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Singapore and New Zealand 2018
  • Ruben Adams

Singapore and New Zealand 2018

28-päiväinen seikkaillu — Ruben Lue lisää
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    12. joulukuuta 2018
    Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    manchester airport

    13. joulukuuta 2018, Englanti ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Today we leave the UK on my first ever long haul flight and trip outside of Europe. We stayed the night at grandma and grandads and in the morning we at 6:50 to catch the train at Mossley- Manchester piccadilly- Manchester airport. We had an easy check in and the lady who checked us in said that our suitcases were smaller than her handbag aha. When we went through security I got a bit worried because my bag needed to be searched by hand however it was all fine because I had just forgotten to take out my water bottle. We caught our flight which was at 11AM on Singapore airlines with ease and then settled down for our 13 hour flight.

    Figure 1: bag sticker
    Figure 2: label for hand luggage
    Figure 3: Mums boarding pass ( she threw mine away :"(
    Figure 4: flight path
    Figure 5: mountains in eastern Europe
    Figure 6: view from airport cafe    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Singapore, Singapore

    14. joulukuuta 2018, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We arrived earlier than expected in Singapore at 7:35 instead of 7:50. We went through customs and had our fingerprints scanned. We collected out bags and went to find the MRT, Mass Rapid Transit. When buying the tickets at a machine I saw the panic in dads face when only one ticket came out instead of three, he calmed down after I pointed out that it said it is was 1 of 3 and the other would be printed out now. We went on the East West line to Expo where we changed to the downtown line and got off at bendemeer station. We walked the last 5 minutes to the hostel and when dad pointed it out mine and mums face dropped as we were looking at a small, squat, grey 2 story building amongst massive apartments blocks ( it turned out to be very nice and I would highly recommend). We dropped off our bags as we couldn't check in until 3 and headed towards little India. We didn't find little India in the end but had good fun wondering around the streets and ended up getting lunch at a small corner street food place. We had "famous" boneless duck rice which was in fact very nice. During our small exploration we spotted a small and on our way back we went inside to get food for tea. We found a small supermarket inside where I found 5kg bags of rice much to my enjoyment. We ended up buying a cooked chicken and a 1kg bag of rice and ate it back at the hostel.

    Figure 1: some traditional buildings infront if new ones
    Figure 2: the little red dot chill out area
    Figure 3: view from the plane as we flew in
    Figure 4: MRT station bendemeer
    Figure 5: MRT ticket
    Figure 6: notice from customs warning is not to smuggle drugs.    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Singapore, Singapore

    15. joulukuuta 2018, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today we woke up at 10:30 am and went for a morning swim in a local pool. We then ventured to downtown Singapore and it was completely different to where we had explored the day before, lots of massive skyscrapers. We walked along the front to merlins park and across the jubilee 50 years independence bridge (quite ironic). As we continued we ended up on a race track right by the bay which was used for the Singapore grand prix. We then walked around and over another bridge to get to the Marina bay sands which is where we got access to gardens by the bay. We walked around the mall at the bottom of the hotel (mainly to get a bit cool from the AC) I will finish the day in the next post.

    Figure 1: mum and dad infront of marina bay sands
    Figure 2: dad spitting on some poor tourists head much to his disgust
    Figure 3: marina bay sands and the famous Merlion.
    Figure 4: Singapore skyline
    Figure 5: lightning warning
    Figure 6: Singapore arts and science museum    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Singapore, Singapore

    15. joulukuuta 2018, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    After the mall we walked into the gardens by the bay and decided to do the two domes as we didn't have time to do the domes and the Skywalk. We walked through marina bay sands and when we got through to the other side we saw the gardens and ships out in the bay. The flower dome was first on the list which we recognised quite a few of the plants from our back garden ahaha. There were also many Christmas trees and big cartoon animals which didn't quite fit with the aesthetics.... cloud forest was much more to my liking but not so much to mums. There were walks that were suspended 20-30m above the floor and held only by wires. We left cloud forest in the dark and headed towards some of the trees which were lit up by this point however the heavens decided to open and the famous monsoon rain hit. We pretty much ran all the way back to the marina bay sands mall with drenched feet to look for somewhere to eat. Many other people had come to the same conclusion and we had to hover like vultures in the food court waiting for some seats to come free. As soon as they did we pounced and sat down much to our relief. The food was delicious and I had rice, chicken, watermelon and a fish fillet. When you placed your order you were given a buzz that would buzz when your food was ready which I thought was quite nifty. When we left the mall the rain had calmed down and it was quite a pleasant walk back to the MRT station in the dark with Singapore skyline lit up for the world to see.

    Figure 1: plants in the flower dome
    Figure 2: " "
    Figure 3: cloud forest walkway
    Figure 4: trees lit up
    Figure 5: dad holding the top of marina bay sands
    Figure 6: the Olympic park sign in the dark and rain with the Singapore skyline the background    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Gardens by the bay

    16. joulukuuta 2018, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Today we woke up and had another swim in the morning at the local pool, which according to dad is 50m but I dont believe him. Also forgot to mention dad bought some sandals yesterday on the way back from the pool. The pool is very cheap at $1.30 each!! After the pool we headed back into town but this time went to the raffles on our way to try the Singapore sling. As dad put it "very cheesy music...not really fitting with the venue. Could be missed from the Singapore itinerary" which I think is quite fitting. We then walked to the gardens by the bay trees which I'm just going to do a separate post about with the pictures. We passed a memorial park on our way for the second world war. When we got to the trees we were told that we needed another ticket to get in because of the winter wonderland, outrageous!! We bought the tickets because we new that we couldn't leave without doing the skyway and headed in. The view from the trees was amazing being able to the ships and the immense size of the garden. Also some kites flying by the waterfront. We stayed until it was dark so that we could see the trees lit up and ate tea in a restraunt next to them. I had chicken and rice. The show was amazing with lots of different colours and also a so called blizzard because of the winter wonderland which was quite strange in 30°C heat. We also bought tickets for the skypark which meant we could go up and look across the whole of Singapore 56 stories high. The view was amazing especially at night when Singapore was all lit up. The heavens opened again tonight but we didn't get as wet as last night because it rained the most when were eating.

    Figure 1: the swimming pool
    Figure 2: skypark ticket
    Figure 3: skywalk ticket
    Figure 4: view from the trees
    Figure 5: WW2 memorial
    Figure 6: view of the ships and garden from the skywalk    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Botanic gardens and flight

    17. joulukuuta 2018, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today was our last (half) day in Singapore and we decided to go to the botanic gardens and go to the airport later because our flight wasnt until 22:00. The flight was ten hours and we were expected to arrive in Christchurch at 12:50. We packed in the morning and left our suitcases at the hostel so that we wouldn't have to lug them around the gardens. In the gardens we looked at a few different sections but spent most of our time in the ethno botany section, the building especially due to the lovely AC. The ethnobotany was obviously very interesting as well. We headed back and ended up leaving the hostel at roughly 4ish and arrived at the airport with plenty of time, which we actually needed. The check in for luggage in Singapore is all automated where you pur in your ticket/flight details into a small machine that then prints your label for your bag and you have to put it on a conveyor belt. Xbox sensors used for kinect (even had the xbox logo) read the label and then must program a route for it because it ended up on the plane. But it took us a while to get the label because it kept on rejecting any information that we put in. Thankfully the guy there was very helpful and thankful to mum who had brought all the flight details we managed to find out that we needed a 16digit code that was only on the printed out documents. We boarded the plane fine and took off leaving the Singapore skyline behind us and the twinkle of all the trillions of lights in the city.

    Figure 1: turtles in the gardens
    Figure 2:" "
    Figure 3: ginger flower from the gardens
    Figure 4: our shadows as we were leaving the hostel
    Figure 5: the view before we took if from the airplane window
    Figure 6: more turtles    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Landing in Christchurch

    18. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We landed early at roughly 12:30ish and got a great view of the mountains as we came over from the west coast and the Canterbury plains. We got to see the Antarctic c-130/ Hercules from the USAF that's used to fly people to the Antarctic. It was easy to get through the check out because we were from the UK we could just scan our passports meaning we could skip the queue. Customs only checked our boots and luckily didnt care about my wasabi peas...... We met Ali just out of customs and she drove us back to the motel where jill was waiting. We all had a catch up before heading down into Christchurch where the damage of the earthquake was still evident. Ali and jill showed us a small little restaurant that was the old bank and uses tubes to send you your food which was very cool. I had fish and chips.

    Figure 1: my order
    Figure 2: spot the fish
    Figure 3: found it!
    Figure 4:c-130
    Figure 5: our plane
    Figure 6: the Canterbury plains    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    First day in Christchurch

    19. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Our first day in Christchurch we decided to go to the international Antarctic centre which is opposite the airport. The centre was really good and interesting and I would highly recommend it. We saw some little blue penguins that have been rescued because they all have some disability that would mean that they couldn't survive in the wild. We then went on a hagglund ride which was also fun. They can travel up to 56kmh in snow and travel at a 30° angle on the side. We also gapped a 1m crevasse in hagglund which was also pretty cool. Oh yeah we also experienced a Antarctic storm that was coooold. After tha hagglund ride we went to see some rescue Huskies before going back to the penguins to see them getting fed. After the centre we just went back to the hostel and had a game of cluedo.

    Figure 1: mum, dad and I sitting in the hagglund
    Figure 2: on of the hagglunds
    Figure 3:penguins
    Figure 4:" "
    Figure 5: a hagglund    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Travelling to twizel

    20. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Today we travelled to twizel because we are going to mount cook tomorrow, we stopped at a few places to get cheese and to have a look at lake tekapo. Here are a few photos.

    Figure 1: lake tekapo
    Figure 2: a nice rock sculpture before dad accidentally knocked it down
    Figure 3: some fish in the lake
    Figure 4: a dam at the end of the lake
    Figure 5: all of us infront of the lake
    Figure 6: some black ducks    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Mount cook picture

    21. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Figure 1: the black stilts chick
    Figure 2: tasman glacier
    Figure 3: hanging glacier
    Figure 4: iceberg which had just flipped!
    Figure 5:tasman glacier wall face
    Figure 6: icebergs in tasman lake

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Mount cook

    21. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    What can I say, a very surreal day (rhymes). We started the day off with a boat ride along the tasman glacial lake where we got to touch some icebergs and drink/eat water that's over 400 years old as we just snapped some off. Over the last thirty years the glacier has retreated by 6km and the lake didn't exist which is pretty crazy. The glacial wall is roughly 30-40m high with another 250-300m below the surface and at its deepest point it's over 600m deep! After the boat ride we had lunch sitting on the grass looking at some hanging glaciers and heard a bit breaking off which sounded like a massive clap of thunder, we didn't see it unfortunately as I think it was in the other valley. I was thinking about the helicopter tour because we might only be here once and it looked good, I was umming and arrrghing for a while until dad said just go for it. There was a flight at 2:30pm and it was 1:50 when we decided so we rushed to the hotel to see if there was a spot available. The lady behind the desk rang up and said that the specific package I had enquire about wasnt available (ski plane and heli all I one) however there was a 45min heli-hike that was available and that they would lower it down by $100 to match the price of the other trip. So we drove like mad men to mount cook airport to book it. When we arrived and paid the lady behind the counter asked mum and dad if they wanted to go as there were two spots left still ( I was originally just going to go on my own) which they declined. The woman the asked again and said at no extra cost, which they declined again.... until they realised what she had said. FOR FREE!! To which they agreed immediately before realising what they had actually got themselves into. So we were all going! And had saved $1100!! The flight was incredible as we flew up along the tasman valley, alongside the lake and then landed at the top of the glacier!! The flight was equally incredible on the way back down and we saw the mist dangerous glacier of all which moves at roughly 6m per day! There were also some climbers that we saw and even the top of mount cook so we were very lucky. I think I'll need a few posts to share all of the pictures I took. OH AND to top it all off we saw a black stilts chick when leaving the airport which are critically endangered, only 100 alive including the ones in captivity. So we were very lucky the whole day.

    Figure 1: all three of us infront of the helicopter
    Figure 2: tasman lake
    Figure 3: the fast moving glacier
    Figure 4: plateau where we saw some climbers
    Figure 5: fast moving glacier again
    Figure 6: the heli and I    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Travelling to owaka

    22. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Today we left twizel and travelled to owaka to go to Ali and Jill's house. We stopped at a salmon farm to get some salmon for Christmas dinner, we also visited justin and Gillian as we were travelling right passed there house. A ATM in a supermarket ate mums card 😬, which she wasnt too pleased about.

    Figure 1: no explanation needed
    Figure 2: mum, dad and I
    Figure 3: car number plate "UFO"
    Figure 4: hills
    Figure 5: salmon farm
    Figure 6: justin, Gillian and mum, dad and I    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    First day in owaka

    23. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Today dad and I went swimming in the community pool which is really cool and easy to use. We then sorted out the bikes, dad was put to work hedge trimming and then in the evening we went for a walk on new haven beach.

    Figure 1: view from my crib
    Figure 2: view from Ali and Jill's decking
    Figure 3: the beach, next stop in that direction in Antarctic
    Figure 4: sunset on the beach
    Figure 5: a shoe tree
    Figure 6: a spoonbill feeding    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Owaka day 2

    24. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today we did pretty much the same as yesterday. Another swim in the pool, dad and Ali did a bit more hedge trimming. After dinner we went to nugget lighthouse and saw some fur seals with their pups, a seal lion and also a tui in the flaks at Ali and Jill's house. After the nuggets we went down to a penguin hide on the beach but we didnt see any.

    Figure 1: view from the hide
    Figure 2: the lighthouse
    Figure 3: the nuggets
    Figure 4: Ali, dad, mum and I infront of the nuggets
    Figure 5: fur seal pup view through binoculars
    Figure 6: sealion sunbathing    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Christmas day

    25. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Christmas day was a very relaxing day where we all relaxed and went for a swim. Christmas dinner that jill made was very nice and the Christmas cake decorations where inspired by mount cook national park.

    Figure 1: all of us having Christmas dinner
    Figure 2: Christmas dinner
    Figure 3: cake explained
    Figure 4: the cake    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Curio bay

    26. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Instead of going straight to bluff to get the ferry to Stewart island we went to curio bay and stopped at the mclean falls on the way. Curio bay was amazing, we saw trees that were 170 million years old, swam with hector dolphins in the wild and saw a yellow eyed penguin. The tide was really far out which meant we had a good view of the trees. The hector dolphin's were very curious and we could see them surfing down the waves. As soon as dad and I got in they decided to head down to the other side of the beach but they did come back up and swam about a metre away from dad and i, it was pretty cool. To warm up we went for a walk at another lighthouse and saw a couple of sea lions on the beach. As we didnt see the penguins near the nuggets we decided to go back to where the trees are to try and see the yellow eyed penguins. They had already come up the rocks but one decide to catch the last rays of sun. It was quite comical and trudged down the rocks to get a drink and then trudged back up hopping up any obstacles.

    Figure 1: McLean falls
    Figure 2: fossilised tree stump
    Figure 3: lighthouse
    Figure 4: sealion
    Figure 5: yellow eyed penguin
    Figure 6: waves crashing against the rocks    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Travelling to oban

    27. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    We travelled to Stewart island today. We drove to bluff to catch the ferry that lucky there was a space on because we couldn't book it due to it being Christmas. The crossing was good fun and on a few waves you could feel the boat fall down the other side as your stomach lifted up. We saw a few mollyhawks which are a type of albatross. When we arrived in oban we had the good idea to stop for lunch less than 10min after getting off the ferry. The hostel was very nice and in the afternoon dad and I did some exploring and went to bathing beach. Dad went for a swim that was apparently pretty chilly. On the way back from the beach we saw a wood pigeon really close up. After dinner ali, dad, mum and I went to look for kiwis but we had no luck.

    Figure 1: me at the back of the boat
    Figure 2: dad, mum and Ali trekking up a hill
    Figure 3: bathing beach
    Figure 4:dad swimming
    Figure 5: wood pigeon
    Figure 6: kiwi sign    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    2nd day in oban

    28. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    For our full day in Stewart island we hired some electric bikes to get around faster. We first cycled to rakiura track and did the first 20min or so and managed to walk to little river which was a nice beach. We cycled then to ackers point and saw a molly hawk there as well on the rocks. Over the couple of days we 2ere we saw loads of different birds including, kakas, parakeets, tuis and wood pigeons. It had been very hot during the day so we decided to head over to golden bay for a quick dip which was very nice but a bit chilly, the water was incredibly clear. By this point it was almost time to give the bikes back so we headed back to the shes to hand them in. Although we didnt see any kiwis the previous night we decided to go out again and it had been raining which we were told is better for the kiwis so we would be more likely to see them, so we headed out. We headed to the same place as before and almost as soon as we got there we heard an enormous racket as two kiwis thundered through the Bush. I'll be honest I thought it was a dog that was going to burst out and bite me. They sprinted across the path it was quite hard to see them so we justed waited on the track very still. We could hear them eating and scratching around in the Bush. Then they started to come closer to the path and we could see them. We stood very still and quite and they came up onto the path walking slowly and pecked at our shoes for a little while and then they would chase each other off into the Bush and then come back up to us. This happened a few times until they wondered off and we headed back to the hostel pretty spaces out.

    Figure 1: panorama of little river beach
    Figure 2: me infront if the sea
    Figure 3: the kiwi (turn up the brightness)
    Figure 4: horseshoe bay
    Figure 5: golden bay
    Figure 6: oban    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Invercargill, New Zealand

    29. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Today we travelled back from oban to bluff to head back to owaka. We made a few stops before arriving back in owaka. First we stopped at the start/end of route one which is the 1236km state highway 1.

    Our next stop was the invercagill transport world which very interesting and one of the highlights was the themed bathrooms. A lorry there had over 6million km on the clock and there were almost all of the first Ford models ever made. We made another stop at the botanic gardens to have a look at the tuatara where we saw Henry who is over 100years old. We made a couple more stops at a supermarket and a home depot type store and then a final stop at balclutha to have a look at Ali's school. The school looked very nice and had large grounds for football and other sports to be played on. We headed back to owaka after this.

    Figure 1: route 1 sign
    Figure 2: Christmas tree made from hub caps
    Figure 3: dad and I driving a lorry
    Figure 4: bus driver Ruben and the naughty kids in the back
    Figure 5: a cool truck    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Owaka

    30. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Today we chilled out after Stewart island, I caught up on my diary because I hadn't even done the first day in Christchurch 😬 so I had some catching up to.

    In the afternoon we went done to a jamming session of a local band which was nice and we met Pete and Tori who were very nice. Pete was on slide guitar, Tori sung one of the songs. There was some one on bass and drums and then Pete and Toris friend from the east coast was also there on sax.

    Figure 1: the only picture I took was this young tui that looked like a starling
    Fugure 2: On Stewart island we heard a tui that sounded remarkably like a geonosian from star wars    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    New years

    31. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    On new years eve we went on a couple of waterfall walks and then went down pounawea for fireworks at 12am. We went to purakaunui waterfall first and then to papatowai beach for a picnic. On our way back we went passed the lost gypsy and went in. It was very quirky and cool with lots of amazing "gadgets and gizmos" as he called them which there were. Before arriving back in owaka we also went to the matai and horseshoe waterfall. At the matai and horseshoe falls there was also a path along the old railway which we did a little bit of.

    After dinner and a film we went down to pounawea at around 2200 for the fireworks and for 2019!

    Figure 1: matai falls
    Figure 2: purakaunui falls
    Figure 3: two people that love tuna
    Figure 4: train route at matai falls
    Figure 5: fireworks
    Figure 6: lost gypsy    Lue lisää

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  • Ruben AdamsSingapore and New Zealand 2018Matkaaja

    Dunedin Royal albatross centre

    4. tammikuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Today we went to the royal albatross to see, you guessed it royal albatross. We had a tour booked at 11 however before that we went to one of the viewing platforms at the side of the peninsula and saw a seal swimming upside down with its flippers in the air casually swimming around. Our guide was really informative and obviously knew his stuff which was great as it meant that he could answer any questions we had. The albatross were huge and we were lucky in the fact that it was a bit windy so we saw a couple of them flying. We saw three others on some nests. We also saw the old fort that was built there which had a "disappearing gun" which was very interesting to learn about. After the albatross centre we headed up to oamaru and along the way stopped at the moeraki boulders where mum fed some alpacas.

    Figure 1: seal
    Figure 2: albatross on nest
    Figure 3: flying albatross
    Figure 4: my wingspan compared to an albatrosses
    Figure 5: the centre
    Figure 6: moeraki boulders    Lue lisää

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