November 1st-5th - Our good friends Caroline and Richard invited us to tag along with them to a beer and music festival in Dunedin. Dunedin was founded in 1848 as a Scottish Free Church settlement and is named for the Gaelic word for Edinburgh (Duneideann). It is also home to the University of Otago (1869), the oldest university New Zealand. We walked a track on the Otago Peninsula and observed seals and sea lions from relatively close range. The beaches in and around Dunedin are spectacular and boast a lot of sea life and surf waves. At the St. Clair beach we enjoyed swimming mornings at the St. Clair Salt Pool. Very salty, but unique in that the 8 lane 25 meter pool is built in the sea shore. At high tide the waves splash into the pool! An amazing sea lion story is in the photos below. "Mum" became a legend when she swam from the subantarctic Auckland Islands to mainland New Zealand in 1993, gave birth to a sea lion pup. This was the first instance of sea lions in New Zealand in more than 150 years. The New Zealand Sea Lion is the world's rarest with only 10,000 counted in 2014. We loved going to Aramoana Beach and watching Caroline and Richard's very accomplished surfing son catch the big waves! then on to the Beer Festival! Besides plenty of wonderful craft beers (Emersons, Good George Brewing, Rhyme X Reason, Two Thumbs to name just a few).
November 6-30 - The Summer Thursday night Nelson Sea Swims started on the 16th - the fifth and last day of a "fast" we did in support of friends here. Limited calories (1100, 800 for 4 days) zapped us of all strength and the jury is out as to if we achieved glowing skin. 😂 We pushed it to the limit by doing the sea swim on the 16th. The Swim Series is one of our highlights of living in NZ! The swimming community is fun and everyone engages and encourages everyone else. We love this summer activity here! Leanne and Bryan (Mark's brother and sister-in-law) arrived for the remainder of the month. It was terrific being with them and adventuring! So many different things we did, and we we enjoyed being with each other immensely! The photos give details of what we did which included swimming, walking, hiking, boys fishing, girls shopping, seeing the very rare yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho, walking the Stewart Island Great Walk (Rakiura Track), and enjoying good food. Sad they left but knew more family would be coming shortly!
November 6-30 - The Summer Thursday night Nelson Sea Swims started on the 16th - the fifth and last day of a "fast" we did in support of friends here. Limited calories (1100, 800 for 4 days) zapped us of all strength and the jury is out as to if we achieved glowing skin. 😂 We pushed it to the limit by doing the sea swim on the 16th. The Swim Series is one of our highlights of living in NZ! The swimming community is fun and everyone engages and encourages everyone else. We love this summer activity here! Leanne and Bryan (Mark's brother and sister-in-law) arrived for the remainder of the month. It was terrific being with them and adventuring! So many different things we did, and we we enjoyed being with each other immensely! The photos give details of what we did which included swimming, walking, hiking, boys fishing, girls shopping, seeing the very rare yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho, walking the Stewart Island Great Walk (Rakiura Track), and enjoying good food. Sad they left but knew more family would be coming shortly!