Sunday morning we went for a walk along the Twelve Mile Delta Track which departed from the campground. We actually didn't get very far...after seeing a trail following the river leading back into the woods, we got off of the beaten track and did some exploring. The river was quite interesting, flowing over rapids, small waterfalls, and cool rock structures carved by the moving water. Someone had actually set up a climbing/obstacle course along the steep riverbanks, complete a zip line into a pool under the waterfall! Kiara was somewhat concerned that I thought that it would be fun to try...
Of course, the morning would not be complete without rock collecting. Kiara especially liked the lines carved in the rocks from the water...Unfortunatly every rock that showed the lines the best was too big to get out of the woods, much less onto a plane back to the States!
We also did some hiking in the afternoon. Instead of spending the money for the world famous Queenstown Gondola (Now with rather drab cars instead of the multicolored "bubbles" which gave it its reputation) we walked up the access road to the top. It was a great day, so the view across the lake was gorgeous. The Remarkables (a mountain range hosting some of the best skiing in the area) were especially pretty with the clear blue lake in the foreground.
We decided t0 wander around Queenstown after our walk back down from the Gondola terminal. Queenstown is rated the number one tourist town in New Zealand, mainly for its nightlife. As such, all accommodation was very overpriced, so after visiting the Jade Factory and a few other shops we drove to the small town of Arrowtown, famous for its Lord of the Rings scenery. We spent the night at a holiday park in Arrowtown, which was quite expensive considering we were only putting up a tent....
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Mid-Semester Break: Milford Sound
We picked up our car, a Toyota Corolla hatchback, from Dunedin Car Hire in the morning on Friday the 18th. While the car cost quite a bit more than the rental prices Kiara was used to seeing in Mexico, we felt fortunate to have found one of the few places in New Zealand who would rent to people under 21!
After packing all of our stuff in the car (It was quite full...) we headed out of Dunedin on Highway 1 towards Invercargil, and eventually Te Anau. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult to drive on the wrong side of the road...after walking everywhere for the last 2 months, the greatest difficulty was trying to remember which roads leading out of Dunedin were one way!
The drive to Te Anau was quite pleasant. We had heard several horror stories concerning the condition of the roads in New Zealand...it is likely that those stories came from people who had never been to northern Minnesota. If they had ever driven the Echo Trail, we would have only heard praise of the roads in New Zealand!
Te Anau, located on Lake Te Anau, (They are quite creative with town names here) was a tourist town through and through. It was fun to look through some of the stores, but you would have to be a rich tourist, not a poor college student to afford anything. We did, however, book a 8:55 cruise on Milford for the next morning while we were at the I-Site located on the lake's edge.
That night, we drove to the DOC campsite on Lake Gun, and by the time we got there it was dark and all of the tent sites (very rocky and unappealing) were taken, so we slept in the car. This isn't as bad as it sounds. We moved all of our stuff to the front seats and flipped the back seats down so that we slept with our feet in the trunk. When we woke up on the 19th (at 5:00 am as we still had a ways to go to get to Milford Sound) it was SNOWING! It was warm enough that the roads were not icy, but the snow was sticking on the mountain peaks, making for a beautiful early morning drive.
When we got to Milford Sound, we were treated to a great view of the fjord at first light. It was quite impressive, though the light contrast resulted in either washed out or shadowed pictures...
As we had booked the earliest cruise possible, we had our boat, and the fjord, nearly to ourselves. The boat was rated to hold 75...there were about 10 other people on it, leaving lots of elbow room and freedom to wander around for the best view. The cruise lasted about two hours, and took us out of the fiord (misnamed a sound) into the Tasman Sea. The highlight of the cruise was getting to see a pod of bottle nosed dolphins that came right up to the boat so that we from where we were standing on the front deck we were only a couple of meters away!
After the cruise, we drove back to Te Anau. The drive was even prettier in the full sun, especially when we exited the Homer Tunnel above the snow line and found ourselves surrounded by several inches of snow, only to drive back down into a green valley. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Lake Gunn. Although it was our campsite from the night before this was the first time that we had seen it in the light. The lake was a beautiful green color due to the greenish-grey rocks/gravel that made up the surrounding area. We also stopped at The Chasm, a deep cleft or chasm in the ground that a river dropped down into, and the Mirror Lakes that reflected one of the numerous mountain ranges along the side of the valley road. Unfortunately the day was a wee bit too windy to get good reflections of the mountains, but we still got some nice pictures. Both The Chasm and Mirror Lakes were only short 15-20 minute walks, but mountains and countryside was very enjoyable and it was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs.
We made one final stop in Te Anau for petrol before driving all the way up to Queenstown, where arrived just as it was getting dark and spent the night at the Twelve Mile River Delta DOC campsite.
Caleb and Kiara
After packing all of our stuff in the car (It was quite full...) we headed out of Dunedin on Highway 1 towards Invercargil, and eventually Te Anau. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult to drive on the wrong side of the road...after walking everywhere for the last 2 months, the greatest difficulty was trying to remember which roads leading out of Dunedin were one way!
The drive to Te Anau was quite pleasant. We had heard several horror stories concerning the condition of the roads in New Zealand...it is likely that those stories came from people who had never been to northern Minnesota. If they had ever driven the Echo Trail, we would have only heard praise of the roads in New Zealand!
Te Anau, located on Lake Te Anau, (They are quite creative with town names here) was a tourist town through and through. It was fun to look through some of the stores, but you would have to be a rich tourist, not a poor college student to afford anything. We did, however, book a 8:55 cruise on Milford for the next morning while we were at the I-Site located on the lake's edge.
That night, we drove to the DOC campsite on Lake Gun, and by the time we got there it was dark and all of the tent sites (very rocky and unappealing) were taken, so we slept in the car. This isn't as bad as it sounds. We moved all of our stuff to the front seats and flipped the back seats down so that we slept with our feet in the trunk. When we woke up on the 19th (at 5:00 am as we still had a ways to go to get to Milford Sound) it was SNOWING! It was warm enough that the roads were not icy, but the snow was sticking on the mountain peaks, making for a beautiful early morning drive.
When we got to Milford Sound, we were treated to a great view of the fjord at first light. It was quite impressive, though the light contrast resulted in either washed out or shadowed pictures...
As we had booked the earliest cruise possible, we had our boat, and the fjord, nearly to ourselves. The boat was rated to hold 75...there were about 10 other people on it, leaving lots of elbow room and freedom to wander around for the best view. The cruise lasted about two hours, and took us out of the fiord (misnamed a sound) into the Tasman Sea. The highlight of the cruise was getting to see a pod of bottle nosed dolphins that came right up to the boat so that we from where we were standing on the front deck we were only a couple of meters away!
After the cruise, we drove back to Te Anau. The drive was even prettier in the full sun, especially when we exited the Homer Tunnel above the snow line and found ourselves surrounded by several inches of snow, only to drive back down into a green valley. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Lake Gunn. Although it was our campsite from the night before this was the first time that we had seen it in the light. The lake was a beautiful green color due to the greenish-grey rocks/gravel that made up the surrounding area. We also stopped at The Chasm, a deep cleft or chasm in the ground that a river dropped down into, and the Mirror Lakes that reflected one of the numerous mountain ranges along the side of the valley road. Unfortunately the day was a wee bit too windy to get good reflections of the mountains, but we still got some nice pictures. Both The Chasm and Mirror Lakes were only short 15-20 minute walks, but mountains and countryside was very enjoyable and it was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs.
We made one final stop in Te Anau for petrol before driving all the way up to Queenstown, where arrived just as it was getting dark and spent the night at the Twelve Mile River Delta DOC campsite.
Caleb and Kiara
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Vacation Itinerary
First I would like to say thanks to Caleb who did all the driving and did a wonderful job driving on the wrong side of the road! -KiaraOk, here it is...
We will have separate and longer posts regarding each day's activities (Hopefully with pictures!) when we get around to it. For now though, a superficial summary will have to suffice.
Day 1-Drive to Milford Sound
We stopped in Te Anau to gas up before heading out to Lake Gun to spend the night at a DOC campground. Woke up to snow falling!
Day 2- Milford Sound!
A beautiful drive down the historic Milford Road at dawn...a great view of the snow covered mountain peaks at first light.
Mitre Peak Cruise on Milford Sound-we saw a pod of dolphins!
Historic Homer Tunnel-A rough hewn, steep, one way tunnel through a mountain. When we entered we were below the snow line, when we got to the end, there was nearly three inches of fresh snow on the ground!
Picnic at Lake Gun Campground
Stop at the Mirror Lakes (Ponds really) in one of the numerous mountain valleys we drove through.
Day 3-Queenstown Area
Twelve Mile Delta Recreation Area- Spent the morning exploring some very interesting side tracks off of the main path. Beautiful scenery surrounding the Twelve Mile Creek, a smallish river with plenty of waterfalls and rapids. Kiara added to the rock collection...
Skyline Gondola Walk-Instead of paying the 17 dollars to take the 4 min ride to the top of Bob's Peak for the "Best View in the World", Kiara and I decided to walk up the access road...quite a bit longer than four minutes. The view from the top was well worth the hike up and down, though I would say that their "Best View in the World" claim was somewhat exaggerated.
Day 4-Drive from Queenstown to West Coast
Crown Range Scenic Route from Queenstown to Wanaka-Beautiful, though slow and windy, road through the Crown Range.
Lake Hawea Lookout-Worth mentioning due to the great view and the fact that the road was blocked shortly after due to a heard of cows!
Blue Pools-This short walk from a car park on the highway brought us to a beautiful, and aptly named, crystal clear blue pool where a tributary drains into one of the main rivers. The water was not flowing very strongly when we were there, but the DOC had a sign nearly 15 feet above the river's surface indicating the flood level in the 1990's!
Fox Glacier Terminal Face walk-As we made it to the Fox Township at around 3:00 in the afternoon, Kiara and I went to Fox Glacier today instead of waiting until the next day. The glacier was very impressive, though not nearly as "clean" as we thought it would be. The terminal face was full of mud and "rock flour" (ground rock), though we could see that further up in the mountain the glacier was much cleaner. The DOC "safety" line prevented us from getting any closer than 80 m from the terminal face.
Day 5-More Glaciers
Matheson Lake Walk-This small lake near where we were camped was reputed to have great reflections of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman on clear, calm mornings...we were not disappointed! The view was much more impressive in person.... our pictures don't do it justice. (Seems to be the case with most things...)
Franz Josef Terminal Face walk-This glacier was much more impressive than Fox (In my mind). This may be due to the fact that though the DOC "safety" line was 240 m from the terminal face, we decided to go past it and walk right next to the glacier! We even have a cute picture of Kiara "holding back" the glacier!
Wanganui River Hot Springs Attempt-While it was a good experiance, the numerous sand flies, tepid water, and lack of a shovel to dig out our own pool made us cut this one short. Hopefully we will find a better one at the end of the semester!
Day 6-More Fun
Galaway Beach Track to Galaway Beach Seal Colony from Gillespies Beach-The 3.5 hour walk through native bush was great, though we both felt that one seal does not make a colony...
Thunder Falls- Another highway stop to stretch out our legs. This five minute walk brought us to a very pretty 90 foot high waterfall. Not very impressive if you have been to Victoria Falls, but a nice chance to stretch out.
More Driving- We drove all the way from Fox Township to Mt. Cook! Though they do not seem as though they are separated at all on the map, the impassable mountains make for a tremendous amount of backtracking.
Day 7-Mt. Cook
H0oker Valley Track- This ~4 hour return walk brought us a close to Mt. Cook as we could get without DOC permission to go farther up the valley. The view of Mt. Cook was very impressive, though the scenery was somewhat diminished by the ugly, rock flour full lake and dirty glacier terminating the valley. (No one talks about it though, as we found no mention of the lake or glacier in any of our guide books....)
The Hermitage-According to our guide book, this is "arguably the most famous hotel in New Zealand". While it did have an impressive view of Mt. Cook, its very modern architecture, while very nice, seemed somewhat out of place. We did decide to get a slice of a delicious chocolate almond fudge brownie just to say we had been there though...
Red Tarns/Mt. Sebastapol track-Up...and up...and up...and up lots of stairs carved into the mountain! I kept remarking how I pitied the "poor fools" who had to build the path 784 m up Mt. Sebastapol...Kiara said that they were probably "college volunteers", and after a bit of discussion we came to the conclusion that "poor fools" and "college volunteers" were one in the same. We are glad the built the path however...the view was outstanding!
After our day at Mt. Cook, we decided to drive home as we were only ~200km away. (Much closer than we had expected)
We will try to work on more in depth descriptions as time allows.
Take care.
Caleb
Hi everyone,
Kiara and I got back from our vacation last night (We decided to cut it a half day short when we realized that we were within driving distance of Dunedin) after a great day of tramping in the Mt. Cook region. We have a lot of things to get caught up on, and the blog is one of those things. We will start posting pictures, our itinerary, etc. as soon as we get things cleaned up a little at our place.
We still have the car, and plan on going out to the blue penguin colony on the peninsula tonight to see them "raft" in at dark. More on that later.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Caleb
Kiara and I got back from our vacation last night (We decided to cut it a half day short when we realized that we were within driving distance of Dunedin) after a great day of tramping in the Mt. Cook region. We have a lot of things to get caught up on, and the blog is one of those things. We will start posting pictures, our itinerary, etc. as soon as we get things cleaned up a little at our place.
We still have the car, and plan on going out to the blue penguin colony on the peninsula tonight to see them "raft" in at dark. More on that later.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Caleb
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Club Soccer
I found a club soccer team to play with while we're here! We practice Mon/Wed and have games on Sundays. Today was our second game (quite a bit better than the first one) : we won 4-3 and I scored a goal! Yea! Soccer here is much more laid back. The levels ( premier, C1, C2, etc) are are not set by age. For the whole area there are several clubs that have teams in the various levels but not at different ages, only different levels. They would not have enough girls to field a team at any single age. The playing level is a bit less competitive seeing as they obviously have a smaller base of girls to draw from than we do in the Twin Cities, but it is still lots of fun!
-Kiara
-Kiara
Seals vs. Sea Lions
Unfortunatly, I have had to do some editing of one of our previous posts. It turns out that the animal that chased us down Sandfly Beach was in fact a juvenile sea lion, not a seal. This utterly confused me, as the road leading to Sandfly Beach, you may recall, is named "Seal Point Road". Seals do not use their front flippers for walking...if I get around to posting the video, you will be able to see that the animal chasing us did indeed use its front flippers quite well. I have gone back to the Sandfly Beach post and righted the wrong...I hope I haven't confused anyone too badly!
Caleb
Caleb
Friday, April 11, 2008
Otago Penisula
This weekend Kiara and I spent some more time out on the Otago Peninsula visiting the multiple beaches dotting the eastern (Pacific Ocean) side of the peninsula. We caught the early bus out to Portobello, a small town halfway down the length of the peninsula on the harbor side, and checked in to the areas only "tourist park" (campground). After popping up our tent, we started across the peninsula to Victory Beach. (A round trip of 12.4 miles)
The track to Victory Beach is flanked by two rock formations known locally as "The Pyramids" due to their shape and size. A narrow, steep, and washed out trail led to the top of the smaller pyramid, where Kiara and I took a break from walking to eat our lunch. (PB and J with carrots and water...gourmet!) The view from the top was great...farm land and hills behind us and the ocean in front.
Victory Beach is named for the steamship "Victory" which ran aground near the mouth of the Papanui Inlet . Part of the wreckage, including one of the paddle wheels, is visible during low tide. Though this beach is not marked on any maps as being especially good for wildlife viewing, the two Hooker Sea Lions, lone New Zealand Fur Seal, and two Yellow Eyed Penguins proved the map makers and travel guide writers wrong! Our encounter with the sea lions was much more subdued than our last outing...the realization that the inhabitant of Sandfly Beach was a juvenile, and the descriptions of their LARGE teeth from Kiara (Who saw sea lion skulls in one of her classes), made the prospect of being chased down the beach much less novel and much more frightening. The sea lion we saw on Sandfly Beach last week was, we estimated, between 250 and 300 pounds; the two males we saw this weekend were much larger...over 800 pounds! Luckily, the older sea lions were not nearly as interested in us as their younger relative was...the only reaction to our presence was the occasional (TOOTHY!) yawn and a few sideways glances. We also saw a very lethargic New Zealand fur seal who was lounging on the beach, an unusual occurrence for seals. New Zealand fur seals were hunted nearly to extinction, leading to strict regulations and radio tagging. In fact, the individual we watched was radio tagged, both on its back and tail. This animal was very interested in us, making sure that he always had one eye on us at all times as it made its way to the water's edge.
We were originally planning on walking to Taiaroa Head, the tip of the peninsula, after Victory Beach in order to try to catch the rare Yellow Eyed Penguins as they returned to their nests at dusk. We had heard the the northernmost beaches and those with DOC "Penguin Viewing Hides" had the largest penguin population. However, after seeing numerous penguin tracks leading to and from the water's edge, we decided to stick it out on Victory Beach in the hopes of seeing a penguin. Not only did we see TWO penguins, we didn't even have to stay until dark! The first penguin we saw waddling up to the sand dunes was on the far end of the beach, and only served to pique our interest even more. The second penguin was much closer, and after a great deal of hesitation (even turning around and heading back towards the water at one point) it made a beeline towards the sand dunes, staying as far away from the sea lions (who had perked up considerably at this point) and Kiara and I as possible. However, we were able to get a good look at it and snapped a few decent pictures. (I will post them later!)
Today (Saturday), we got up at 4:30am and made our way across the peninsula to Allans Beach to see the sunrise. (8.8 miles round trip) The walk in the dark was quite exciting... we were startled more than once by seabirds taking off from the inlet (Only a few yards away!) when they heard us coming ! We were hoping to see more penguins once we got to the beach, as they leave their nests to fish early in the morning, but unfortunately we did not see any. The sunrise was quite nice though cloudy. We can now say that we have seen both a ocean sunrise and ocean sunset in New Zealand! After it got light enough to walk on the beach without the fear of tripping over a slumbering sea lion, we explored the penguin nesting area briefly. We were not able to stay long as we had a long walk back to the campground and a tent to take down before the bus arrived at 10:15am.
For those of you not keeping track, Kiara and I walked a little over 20 miles in the 24 hours we were on the peninsula. Not very impressive if you are a marathoner (Riley...) but we are proud of ourselves nonetheless!
The track to Victory Beach is flanked by two rock formations known locally as "The Pyramids" due to their shape and size. A narrow, steep, and washed out trail led to the top of the smaller pyramid, where Kiara and I took a break from walking to eat our lunch. (PB and J with carrots and water...gourmet!) The view from the top was great...farm land and hills behind us and the ocean in front.
Victory Beach is named for the steamship "Victory" which ran aground near the mouth of the Papanui Inlet . Part of the wreckage, including one of the paddle wheels, is visible during low tide. Though this beach is not marked on any maps as being especially good for wildlife viewing, the two Hooker Sea Lions, lone New Zealand Fur Seal, and two Yellow Eyed Penguins proved the map makers and travel guide writers wrong! Our encounter with the sea lions was much more subdued than our last outing...the realization that the inhabitant of Sandfly Beach was a juvenile, and the descriptions of their LARGE teeth from Kiara (Who saw sea lion skulls in one of her classes), made the prospect of being chased down the beach much less novel and much more frightening. The sea lion we saw on Sandfly Beach last week was, we estimated, between 250 and 300 pounds; the two males we saw this weekend were much larger...over 800 pounds! Luckily, the older sea lions were not nearly as interested in us as their younger relative was...the only reaction to our presence was the occasional (TOOTHY!) yawn and a few sideways glances. We also saw a very lethargic New Zealand fur seal who was lounging on the beach, an unusual occurrence for seals. New Zealand fur seals were hunted nearly to extinction, leading to strict regulations and radio tagging. In fact, the individual we watched was radio tagged, both on its back and tail. This animal was very interested in us, making sure that he always had one eye on us at all times as it made its way to the water's edge.
We were originally planning on walking to Taiaroa Head, the tip of the peninsula, after Victory Beach in order to try to catch the rare Yellow Eyed Penguins as they returned to their nests at dusk. We had heard the the northernmost beaches and those with DOC "Penguin Viewing Hides" had the largest penguin population. However, after seeing numerous penguin tracks leading to and from the water's edge, we decided to stick it out on Victory Beach in the hopes of seeing a penguin. Not only did we see TWO penguins, we didn't even have to stay until dark! The first penguin we saw waddling up to the sand dunes was on the far end of the beach, and only served to pique our interest even more. The second penguin was much closer, and after a great deal of hesitation (even turning around and heading back towards the water at one point) it made a beeline towards the sand dunes, staying as far away from the sea lions (who had perked up considerably at this point) and Kiara and I as possible. However, we were able to get a good look at it and snapped a few decent pictures. (I will post them later!)
Today (Saturday), we got up at 4:30am and made our way across the peninsula to Allans Beach to see the sunrise. (8.8 miles round trip) The walk in the dark was quite exciting... we were startled more than once by seabirds taking off from the inlet (Only a few yards away!) when they heard us coming ! We were hoping to see more penguins once we got to the beach, as they leave their nests to fish early in the morning, but unfortunately we did not see any. The sunrise was quite nice though cloudy. We can now say that we have seen both a ocean sunrise and ocean sunset in New Zealand! After it got light enough to walk on the beach without the fear of tripping over a slumbering sea lion, we explored the penguin nesting area briefly. We were not able to stay long as we had a long walk back to the campground and a tent to take down before the bus arrived at 10:15am.
For those of you not keeping track, Kiara and I walked a little over 20 miles in the 24 hours we were on the peninsula. Not very impressive if you are a marathoner (Riley...) but we are proud of ourselves nonetheless!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
One other Easter weekend activity that I neglected to add to the main Easter Vacation post;
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Sandfly Beach
We were originally planing on spending a few nights at a holiday park on the Otago Peninsula , but after looking at a rainy forecast we decided to only do a day trip on Saturday, which was supposed to be the best day of the weekend. After a 20 min bus ride, we made it about halfway down the length of the Peninsula, got off, and started our hike to the opposite side of the slender spit of land. The greater Dunedin area is of volcanic origin, with Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula forming the crater rim, and the Dunedin harbor the crater itself. This means that, even if the Peninsula is only about 6 km across (by road), 3 km are uphill each way. Needless to say, by the time we reached the top of the Peninsula, we were both very warm. The bright sun and cloudless sky did not help matters any...the forecast was dead on! A perfect day for the beach, but not for an uphill hike. At the top, we were treated to a wonderful panoramic view of the harbor on one side and the Pacific on the other.
After some more walking (downhill now, though at times the "downhill" seemed suspiciously "uphill") we came to Seal Point Road, which lead us down to a short path to Sandfly Beach.
After our experiences with sandflies on the west coast over Easter Break, one would have thought that Kiara and I would have stayed far away from anything holding the same name as the little pests. Luckily, Sandfly Beach does not get its name from the bugs, but from the fine sand that "flies" off of the dunes surrounding the beach when the wind picks up.
The area around Sandfly beach sports the largest sand dunes in the Dunedin area. Kiara has wanted to visit some of the dunes since we learned of their existence, so when we found out where the largest ones were, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit them. The sand was incredibly fine, and though we didn't have a windy day, it was easy to imagine what would happen if the wind picked up. We had packed a nice picnic lunch, and after eating we decided to walk down the beach for an hour or so before heading back.
I should mention that Sandfly beach is known for its Yellow Eyed Penguin population, which can be viewed only a dawn and dusk when they leave their nests on the rocks. The DOC even has a "hide" to view the skittish penguins from. The penguins are incredibly rare...some estimates put the breeding population at just over 3,000. Because Sandfly Beach is known for its penguins, we were not prepared at all for what we found as we rounded a dune on the beach...
In retrospect, it should have came as no surprise that sea lions frequented the beach. The road leading to it is named "Seal Point Road" after all. Nevertheless, nearly running into a large (it seemed at the time...see the "Otago Peninsula post") sea lion on the beach has been one of the best New Zealand experiences so far. (Kiara ranks it number 1) It was fascinating to see how the seal moved on land...especially when it was chasing after you! The sea lion was not afraid of humans at all...in fact, it seemed as though it wanted to play! And by play, I mean chase us for 10 meters or so before flopping in the sand and flipping sand in the air with its tail. When this would happen, Kiara and I would creep a little closer, only to have the chase repeated. It was great fun, and we were able to get some good (and funny) pictures and video.
After we left the sea lion basking in the sun between two dunes, Kiara and I headed back, but not before Kiara climbed to the top of a 100m-or-so-tall dune, and jumped/ran/fell down it...twice. Again, I was able to capture some good (and funny) pictures of her efforts!
After some more walking (downhill now, though at times the "downhill" seemed suspiciously "uphill") we came to Seal Point Road, which lead us down to a short path to Sandfly Beach.
After our experiences with sandflies on the west coast over Easter Break, one would have thought that Kiara and I would have stayed far away from anything holding the same name as the little pests. Luckily, Sandfly Beach does not get its name from the bugs, but from the fine sand that "flies" off of the dunes surrounding the beach when the wind picks up.
The area around Sandfly beach sports the largest sand dunes in the Dunedin area. Kiara has wanted to visit some of the dunes since we learned of their existence, so when we found out where the largest ones were, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit them. The sand was incredibly fine, and though we didn't have a windy day, it was easy to imagine what would happen if the wind picked up. We had packed a nice picnic lunch, and after eating we decided to walk down the beach for an hour or so before heading back.
I should mention that Sandfly beach is known for its Yellow Eyed Penguin population, which can be viewed only a dawn and dusk when they leave their nests on the rocks. The DOC even has a "hide" to view the skittish penguins from. The penguins are incredibly rare...some estimates put the breeding population at just over 3,000. Because Sandfly Beach is known for its penguins, we were not prepared at all for what we found as we rounded a dune on the beach...
In retrospect, it should have came as no surprise that sea lions frequented the beach. The road leading to it is named "Seal Point Road" after all. Nevertheless, nearly running into a large (it seemed at the time...see the "Otago Peninsula post") sea lion on the beach has been one of the best New Zealand experiences so far. (Kiara ranks it number 1) It was fascinating to see how the seal moved on land...especially when it was chasing after you! The sea lion was not afraid of humans at all...in fact, it seemed as though it wanted to play! And by play, I mean chase us for 10 meters or so before flopping in the sand and flipping sand in the air with its tail. When this would happen, Kiara and I would creep a little closer, only to have the chase repeated. It was great fun, and we were able to get some good (and funny) pictures and video.
After we left the sea lion basking in the sun between two dunes, Kiara and I headed back, but not before Kiara climbed to the top of a 100m-or-so-tall dune, and jumped/ran/fell down it...twice. Again, I was able to capture some good (and funny) pictures of her efforts!
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