Dunedin, New Zealand

Sunday and Monday, 13 and 14 January 2008

The next stop is Dunedin. We meet up with Dara’s schoolfriend Tom, who has spent the last few years, on and off, in New Zealand (mostly in Wellington). He is in Dunedin to help his friends, Chris and Carol, renovate Chris’ house.

We head out to the Otago Peninsula, which is home to the world’s only mainland royal albatross colony. There is a biting wind from the south but this provides excellent conditions for the albatrosses to show off. They move pretty quickly (up to recorded speeds of 160km/h) so a lot of the afternoon is spent idly waiting, searching the skies, lapsing into conversation, noticing the albatrosses at the last moment and then trying to resuscitate digital cameras to get a shot before the pesky birds disappear again.

Tom cooks a delicious Tipperary Thai curry for us (an O’Farrell family secret recipe, the origins of which are shrouded in mystery). We are given a sneak preview of a documentary Tom has been working on. The subject matter ranges from Irish wildlife, the building of his wood cabin in the Galtee mountains, to the construction of a Gaelscoil on Cape Clear Island. There is some great cinematography and David Attenborough-style narration from Tom.


The next day we try to do our bit for the renovations by cleaning a few windows but probably aren't much help. The transformation into useless campervan hippies is complete!

If you want to see photos click here.