–even the flat white at the airport is a treat.
There is a stark difference between interest in America’s Cup in New Zealand versus NorCal. I got an earful from Kiwis in the airport and on the plane who went to see the Cup and had strong opinions about Team Oracle and the cheating incident. The pilots on both flights gave us updates. It was the only thing on the television in the Auckland airport and everyone is collectively holding their breath. Some people are pessimistic out of an innate modesty; however, radio disc jockeys are holding contests to encourage Team New Zealand. It would be great to see America’s Cup return to Auckland, so I hope they win their 9th race tomorrow.
Dunedin is lovely and this morning (Tuesday) I drove through beautiful countryside to Oamaru in my rental car. It is always an adjustment to remember how to drive a manual car with the shift stick on the left and driving on the other side. Plus I was distracted by the many adorable newborn lambs on green, green grass. It is great to be breathing New Zealand air. Looking forward to my first penguin encounter tonight.
americanjulie.com 