8th
March 2015
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| The view from our campsite at Curio Bay in the Catlins |
From our
most southerly NZ exploration (The Bluff), we travelled NE through the less
frequented, wild and appealing Catlins, up towards Dunedin.
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| Our rustic "facilities" |
We camped at
the unusual Curio Bay campsite, where one is sheltered within a maze of Flax
bushes. Curio Bay is home to the Hector Dolphins, a species unique to the East
coast of the South Island, with an unusual shaped dorsal fin. Sadly, they weren’t
at home for us!!
The back of
our campsite looked over the Petrified Forest, which are exposed at low water.
The rare Yellow eyed penguins also nest on this beach, and we saw a couple in
the distance, and watched the return of a single fellow at dusk. The closest we
came to one, apart from the poster, was
one moulting, looking a trifle worse for wear, and not his handsome best!
Our route
took us past the Tautuku beach, and the McClean falls, and on to the Pounawea
Motor camp, where we treated ourselves to a cabin on the edge of the estuary,
given the heavy rain forecast!
We enjoyed
the luxury of our tent free stay, and were quickly on the road the next morning,
only to experience a unique NZ traffic jam!!!
We drove
through the unappealing southern suburbs of Dunedin, and on to the Otago
Peninsula, where we stayed at the Portobello campsite. One look at the
dormitory style accommodation, and we elected to pitch the tent, despite the
heavy rain predicted! Here we really did learn to respect the waterproof
quality of our tent, as well as how to use all the pegs and guy ropes to keep
it in one place in gusty squalls!!
In search of
a TV to watch the RSA vs India ICC match, we headed down to the local pub, only
to find a Regional Blues Festival in progress. This group of geriatric hippies
were not the slightest bit interested in the cricket, and after seeing how the
match was going, we too abandoned the effort!
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| Fush and chups for supper |
The Royal
Albatross Observatory, perched on the end of the Peninsula, offers one the
chance to see some chicks and nests through windows and hides…. for a fee. We
watched the magestic birds soaring around the cliffs in the wind, and decided that the extra
R500 would not have made a world of difference to our lives!
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| The Royal Albatross Centre, Otago Peninsula |
Instead we
explored Allan’s beach, where we nearly tripped over Sea Lions on the path, and
slogged our way up and down to Sandfly Beach, in an icy gale, in search of a
better sighting of Yellow eyed Penguins. All to no avail, except our own good
cardio vascular exercise!
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| Seals on the path to Allans Beach |
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| Letting it all hang out!! |
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| The Sandfly Beach slog |
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| Yellow eyed penguin that we were hoping to see |
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