Hey - whatchyu lookin' at? A seahorse gives me the eye!
So yup – I put off going to the lovely nearby peninsula until the next day which ended me up on a pouring rain low cloud day. Regardless, I was determined to go to Portobello. So I caught the bus and off I went. When you have only brought summer clothes, it is all about layering. So I put on pretty much every item I had to keep warm. And I was o.k. I even had to take off my running leggings before boarding the bus because I was actually too hot.
On the bus, I listened the entire way along the very windey peninsula road, a young French girl and German woman talk about their countries and their politics. Actually it was mostly the French girl talking. Apparently they demonstrate too much so it ceases to have meaning and they don’t like Sarkozy because he is stupid and does stupid things. At least their earlier Presidents were intelligent. Hey – her words not mine!!!
The aquarium at Portobello just out on its little peninsula. A peninsula on a peninsula.
So I get to Portobello. The bus drops me off. The wind is blowing and the rain is falling. Not much going on and not much in the little town itself. So I figure, I either just turn around and get right back on the bus or at least go to the aquarium out on a little finger of land from the town. So I start my walk. That 1.5 km walk was totally exposed to whipping winds and rain. But I survived. The aquarium is part of the University. It was pretty cool. Lots of actual fish and critters to see. New Zealand is actually ideally located beside some of the deepest trenches in the sea. There is pretty amazing wildlife here. I loved the seahorses not having ever seen them live. They are so cute. I would like to see one of them with a saddle!
Beer, beer, beer, beer - the whatsahoosies at Speight's Brewery
As I headed back out into the blistery day, I was fortunate to be picked up by a nice guy, Matthew, who works at the aquarium, and was driving back to Dunedin. Yay for me. We had a good chat. He was telling me about a female friend of his who had been in the army and wanted to be a pilot and after putting in about 7 years and ready to go after the pilot training, they inform her that she is too short (she is only 5 feet tall or something). They could have told her earlier. Anyway, disillusioned, she decided to travel the world to decide what to do next. Just like me. So that was an interesting story. He was a nice guy. Originally from the States, lived in Ireland and Scotland and now is in New Zealand.
So on my way back to the hostel, since it was still raining, I decided to do the Speight’s Brewery tour. It was alright, but comparing it to my experience in Ireland when I did the Guiness tour, Guiness let you be self-guided, where as this one was entirely guided and you had no time or freedom to read and look at all the displays. The up side though was that they let you try all the beer you wanted for half an our or so at the end.
So now today – a nice sunny day – I am packing up and heading to Oamaru. So gotta run – gotta be out of here in 40 mintues.
Speaks for itself.