Wednesday, February 20, 2013

From the Commodore - Day 6

See above except add in that Dad lost the oatmeal and his room key and we had to pack everything up and load up the car before 9 a.m.

We made it with about 10 minutes to spare.

Took another Canadian with us as the bus fare to the albatross reserve where we went was about $75!  Zipped up to end of peninsula only to find that Centre didn’t open until 10 a.m.  Wandered around, had tea and went to buy tickets only to find we couldn’t get into a tour until noon.

Wandered around some more, I ate lunch and took the noon tour up to the blind to see the Royal Northern Albatrosses sitting on their nests.  Saw one get up and turn around so we got to see the chick underneath and saw another launch into the wind (winds were gusting 55 knots or 85 km. per hour)  These birds have the largest wing spans in the world.

Quite amazing.

After the tour we zipped back to town, dropped the lady off in Dunedin, went to the information bureau to book a room for tonight, found a place to get Dad’s glasses fixed (his new glasses had their nose pad fall off, fortunately I found it in the car and his sunglasses had a screw working it’s way out of the temple.), got me a watch, Dad some cash, got a watch battery that cost more than the watch!, found a candy store called Granny Annie’s and bought some good fudge, found a grocery and got some fruit, snacks, veggies and meat, etc. then drove south to find our hotel room.

Drove through miles and miles of rolling green hills covered with rock lice (local term for sheep) and stopped for gas and directions in Milton. Dad’s credit card rejected again.  It’s happened twice since he got here and the stupid call centre in Toronto is only open during the night here (ie: 2 am to 9 am)

Long drive from Dunedin.  The girl at information said it was 1 ½ hours but it was closer to 2 ½ hours!  Arrived at our motel room wiped out.  Dad disappointed that our room has no microwave or wifi.  I ate the other half of my last night’s dinner then sat at the computer for an hour to compose this narrative of our day.   Fortunately I got dad bread and a ham steak for dinner so it didn’t need cooking.  Have to find another backpacker place to stay as they are cheaper than motels and include a kitchen with stove, microwave and dishes.

That’s about all.

Love and hugs,
Mom

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