Birds on the Peninsula

New Zealand has amazing birds. Here are five of the kinds of birds Dave saw on the Peninsula. The first one, the royal albatross, has the largest wingspan of any bird, more than 10 feet. Next are spotted shags, which are related to cormorants. Then paradise shelducks, a yellow-eyed penguin, and last a wild turkey.

The Peninsula

The harbor is 10-12 miles long. Between the harbor and the ocean is a long finger of land called the Peninsula. On July 24, Dave and another American who is visiting here drove out to the end of the Peninsula where there are some amazing birds. This first photo was taken about halfway out the Peninsula and shows the harbor at about midpoint. Dunedin is down the harbor to the left. Across the harbor is Port Chalmers, a small town with a big container shipping dock. You can see three cranes.The Peninsula has quite a bit of farm land with thousands of sheep. The lighthouse in the third and fourth pictures is at the end of the Peninsula.

view from Signal Hill

Signal Hill is located just outside of Dunedin, to the northeast, and you can drive to the top. The first photo looks to the southwest, back on the city, with the camera at its widest angle. You can see both the harbor and the ocean, and you can see how close they are to each other. At that closest place, the land in between is flat, and the worry about erosion at the ocean beach is that the flat area would be eaten away by the waves, and the harbor and the ocean would be connected there. The rest of the photos are zoomed in, panning around beginning with a view to the southeast, then south, then west. I should perhaps clarify that Dunedin is on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Near Dunedin the coastline takes a turn, and right at Dunedin, the coastline runs almost due east-west.

sights in Dunedin

We haven't taken a lot of pictures of Dunedin yet, but here are a few. The town's southern border is the ocean, and the beach is lovely. They're having serious erosion problems, so they are trucking in a bunch of sand right now. Pictures 4 and 5 are of a beautiful botanical garden. Then a photo of a building in a style that is common here, a blend of dark and light stone. The last picture is of a Celtic cross that I like a lot. It's in a park near downtown.

our house

Our house is about 100 years old. We have it for six months. Dunedin has lots of old houses because there was a gold rush in the late 1800s, the town boomed then but didn't grow very much in the twentieth century. The front of the house faces north, which means it gets the midday sun, this being the southern hemisphere. The kitchen, eating area, and a small family room are on the back of the house, and they face south, away from the sun and towards the ocean. Dunedin is really hilly, and we are near the top of the hills that ring the city. The second photo is taken from our back deck, looking east, and you can see both the harbor (in the middle) and the ocean (on the upper right). The next photo is of the ocean, looking south and a little east. The next two look south west, and Dave can see sheep on those hills with his binoculars. The last one looks south into the neighborhood below us in the fog. The ocean is in the upper left in the photo.

Dunedin fourth day

After I had been in Dunedin three days, Dave arrived. On his first full day here, July 3, we had a tour from Jessi, a woman from Seattle who lives here. Her mother is a friend of a Seattle friend, and I had been emailing with Jessi before we came. She drove us along the north side of the harbor, which is 10 or 12 miles long and quite narrow at the mouth. The town at the end of the harbor, on the north side, is called Aramoana, and it has a beautiful beach. The first photo looks across the harbor to the lighthouse on the south side. In all the pictures, the hills in the background are on the other side of the harbor. Remember it's winter down here now. This was a lovely winter day with a temperature of maybe 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dunedin first day

On my first full day in Dunedin, June 30, I got a tour of Dunedin from Susan, a Presbyterian minister with whom I had been emailing, and her husband Paul. Dave still hadn't arrived. I didn't take any pictures because I was concentrating on looking. On the way home, they drove past a park with a terrific view that is right by a supermarket. When I got home, I hopped in my rented car and drove back to the park to take these pictures, then went shopping for food. The first photo is looking south towards the ocean. Next stop Antartica. Then I turned a little bit to the left, and took each photo after the other. You can see that Dunedin is on both the ocean and a long harbor. In the last photo, the tall buildings in the distance are the university. Our house isn't too far from the park where I took these photos.

Auckland 5

A lot of the trees in New Zealand are different shapes than the trees I'm used to. That's why I took the top photo in this bunch. Auckland is called the City of Sails, so I thought I should post at least one shot of sailboats. And I thought the third photo here is just plain beautiful. You can see another volcano crater on the island in the distance.

Auckland 4

The Anglican Cathedral in Auckland, called the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, has some amazing stained glass windows created by contemporary Maori artists. The first photo is of the back of the church, and the next four photos are parts of the windows on the side, which illustrate various New Testament stories. In the side windows, I really like the way Maori designs have been incorporated.