The yellow-eyed penguins are not very sociable and nest in small numbers. By contrast, the smaller blue penguins are very sociable, but do not keep very sociable hours. Nesting in large colonies, they travel in groups (known as rafts) and do not return from the sea until dusk. In the hope of witnessing such a return we drive to a location just southeast of Oamaru's town centre.

 

There is a dedicated visitor centre here, plus a grandstand capable of seating 350 people. After viewing a video, we get a good seat on the front row of the grandstand. As dusk falls, a warden gives a talk as our eyes gradually become acclimatised to the special lighting.

 

Suddenly, dispelling the hushed and expectant atmosphere, a number of these tiny penguins appear and form a group. They preen themselves and, according to the warden "discuss the day's fishing", before crossing the open space in front of us to get to their nests. Altogether, we see about fifty penguins, including two who pass close to where we are sitting.

 

At 10pm we depart for our motel, having experienced another day of wonderful sights.

 

Tonight will be our last in New Zealand, with our flight departing from Christchurch at 3pm tomorrow. Our accommodation for that last night will be at the Criterion Motel in Akaroa (about 300-kilometres north), which is billed as New Zealand's French settlement - appropriately, the motel is in the Rue Jolie. We resume our relationship with State Highway 1 and, in light rain, we initially drive to the town of Richmond.

 

Just north of Richmond, we stop where there are markers for the 45th Parallel, then we make good progress on a road with little traffic to the small port of Timaru

Timaru's Information Centre is housed in a basalt bluestone building (left) near where there is a statue of Captain Henry Cain - a Timaru pioneer who was poisoned by his son-in-law in 1886.

 

The bluestone building was originally one of three built in the 1870s as Landing Service Buildings - designed so that boats could be winched into them. The building is the only example left standing in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

The staff in the Visitor Centre are very helpful but they are unable to book us on a cruise to see Hector's Dolphins until 3pm. So instead, we have coffee and a muffin at May's Coffee Bar - unusually, this is a cafe that provides good, old-fashioned filter coffees, and there are even free refills.

 

(right)

Captain Harry Cain

The weather gradually improves from overcast to sunny as we continue north, although it becomes windier. We cross the braided Rakaia River by the longest bridge (1.8-kilometres) in New Zealand, constructed in 1939. Utilising a minor road, we cut across from Highway 1 to Highway 75. On this shortcut we find a farm where we are able to buy plums and nectarines for a lunch that we have overlooking Lake Forsyth (right).

 

The lake is a long finger of water on the southwest side of the Banks Peninsula and has some black swans

We are greeted by light rain when we reach the Criterion Motel in Akaroa. Our very large room on the top (third) floor has a number of modern, comfortable touches, and a balcony overlooking part of the harbour. The town is strung along the harbour and there are a number of historical markers, some relating to the sixty-three French settlers that started a settlement here. We enquire about boat trips to see Hector's Dolphins (the world's smallest) but no-one is interested.

We make a booking at the Ma Maison Restaurant for 6:15pm, but get there a little early as we had been warned that a hen party for twelve is due about that time. On leaving our motel room we are unable to secure the balcony door, but our table in Ma Maison has a view that encompasses the balcony and the window.

 

Ma Maison provides us with an excellent meal, and the hen party provides an excellent atmosphere as the girls get very noisy. It seems to be a tradition that other diners (male) are required to sing with the girls, but fortunately, there is one gentleman present who is an enthusiastic, and frequent volunteer.

 

We start with a seafood platter that includes prawns, shrimps, salmon, gravalax, mussels, and oysters. Our main course is filet of beef, which is served with a variety of vegetables, and dessert is sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. Wine is a bottle of Pinot Gris, and we stagger back to the motel, pausing only to buy some stamps.

 

 

Prior to leaving Akaroa for Christchurch Airport, we visit two local sites that we did not get to yesterday. The first of these is a granite pillar on a hill overlooking the harbour. Affixed to it are two plaques - one (right) commemorates the raising of the Union Jack here on August 11th 1840; the second records the arrival on the same day of "Chief Police Magistrate Michael Murphy and New South Wales Police".

The second historical site is the 19th-Century red-and-white wooden lighthouse that overlooks the Glen Bay part of the harbour. This used to stand at Akaroa Head but was moved to its present site in 1980

Leaving Akaroa at 9:40am, we arrive at Maui Car Rental at 11am - total distance driven 4,947-kilometres (3,074-miles). Because of the damage to the car there is some extra paperwork before we get the shuttle to the airport. Here, we find that the International Lounge does not open until 1pm.

 

Flight SQ 298 is in a Boeing 777-200, that takes-off at 3:21pm and reaches Singapore at 8:22pm. The comfortable flight in Raffles Class takes almost exactly ten hours. Crossing Australia, there are superb views of Sydney Harbour.

In Singapore, we have three hours between flights which we utilise by taking advantage of the facilities provided to Raffles Class passengers in the Silver Kris Lounge. The major benefit is the facility to have a shower, all the amenities being provided to enable us to freshen up before the onward flight.

 

This is flight SQ 322, a Boeing 747-400 Megatop that takes-off at 11:48pm. We are in the upstairs section of Raffles Class and enjoy the same degree of comfort, plus impeccable service, that we enjoyed on the outward journey - these contribute to a very comfortable overnight flight.

 

 

The 13 hour, 25 minute flight ends when we land at Heathrow at 5:13am. Our four flights between London and New Zealand have resulted in a total distance flown of 23,973-miles (taking 42 hours, 53 minutes).

 

We are delighted to see Gill and Mike waiting to meet us at Heathrow, and they soon have us back home.

 

_____________________________________________________

 

Overall, we have yet again had a holiday of wonderful experiences. But, because we have visited the United States on so many occasions, it was inevitable that we tended to compare our experiences in New Zealand with those we have enjoyed in America (and we found in Singapore) - and in some respects these comparisons were unfavourable, particularly the laid-back attitude of some New Zealanders in relation to 'customer service'. However, these photographs illustrate the many highlights of the trip that included some amazing scenery