off the (beaten) track

so, after posting my most amusing post, i took off with two british guys - chris and chris. chris wanted to do a brewery tour [which i had already done] but had to drive later, so we went on the chocolate tour. much chocolate was then not eaten. the factory was not really working - it was the weekend. we got very little chocolate. but we did get to see one tonne of chocolate free falling through the roof. in the dark. on thin floor. was toally worth it. we then set off to the otagu peninsula, to see penguines, seals, albatros and the only castle in new zealand. well, the otagu pensisula is a total tourist trap rip off. seeing the penguines and the albastros was 30 dollars each. seals as well. castle was 20. we did visit the castle gardens, which was not as expensive. we then set off to the albatros colony [before knowing how much it costs] and on the way there we saw a neat little sign saying Seal Point Road. after a democratic vote we decided to go down there. we got to a car park, a headed down a trail. chris and i had mountain boots, the other chris had vans [this will be relevant later on]. we went down a sand trail and we reached some awesome sand dune. we jumped-run down it, about 50-70 meters of altitude over 300-400 meters. it was awesome fun. we got down, looked up and realized we'd have to climb it back up soon. damn!

the sign said 40 minutes hike to the penguine hide. we did not believe it, but we then walked for about 40 minutes on the most awesome bach i've been to. the sea was angry, lotsa waves and foam. the beach was full of seaweed which looked like dead squid. we then passed 5 meters from two seals. they were just huge lumps which blended in with the beach, lying in the sun. we got really up close before noticing these were animals. going past them was scary. it was pretty easy to imagine them waking up and kicking our asses. we did get to the hide, saw a penguine, saw another seal on the rocks and started the hike back. getting up the dune was a bitch [beach] [especially in those boots mentioned earlier. chris took his vans off and hopped his way up wasily], but totally worth it.

we then proceeded to the tourist attractions mentioned above and turned around when the prices were qouted. the penguine 'colony' only had about 5-6 penguines. paying $5 a penguine was too much after seeing them for free. we got some good views of the albatros outside the observatory.

today i set off to Baldwin street, the steepest street in the world. [official guiness record and stuff]. it did not look too far on the map and i figured i'd go to the museum on the way back. well, tourist maps are drawn out of proportion and with no scale. i walked for over an hour to get there. climbing the street was a piece of cake in comparison. as i got to the top, feeling triumphant and knowing that there's a citibus in a few, the british guys came driving up the street in their huge 4x4. i got a ride back to the city, [i had actually walked past "to highway / to city center" sign] went to see the antartica exhibition in the museum. there was an atratica expo on as well, and some dinosaurs. i went through the uni on the way the museum and i can totally imagine studying here. it rocks!

i got a cellphone and i am available at 00-64-21-266-1676. mind you, there's 11 hours difference.

i'm off to te anua tomorrow, to go tramping and probably do some biking or kayaking or something.

[looks like uploading photos is a real bitch. i cannot bother to do so]