The Wandering Chocoholic

Back inland again, on yet another beautiful turquoise lake. This one is called Lake Tekapo, and it’s on the other side of Mount Cook from Lake Matheson. So I’ve made a giant loop. The lodge here is right on the lakefront, and it’s great for going kayaking, walking along the water, or having a garden barbecue.

Leaving Dunedin to come to Tekapo was a lot like leaving busy civilization behind for quiet serenity. There are only a handful of buildings in Tekapo, no banks or supermarkets and only one pub. It’s a nice chill spot for a couple of days.

Yesterday, we made a number of stops on the way to Tekapo. One was in Dunedin, to Baldwin Street, which is officially the world’s steepest street. After running – okay, walking – to the top, I couldn’t help but wonder about the people who lived there, and what they would do after returning from the shop only to discover they’d forgotten the milk. Another stop was at the Moeraki boulders, which perhaps our resident geology expert can explain better than I can, but were quite cool nonetheless. We also stopped here in Tekapo at the Church of the Good Shepard, which is famous for one reason or another. Although it was Tuesday afternoon, there was a wedding going on. The happy couple didn’t seem to have any guests besides the priest and the photographer, but they did have a lot of tourist spectators.

Monday was a very fun day. To start with, I toured the Cadbury factory in Dunedin, where a good part of New Zealand’s chocolate is produced for local markets and for export. Interesting fact: there are 10 creme eggs produced for the NZ market for every New Zealander. Yep, they love their chocolate. We got to taste raw cocoa beans (very bitter), got handed some free samples and got to see giant vats of chocolate. (Mmmmm…. chocolate….)

In the afternoon, I went on a wildlife tour of the Otago peninsula, and got to see a whole host of interesting animals. We saw Albatross birds flying. They have such a large wingspan that they require wind to fly, but when they do, they glide majestically. The Albatross has a bit of a bad rep, thanks to a certain poem you may remember from high school, but they’re only considered unlucky if you should happen to kill one. All the ones we saw were very much alive when we left the bird colony, so I think I’m safe.

From there, we went on a hike to a private beach where we got to see sea lions right up close, and yellow-eyed penguins. All my misconceptions about penguins only living on ice were shattered as I watched them waddle up the beach on a nice warm fall day. They’re really very cute. We also saw fur seal pups learning to swim.

That’s it for now. Hi to everyone back home, and keep the e-mails coming. Oh, and Go Habs!