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!