New Zealand 2017 - Day 20: Waipori Falls, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Aramoana Beach, Moeraki Boulders, Oamaru

Tuesday, March 7 - Say Goodbye to Queenstown, and Hello again to "The Road":


We left Queenstown at 8 AM, heading east into the rising sun:

Beautiful countryside:

but kind-of-underdeveloped. This is the only road to Waipori Falls:

and this was the ONLY SIGN for Waipori Falls Rd:

and YES, it really was leaning like that.

We did eventually get to the correct site, and the pool was very nice but there really wasn't any "Falls":


Then down the road to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery:

On Feb 7 I had emailed the Art Gallery to see if their Monet and numerous Turners (2 oils, 11 watercolors and 4 washes) were "available for viewing"; the Monet is on permanent display, and Genevieve Webb (the Registrar) would make the Turners available! Individuals photographs were not allowed, but I could take a "group shot":


Highlights include: (images from their website)
Lincoln Cathedral from the East - pencil and wash:

Rough Seas and Small Ships - sepia and wash


The Fifth Plague - watercolour

this compares to the very large oil painting I saw in November 2014 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art:
J.M.W. Turner - The Fifth Plague of Egypt, 1800


And of course it was lovely to see:
Claude Monet - La Débâcle, 1880


A nice walk around Dunedin



Then we headed to Aramoana Beach. On the way, it was nice nice to see other people out on holiday, out on the water:


I found out about Aramoana from the NZ Surf Guide, and it was FANTASTIC (a little too cold for swimming, though):




I LOVE the HUGE prehistoric rock shapes:


Late-summer flowers blooming at the beach:


Final view of the Otago Harbour:


Farther up the coast, the beach for the Moeraki Boulders is lovely:

and you think The Boulders are "safe to sit on":

but just don't get your hands "too close"!!


We stayed in a lovely B&B in Oamaru

and went out to a good dinner in town (Fat Sally's - I LOVE listening to Coldplay in a bar/restaurant in Oamaru, New Zealand!!). We then made our way (at dusk) over to the Blue Penguin Colony to watch the penguins come out of the ocean and make their way up a hill, across a field, and into a tunnel, which was their burrows. The timing could be "whenever after sunset", but they came in less than 2 minutes after we got to the breakwater - Thank You God. It was pretty cool to see "nature in action". It was too dark for photos, so here is one I took next morning - the hill and field they went up:

and two seals saying "Good Morning" to me:


Here is a nice blog about Oamaru, with a picture of the blue penguins:
[click here for blog]

A good chunk of milage today, but it is great seeing this country (and the people are sooo nice!). THANK YOU GOD for these wonderful adventures in these Beautiful Places!!

Music today - music from my big iPod:
Patty Larkin - Red=Luck, 2003


Grateful Dead - Reckoning, 1981 live acoustic


R.E.M. - Reckoning, 1984


Bob Marley & The Wailers - Rastaman Vibration, 1969


Paul & Linda McCartney - Ram, 1971

I remember being on Martha's Vineyard and hearing the song "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" on the radio - it is (at least) a 2-part song/medley, and I thought the 2nd part was pretty catchy, but the 1st part was not memorable. So I was in a car, and the song came on, I recognized Paul McCartney's voice and I said "Oh, I really like that new song of his, you know, that goes de-de-de-de-de." and someone (?Jane Cannon?) said "Dennis, that's this song!"

I tried to find McCartney's Wings Over America, but I don't have it on my big iPod, so we listened to:
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here, 1975