As today is our last day in this wonderful area, we revisited all our favourite spots around Dunedin and then went up to Signal Hill.

We went for coffee in Portobello and got chatting to a lady from Barnstaple who has a son living here. She spends every Jan and Feb here and this is the coldest wettest Jan for 6 years! So we will have to enjoy this weeks warm weather as it changes back to rain on Thursday.

Along Aramoana Road we found another spoonbill and got even better photos of this one as it was much closer. They are fascinating to watch as they shovel their beak side to side in the mud in search of food.

We walked all along the spit and there were thousands of shells there. A dead baby shark had been washed up. That was interesting.

Back in Dunedin we went up the very windy steep road to the top of Signal Hill. There was an amazing view over the city and coast from up there. The monument was to commemorate the early settlers. In 1941 it was the centenary of the town of Dunedin. Rock from Edinburgh was sent here to celebrate this. (In wartime ?!)

Dunedin  was built to be like Edinburgh and Dunedin is the celtic name for Edinburgh

Tomorrow we travel 26 miles to Inverscargill opposite Stewart Island (more Scottish names)

Today we headed to the South as far as Nuggets Point. The sun was out and everywhere looked clear and fresh.

The Southern scenic route takes you over forested hills and has view points with picnic areas.

We followed a gravel road up towards the old lighthouse at Nuggets point. We didn’t get to the top of the hills as we didn’t feel safe so went half way to view where the yellow eyed penguins have their nests. They are protected and you view them from a hide. You cannot go down to the beach after 3 pm when they appear each day.

We ate a chowder lunch by one of the beautiful bays at Kaka Point.I tried to find a Paua shell on the rocks, but may have to buy one.

We saw a takeaway van called “Jamaican me hungry” sounds a good slogan.

We spent a while viewing where the River Waipori meets the sea at Taieri. There is an island in the middle of the bay which was important to the Māori people then was a whaling station and then became a centre for helping boats into the river on the way to the gold rush.

we had a lazy sun worshipping day! Walking along long sandy beaches and looking in rock pools. We saw a seal and a squid

More pics from today a fence made of paua shells.

 

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.