Noah's Ark

Unfortunately it's still raining today! Bill assures me that this just doesn't happen in Dunedin. I think they reckon that it's us that's bringing on the rain! 

Anyway, today we went along the other side of the harbour toward Port Chalmers. To do this we went along three mile hill road which is the back way into Dunedin, avoiding the main road. There are good views on this route, so I'm told! The clouds were so low that we almost drove out through the top. 

The road along the harbour was lovely, snaking around the edges of the bay. At times the shipping channel was only 100 metres from the shore. Here's a picture from the lookout point at Port Chalmers. 

At Aramoana, right at the end of the point, we walked out along the man made causeway to look for seals and penguin. I have an excellent photo of a seal but it is on my camera and I can't transfer it across at the moment. 

Me with legs on! Notice that everyone else is wrapped up to the nines - well it is only 11deg dropping to 9 deg when the rain comes across. We spotted the albatross on the other side of the estuary sitting on their nests. We also saw a family of seals swimming around diving in and out of the seaweed. 

We then met up with Doy who is building his own ark. Yes, an ark! He was pleased to show us how far he has got with construction. He's had a certain amount of trouble with the city planning department over his Ark. At first he was told he could not build a house on the site. He assured them that it was not a house but an ark. Upon inspection they said the plumbing did not comply with city standards. He said that as it was an ark, it didn't need to. They responded that, yes it did. He then asked if that meant his ark was a house - at which point they went quiet and left him alone. The ark is totally self sufficient. He collects rain water for drinking, has solar panels for providing electricity and sells eggs and garlic. Next door to him lives 'Queen Margaret' in a self styled house where every chair is a throne and in the garden is a fairy castle. But, because the authorities said that she couldn't build a castle on her land, it's actually a caravan turned into a castle. 

We didn't meet Margaret but we all agreed that the world is a far better place with people like these. They are both bonkers, living in their own harmless worlds. But I suspect that they are both very intelligent people living their own lives, poking fun at those in authority. 

We then drove up into the clouds again to visit a nearby bird sanctuary. When we arrived, the clouds had come down even lower and, to make matters worse, the cafe was closed for a private function. 

Display board from the bird sanctuary. 

Needless to say, we didn't stop, so we drove on toward Waitau to a garden centre for our lunch. I had a croque madam, toasted bread with ham, cheese and an egg on top while Brigid had a bagel with salmon and cream cheese. By that we mean a toasted bagel with a pile of warmed salmon and a bowl of cream cheese. After that, back home for an afternoon zzzz. 

In the evening we all went to a fish restaurant in Dunedin and had a super supper. Pat had a discount card which meant that one meal was free - can't be bad! Thanks Pat!