Travels in New Zealand - Part 3 - Mountains, Rainbows, and plenty of Sheep!
May 10 - 2015
Today was a special day because it was Mother’s Day and we were planning for a very active day of exploring a few beaches with the hopes of seeing some sea lions and penguins. But first, we started off with some breakfast in Portabello at the Penguin Cafe. This was the perfect meal we needed to start the day, with some fresh penguin pancakes, fruit, and thick slabs of fresh bacon. It was great too for Lisa and Jess to spend this crisp, but sunny day on the other side of the world!
Lisa and Jess at Penguin Cafe
Some nice, fresh bacon and penguin pancakes - yum!
Our first destination was Allan’s Beach (maybe a 10 minute drive from Portobello center). Check out this link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/mapping-the-worlds-best-beaches/8757893/Worlds-best-beaches-Allans-Beach. At the beach, we saw several sea lions which were sunning themselves on the beach. We took a walk down the beach and after about 10 minutes we saw some more sea lions which we think were a mother and some of her pups. Hard to tell but it was pretty cool. We ended up sitting down on a piece of driftwood to soak in the solitude.
Allan’s beach
Mother and daughter quiet time
Next destination was off to Victory Beach (again another short car ride). For further info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_Beach. Once you park your car, it is about a 30 minute walk down a dirt trail which leads you past an outcropping of rocks called The Pyramids. The beach here was desolate but absolutely beautiful and worth the walk.
Victory Beach
The Pyramids - beyond is Victory Beach
It was time for a little break and we had a lite lunch before heading off to the Penguin Place (http://www.penguinplace.co.nz) for a 90 minute tour of the yellow eyed penguin hospital and with any luck some live yellow eyed penguins coming back from a day of fishing! The tour started out with a small bus ride from the visitor center and wound through some hills until we reached a vista which was close to the ocean. Our guide explained what to look for as the penguins return back to this sanctuary every evening after a day of fishing. The sanctuary is privately owned and secluded. It consists of a series of trenches running under the dunes along the beach which allow you to have private, undisturbed views of any penguins (difficult to get photos though since you have to take the photos through slats in the wood). As luck would have it, we were fortunate enough to see a few penguins come out of the ocean and head home for the night! This was a truly remarkable sight. One of the “couples” was walking back up a trail together, while a lonely one named Jim followed behind. Jim lost his partner several years ago, and cries for her every evening when he returns. I failed to mention that these penguins were raised here and the owners of the sanctuary know them, their habits and their partners. Of note, penguins can have same sex partners, no discrimination here! This was truly a terrific experience and I have to many pics to show, so I only will pick a few. Quality not great :(
The couple followed by Jim
The couple
Jim heading home after a long day of fishing!
It was time to head back to our car on the tour bus and we were left with a fantastic sunset to end our journey. Tired and hungry, we took the drive back to Dunedin and check into the Rosalyn Apartments (http://www.roslynapartments.co.nz) which overlooks downtown Dunedin. We then headed out to dinner at restaurant Luna (http://www.lunaroslyn.co.nz). All in all, this was a very special Mother’s Day...but extremely tiring!
Sunset - Penguin Place
Luna’s
May 11 - 2015
OK....so after yesterday we were pretty exhausted, so we took it easy and went with Jessica to campus at the University of Otago (http://www.otago.ac.nz). This campus is the oldest in New Zealand. We experienced a local food called “meat pie” which was delicious! As it sounds, it is ground meat and veggies with a tasty sauce in a light pastry. Lisa and I hung around campus while Jess had a class and just enjoyed the vibe.
University Clock tower
After class we drove off toJessica’s favorite beach hangout, Tunnel Beach (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_Beach). The view from the top of the hill down towards the ocean is spectacular, but you need to walk a good 15 minutes or so downhill to get to the beach. Note: the walk down can be slippery and the walk up is a workout! Once you get to the beach, you can scale over the rock which is a nice outlook to the ocean, or you can proceed down a tunnel to be right on the beach. Of course, we did both...If you get close to the edge on the rock outcropping it is a bit unnerving because you ooh straight down to the ocean and the water is pretty rough. I can see why Jessica calls this her favorite beach.
Tunnel Beach - walking down
Lisa and Jess on the edge of the rocks....!!!
We finished up the evening by having a unique dining experience at The Terrace Bar in the Octagon in Dunedin (http://www.theterracebar.co.nz/terrace-stone-grill). If you choose food from the stone grill menu, it is served to you raw! But it is on an extremely hot stone and you cook it yourself! Very interesting and the heat stays with you throughout the whole dining experience. It was worth it! Tomorrow we are off to the Moeraki Boulders...Stay tuned for Part 4!
