So it's been about two weeks since we last blogged and we have a lot to tell you.
Firstly the yellow-eyed penguin we saw near Oamaru did not quite quench our thirst for penguin spotting so when we got to the Otago Peninsula outside Dunedin we decided to head up the road to Penguin Place for a guided tour of one of the larger penguin colonies on mainland New Zealand.We got the chance to see quite a few adults feeding their chicks which was very special, as well as a few fighting fur seals and a lonely looking sea lion. The following day we drove to the far point of the peninsula where we had lunch in a cafe and watched royal albatross gliding in the breeze.
We gradually drifted south, stopping here and there, until we entered a beautiful part of New Zealand known as the Catlins Coast. This dramatic area of coastline is made up of huge cliffs that are broken up by long sandy beaches. The dirt track down to one of these beaches gave us our first taste of distress (it certainly won't be the last) as when we prepared to drive back up the track, having slept the night on the beach, we discovered one of our tyres was completely flat. After a bit of grumbling we changed the tyre and off we went to find a garage to buy a new one. After an hour waiting outside the garage and a pleasant chat with a German guy, who was also having car trouble, we continued on our way along the coast. One place that we found especially nice was Nugget Point, a band of rock that juts out into the ocean with steep sides 100 feet high. When you walk to the lighthouse at the end and look down at the rocks below they are littered with Fur Seals and their pups.
A few days later and after a little more driving we arrived at Curio Bay, a cluster of pretty holiday homes and a campsite near the sea. All around the campsite were boards with information on them about dolphins, penguins and what to do when faced with a sea lion, needless to say we were excited. We picked a spot for the van nearest the beach and checked out the area, while doing so we bumped into Mike and Hattie, a couple from Yorkshire who we first met a few days earlier during the flat tyre fiasco, we spent the next few days with them chatting and relaxing in the sun. What was supposed to be merely a one night stay turned into four. On day one we saw dolphins, and by the second day we had seen sea lions and penguins too. On day three we swam out to sea past the breaking waves and were greeted by a pod of Hector Dolphins, the smallest and rarest dolphins, which swam with us, under and around us for over half an hour, sometimes within arms reach. It was a wonderful moment that was brought to a crashing end when both Lauren and I were plunged under water by a set of huge thundering waves. Even the swallowed sea water and the salt in our eyes couldn't keep us from smiling for the rest of the day (Best of all it didn't cost a penny!). Our smiles were widened further that day when we watched two women get chased off their towels whilst sunbathing by a boisterous sea lion!
We were sad to leave the Catlins area however the journey had to continue and we had other places to explore, Mike and Hattie were heading in the same direction so we decided to spend the next few days together. After leaving Curio Bay we travelled to Invercargill to stock up on some much needed supplies (mostly beer and suncream) and do a spot of sight-seeing. We visited the Queen's Park botanical gardens home to an impressive aviary full of native birds. Then to the museum which housed some great artefacts from the early settlers, as well as a natural history section and a homage to Bert Munro (and his "Fastest Indian"). With the sight-seeing done we drove south to Bluff, one of the southern most points of the country, we had a nice walk and did a spot of fishing to christen the rod I had recently acquired. After staying the night in Bluff we drove on towards the town of Riverton and Colac Bay however a strong southerly wind had begun to blow. Wind, rain and cold was the order of the next two days, we would come back another day to see the area. It was here we parted ways with our new companions Mike and Hattie, we exchanged details and said we would meet up further down the road.
Our first checkpoint is Laurens Auntie and Uncle who live about 40k north of Invercargill in a beautiful home on a nice plot of land with panoramic views of farmland, forest and mountains. We arrived on the 15th of December with 1700k on the odometer. In the short time we have been here we have already done so much, a return visit to Riverton to do some fishing (which turned into dolphin watching as an enormous pod of Dusky Dolphins jumped and flipped their way into the harbour), we have seen Clifden suspension bridge, been caving in a labyrinth of limestone caves, been shooting with one of Laurens cousins (couldn't find anything to shoot so shot a bucket!) and are going floundering and fishing with the cousins, George and Peter, tomorrow. We finally have a proper bed in the van, Laurens Uncle Brian gathered up some materials and set to work (I think he did it for his own enjoyment as much as our benefit). It was great fun drilling holes and screwing panels of wood into the van, and in the end we have a great looking bed with heaps of storage underneath ("Thanks Brian!").
Having been on the road for nearly a month it is a really welcome change of pace to be in a fixed location for an indefinite amount of time, and the home-cooked food and warm beds are going to make it very hard when it comes time to leave. For Christmas we are spending it with our wonderful hosts at their beach house, so when we next blog we should have some interesting stories of learning to surf, snorkeling and hopefully more dolphins!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
x x x x x x x x
Firstly the yellow-eyed penguin we saw near Oamaru did not quite quench our thirst for penguin spotting so when we got to the Otago Peninsula outside Dunedin we decided to head up the road to Penguin Place for a guided tour of one of the larger penguin colonies on mainland New Zealand.We got the chance to see quite a few adults feeding their chicks which was very special, as well as a few fighting fur seals and a lonely looking sea lion. The following day we drove to the far point of the peninsula where we had lunch in a cafe and watched royal albatross gliding in the breeze.
We gradually drifted south, stopping here and there, until we entered a beautiful part of New Zealand known as the Catlins Coast. This dramatic area of coastline is made up of huge cliffs that are broken up by long sandy beaches. The dirt track down to one of these beaches gave us our first taste of distress (it certainly won't be the last) as when we prepared to drive back up the track, having slept the night on the beach, we discovered one of our tyres was completely flat. After a bit of grumbling we changed the tyre and off we went to find a garage to buy a new one. After an hour waiting outside the garage and a pleasant chat with a German guy, who was also having car trouble, we continued on our way along the coast. One place that we found especially nice was Nugget Point, a band of rock that juts out into the ocean with steep sides 100 feet high. When you walk to the lighthouse at the end and look down at the rocks below they are littered with Fur Seals and their pups.
A few days later and after a little more driving we arrived at Curio Bay, a cluster of pretty holiday homes and a campsite near the sea. All around the campsite were boards with information on them about dolphins, penguins and what to do when faced with a sea lion, needless to say we were excited. We picked a spot for the van nearest the beach and checked out the area, while doing so we bumped into Mike and Hattie, a couple from Yorkshire who we first met a few days earlier during the flat tyre fiasco, we spent the next few days with them chatting and relaxing in the sun. What was supposed to be merely a one night stay turned into four. On day one we saw dolphins, and by the second day we had seen sea lions and penguins too. On day three we swam out to sea past the breaking waves and were greeted by a pod of Hector Dolphins, the smallest and rarest dolphins, which swam with us, under and around us for over half an hour, sometimes within arms reach. It was a wonderful moment that was brought to a crashing end when both Lauren and I were plunged under water by a set of huge thundering waves. Even the swallowed sea water and the salt in our eyes couldn't keep us from smiling for the rest of the day (Best of all it didn't cost a penny!). Our smiles were widened further that day when we watched two women get chased off their towels whilst sunbathing by a boisterous sea lion!
We were sad to leave the Catlins area however the journey had to continue and we had other places to explore, Mike and Hattie were heading in the same direction so we decided to spend the next few days together. After leaving Curio Bay we travelled to Invercargill to stock up on some much needed supplies (mostly beer and suncream) and do a spot of sight-seeing. We visited the Queen's Park botanical gardens home to an impressive aviary full of native birds. Then to the museum which housed some great artefacts from the early settlers, as well as a natural history section and a homage to Bert Munro (and his "Fastest Indian"). With the sight-seeing done we drove south to Bluff, one of the southern most points of the country, we had a nice walk and did a spot of fishing to christen the rod I had recently acquired. After staying the night in Bluff we drove on towards the town of Riverton and Colac Bay however a strong southerly wind had begun to blow. Wind, rain and cold was the order of the next two days, we would come back another day to see the area. It was here we parted ways with our new companions Mike and Hattie, we exchanged details and said we would meet up further down the road.
Our first checkpoint is Laurens Auntie and Uncle who live about 40k north of Invercargill in a beautiful home on a nice plot of land with panoramic views of farmland, forest and mountains. We arrived on the 15th of December with 1700k on the odometer. In the short time we have been here we have already done so much, a return visit to Riverton to do some fishing (which turned into dolphin watching as an enormous pod of Dusky Dolphins jumped and flipped their way into the harbour), we have seen Clifden suspension bridge, been caving in a labyrinth of limestone caves, been shooting with one of Laurens cousins (couldn't find anything to shoot so shot a bucket!) and are going floundering and fishing with the cousins, George and Peter, tomorrow. We finally have a proper bed in the van, Laurens Uncle Brian gathered up some materials and set to work (I think he did it for his own enjoyment as much as our benefit). It was great fun drilling holes and screwing panels of wood into the van, and in the end we have a great looking bed with heaps of storage underneath ("Thanks Brian!").
Having been on the road for nearly a month it is a really welcome change of pace to be in a fixed location for an indefinite amount of time, and the home-cooked food and warm beds are going to make it very hard when it comes time to leave. For Christmas we are spending it with our wonderful hosts at their beach house, so when we next blog we should have some interesting stories of learning to surf, snorkeling and hopefully more dolphins!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
x x x x x x x x
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| Penguin on the Otago Peninsula |
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| One of the Beaches in the Catlins |
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| That Blob is a Hector Dolphin Fin |
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| Haha! |
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| Drying Clothes Shipwrecked Style |
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| Curio Bay |
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| Building a Bed with Brian, George and Gunner (the dog) |
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| Caving |
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| Lauren Dolphin Spotting |
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| Fishing at Riverton |
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| Dusky Dolphins |
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| Dusky Dolphins |
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| Bluff |
