Dunedin part 2, Oct. 28.

We met on the dock or a tour with Indigenous Trails tours owner and guide Des Harris. Des is a character. Our bus tour of Dunedin city area went to “the steepest street in the world.” It has a slope of 1:2.7 in part. Compare that to the maximum slope of about 1:17 on an interstate highway. I walked up part of it. It really is very steep.

After that, we needed some refreshment so we went for tea at a local place. I chose to get coffee from one of the slide filter type of pots. Maybe I mentioned these before when we had coffee on the “Lord of the Rings” tour. You put the coffee in the bottom of a pitcher, pour in hot and then slide a filter down from the top to the bottom, leaving filtered coffee in the top of the pitcher. That time they pushed too hard on the filter and forced grounds around the edge of the filter resulting in chewy coffee. This time I think they double loaded the grounds. It was very strong – basically a very large espresso. I like these pots. I may get one when we get back home.

We went to see the albatross colony but the albatrosses didn't cooperate. We did see many cormorants and seagulls and some beautiful scenery. Then we were off to see the rare and endangered yellow-eyed penguins. It is brooding season so those we saw were sitting on eggs in comfortable little A-frame cottages with an ocean view. It was a big deal to see one stand up and change position. There are less than 4,000 of these left in the world.

We had an excellent lunch in Portobello, a village on the bay.

Our tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory was a disappointment. Much of the work is being transferred to Australia to better serve the Australasian (read Chinese) market and the machinery is being taken out. We saw one of the very last remaining machines sitting there shrink wrapped and ready to be moved out. About 50% of the workers are losing their jobs. The sadness was palpable.

About that time a severe wind gust, the leading edge of a coming storm, hit the ship and broke two mooring lines. They called in two tugboats to hold the ship against the pier and would only allow a few people at a time on the gangway to limit casualties in case it fell in the water. The strong wind was blowing directly down the bay causing a “seiche” - basically blowing the water out of the shallow bay. That made it too dangerous to attempt to move the ship down the narrow and shallow channel that was left. We had to wait for the wind to diminish. Instead of leaving at 5 p.m., we left at 7 a.m. the next morning. This means that we must skip the next port at Christchurch, a definite disappointment. I can't fault the Captain's decision. I wouldn't have driven a motorboat down that narrow channel in that wind, much less a ship like this.

We are going direct to Wellington. There was supposed to be a change out of entertainers in Christchurch. Those folks will now fly or drive to Wellington. This will wreak havoc on the Cruise Director's schedule, but that is why he is paid the big bucks.

It is all part of the adventure.