Today we travelled along the coast between Brighton and Karitane. It is a beautiful road which crosses over the railway line many times.

We stopped at view points and at the white sand beaches full of surf waves. More people were around as it is Sunday and the last day before the children go back to school after their long Summer break.

The sun was mostly behind thin clouds but came out now and then. The sunny weather is back tomorrow for a week at least so I can go back into Summer clothes! Hope you like the photos.

Hi although we are in the coldest area of all New Zealand today, we have seen sunshine and blue skies all afternoon and evening;

We headed to Port Chalmers again and then up the steep hills passed Captain Scotts Memorial and down to Long Beach and then onto the  PuraKaunui inlet and up again to roads looking down to Warrington.

 

We have seen and walked along white sandy beaches with blue sea and with hardly any people on. We have seen loads of wild life. The beauty surrounding us is awesome.

We went on the train this morning for 2 hours down the Taieri Gorge and 2 hours back.

The track goes inland down gorges and was built for the gold rush and then for transporting goods from towns and farms eg wool to Dunedin. It was hard to take pics as the train travelled fast but the views were great.

Then pm we went to see the other side of Otago Harbour opposite to Taiaroa Head to Aramoana.  There is a spit one side across the inlet full of shells, The Mole which is a long wooden gantry (not in use now) with seals terns and gulls taking ownership of it and to the other side a beautiful surf beach. We had an amazing time. Really would like to live here for ever. look at the awesome wildlife we saw

 

This seal got cross with granddad and started growling. He had to make a run for it a they can give a nasty bite

Then on the way back round the bays we spotted lots of spoonbills dredging in the muddy water and so took even more pics.

I wasn’t concentrating this morning, got out of the car and tripped over a kerb. I fell on my cheek and hurt the top of my leg and my hand oops…. Bruised and shocked but nothing broken.

We still went on our boat trip as planned and I’m pleased I did. I didn’t want to take photos so these are all Vinces. I sat and enjoyed just looking at the birds and seals I was still in shock I think.

We went with  Monarch Wildlife and they were very good. We were lucky to see so many albatrosses, 4 different types. They swoop just above the surface of the waves looking for squid. The krill feed on the plentiful plankton round these waters and the squid feed on the krill and so the feeding chain builds up. They have recently seen orchas in the harbour which does not happen very often.

We saw many more birds and learnt so much more about Albatrosses than we did at the centre yesterday. It was much better value for money.

Lily Louis and Otis we saw a penguin in the water “the little blue penguin” which is the worlds smallest penguin.

This a list of what we saw

Albatrosses:northern Royal albatross, southern Royal,white capped and butlers albatrosses

lots of New Zealand fur seals and cute newly born ones too

a giant petrol bird rest on the waves being attacked by the little gulls

3 different kinds of cormorants

colony of Royal spoonbills

gulls, terns, oystercatchers,

stilts, black swans, herons

Wow what a list weren’t we lucky. A boat trip to remember.

Out of the harbour round Taiaroa Head, the sea was choppy and quite rough with a very heavy swell.

The crew gave me peppermint ointment on a cotton pad to smell and it worked, I wasn’t seasick!

After our exciting morning the mist really rolled in we explored a bit more of the estuary and I took these photos.

Then it poured with rain, so we went to the station to book a train trip for tomorrow had a late fish dinner and then came back to our hotel and did the washing, ha ha

And yes…..I’m getting lovely bruises coming on my face thumb and thigh!

Woke up to cloud and grey skies but no rain. We decided to go to the Royal Albatross sanctuary at the end of the Otago Peninsular. It’s only half an hour drive away.

Again this is the remains of a volcano and we drove over the top of the mountain and down to the coast. There were lots of small bays with sand and mud flats and many sea birds to see on the way there. We saw 2 spoonbills digging in the mud, I’ve never seen one before and was very excited to see them.

Then we saw 2 pied shags drying out on a boat house..more photo opportunities!

Eventually after going slowly to spot herons black swans and more we reached the Albatross Centre.

We had to go up to the observatory in small groups and viewed 4 albatross nesting on eggs and caring for their babies. They have a wing span of 9 feet! When they leave their parents they fly for 5 years before returning to here to find a life long mate. If you want to know more about them ask me I learnt a lot today ha ha!

At the base of the cliffs we saw seals and I’m told penguins swim in every evening.      ( ??)

On the way back to the hotel we booked ourselves in for a round the headland boat tour tomorrow. Hope the weather is good to us!

My photos are improving but my arm shakes too much! Really enjoying the outdoor life here.

Well last night we went down to the beach at Timaru, along with quite a few other people to view the penguins as they arrive each night in this bay at dusk.

The evening sky was so colourful and it was mild with a warm wind. 2 men were dragging a net along the foreshore in the water to see what they could catch, mainly medium sized crabs, from what I could see.

This is me looking out for penguins. We stayed on the beach for an hour and a half but the penguins didn’t come in, just our luck! Never mind.( Its like the disappearing moose in Newfoundland)

We woke up this morning to much colder weather and rain. 12c what a shock!

We drove South to Dunedin. On the way we stopped at the boulders to take some more pictures. The tide was out this time and it was raining. Hope you like my photos

We are in the Best Western555 on Bayview at Dunedin for the next 8 days. Today it has rained non stop all day.

It was so sad to wake up to the news that Babs has died,

Dad spent a lot of time on emailing and then we went into Timaru for a card to send.

It feels not right to write about our holiday today, We did go for a drive down the coast and here are my photos. I will continue my blog properly tomorrow xx

Dad is ok though

Today we went back to the lakes to explore them more. It was cloudy but hot between 22*c and 29*c in different areas.

We went along some lakes until we met dirt tracks and then we would turn back!

On the return journey we tried to find elephant rocks, a limestone outcrop we were told to view by the lady in the information centre at Timaru. We knew we had to go to the road near Hakataramea but programmed the sat nav wrongly for its valley(fortunately not my doing for once !) Well the road was down a beautiful VERY LONG valley and after about 25 miles the road turned to a dirt track which we thought was strange but we continued. Then after a long time again we found we had been heading north not east oops. We never got to elephant rocks so can’t tell you what they are like ha ha. We reprogrammed the sat nav for our hotel and found to our dismay it was 91 miles away OMG. So we went back along the VERY LONG but beautiful valley  to find the road we should have taken.

We saw many birds of prey, and other birds too. The area was full of farms but hardly any houses. We saw fields of pigs sheep cows lamas deer chickens wheat and vegetables. But mostly sheep and cows.

Last day in Timaru tomorrow, then we head down to the south of the island on Tuesday.

We were blown away with the beauty we saw today.

We started down in Lyttelton harbour, sitting in a coffee shop with views down to the working docks. We saw a container ship, an ice breaker, a trawler,  a dredger and other smaller ships. Lots of activity loading containers and logs, and the dredging of thick mud up from the dock.

We set off to Governors Bay and saw a wildlife reserve. There were loads of small herons and oyster catchers.

We followed the road up and down round the mountain which is a huge volcano and stopped at Okains Bay. Here is the Maori and Colonial Museum. It is in a pleasant valley surrounded by grassy steep hillsides. The museum was really interesting and we spent a long time there. It was so hot 28c.

The road follows the circumference of the volcano about 120 miles as you twist up and down in and out of valleys….it has breathtaking views. We stopped in the lovely tourist spot by the sea at Akoara for a relaxing break, drinking tea in the shade looking out to sea.

The whole day was amazing, really loving NZ and the outstanding scenery xx

 

We got up feeling well and full of energy, I think we are finally over our plane journey, illnesses and slight jet lag.

With the car full of petrol we set off on highway 8 which a picturesque route around the lakes and to see snow capped Mount Cook.

Again the road inland was flat and easy to travel along. The lakes and scenery are amazing. We saw Lake Tekapo, Lake Fukald. We went through a town called On the return we passed Lake Benmore, Lake Aviemona,Lake Waitaki. Then the towns of Omarama, Kurow and Waimate. We went along a dirt track for a few miles to see the clay cliffs and we also saw limestone outcrops with Maori drawing on.

This is the wine we drank with our pizza takeaway tonight!

Hope you like the photos xxxx This is where the penguins come at dusk to Timaru.