Dunedin
and the Otago Peninsula
Day
8, Saturday
We
passed the town of Dunedin, which seemed to us after our week
in relative remoteness, to be a busy city. We went directly to
the peninsula where the road became narrow and uncomfortably hugged
the edge of the bay (no shoulder whatsoever, and, as I was the
driver and in need of the comfort of a few extra inches of road,
I felt a little unnerved). We stopped for a bit of lunch at a
little cafe along the way and were delighted by the small but
surprisingly sophisticated menu. After the outstanding lunch,
we headed for Taiaroa Head and
the Royal Albatross colony.
We
got to the tip of the peninsula,
put of the foul weather gear we had, and walked around the lighthouse,
the Albatross grounds and Pilot's Beach. We did see some of the
Albatross resting on the ground, and they were pretty neat, but
I think to appreciate an Albatross, you have to see them in flight.
And we didn't. I have to say, they really looked liked big seagulls.
(but I'm a computer geek so what do I know, and if I did see them
in flight, I'm sure they would be awesome).
Okay,
moving on. We then headed to a hike at Sandfly
bay (why we chose to submit ourselves to more sandflys, I
have no idea). The sun started to fight its way through the clouds
and by the time we got there, the sun won its battle with the
storm clouds, and it was a beautiful afternoon. We walked through
some cow and sheep pastures and came to a track overlooking the
beach and ocean. I ran down the steep sand dune to the beach while
Pat slid down on his butt. Fun, yes, but we didn't really think
how hard it would be hiking back up a steep sand dune.
The
beach was a long, broad beach, framed by cliffs. Truly beautiful.
We were actually in search of seals and yellow eyed penguins,
so we walked all the way to the end, which was about a half mile
against the wind. We didn't see any seals, but we did have the
privilege of being entertained by the comic stylings of half a
dozen penguins. We saw them as they clambored out of the water
onto the rocks. One of them got the grand idea of climbing up
to the top of the nearby cliff, so he started waddling up the
steep path to the top. One of his buddies followed closely behind
and the true comedy appeared when penguin 2 didn't realise penguin
1 needed so many breaks and plowed right into the back of him
each time he stopped. Finally penguin 1 changed his mind and turned
back toward the sea. As he started back down he barged right into
penguin 2 who didn't realise plans had changed. It took some time
for him to get past penguin 2 and it wasn't long before penguin
2 decided to turn around and follow him down the hill.
After
seeing the penguins we had the daunting task of walking back along
the beach and up the sand dune. We certainly got our exercise
getting back to the car. By this time it was dark and we got back
on the road to Queenstown.
Along
a dark lonesome stretch of road we got a flat tire. Fortunately
we had a flashlight, but it took us quite awhile to find the owner's
manual and spare tire in our little Korean rental car. The only
car that passed us stopped (about 20 minutes after we pulled over)
and offered help or at least more light from his headlights. He
was really a nice fellow who told us his dream was to go to Michigan,
specifically, to the area I'm from. I thought he should dream
a little higher, but should he ever get to Michigan, send me an
email and I'd give him some insider tips.
