Sunday 30^th November

Today started with sunshine so we took advantage of the weather and headed out for a walk after breakfast. We parked at Dick road car park and walked to the Pyramids – a couple of volcanic outcrops – and then did a loop on lovely marked paths to Victory Beach. The rain only spotted a couple of times so we were lucky and the walk was a little sheltered from the winds by the surrounding hills. Iain did an extra bit and climbed up the small pyramid for some splendid views and managed to get back to the car park shortly after I did and before the heavens opened!

We then drove to the end of the peninsula to the albatross centre where we joined a tour (only 4 of us) to learn about the Royal Albatross and then walk up to view the cliff where they nest. They are the only mainland nesting colony and have been here for many years since the area was cleared –originally for gun emplacements. The wardens tag all the birds and help to keep the eggs and chicks free of predators such as rats, stoats and ferrets (which are a lot larger than ferrets I have seen at home). They arrive in September and the young fly off the following September and stay away at sea for five years before coming back to the peninsula. After a few years trying to find a mate, if successful, they nest and by the age of eight most will have an egg which may have a 50% chance of survival or of being fertile. They return every couple of years if successful and nest again and most pairs stay together for a while although they do change sometimes. If the nesting fails they return each year until successfully raising a chick.

After a cup of tea in the café we drove through the rain back to Kaimata to relax before dinner.

Saturday 29^th November

                  

After a leisurely start we drove the scenic route to Dunedin via Twizel and Oamaru. On the way, as well as admiring the pastoral scenery we stopped at a major Maori art site. Unfortunately most of the art has been removed to museums and what is left is very eroded and quite unspectacular.

We stopped for lunch at Oamaru and were intending to look at the blue penguin colony there but apparently there is nothing much to see until evening when the birds come back to their nests, so we didn’t bother.

We found our way past the famous Dunedin railway station which is indeed a notable building and meandered our way onto the Otago Peninsula. Unfortunately the sat nav took us on a narrow road over the hills in the centre which was very scenic but a bit scary!

We then had to drive quite a way on unmade roads to reach Kaimata on Cape Saunders Rd which is where we stay for three nights. The view from every large window is spectacular – the bay with sand banks at low tide and the hills beyond. It was very windy and the surface of the sea was very choppy. We have a corner room and have a large French windows on each side so we can lie in bed and admire the view in the morning – no need for curtains! There are only two other couples here and when we arrived we discovered that they cook evening meals on request. They have an excellent chef so we will definitely take advantage of this as we are in the back of beyond here and 30-40 minutes from Dunedin.

We had arranged to meet Nigel and Denise for a meal which meant driving back to Dunedin which we did by the much easier coastal road and we all had a lovely evening. Nigel and Denise are coming over to Kaimata for dinner tomorrow evening.

Friday 28^th November

Today looked sunny so we decided to drive up to the end of the road (about 100Km) to the lower slopes of Mount Cook. The drive was wonderful with mountains on three sides for some of the way and alongside Lake Pukaki. With numerous photo stops we arrived at the end of the road where there was a very good visitor’s centre and a café where we had some lunch (Iain had one of NZs famous pies and I had soup). We drove up to white Horse hill campground where we parked up and walked uphill (but fairly gently) to the Kea Point lookout. We had magnificent views of the murrain wall of the Mueller Glacier, and Mount Sefton with the Huddlestone Glacier clearly in view. It was so warm in the sunshine that I didn’t even need my fleece! Both the top peaks of Mount Cook were in full view on occasion as well. The whole walk only took an hour or so.

We decided we still had time to do another shortish walk so we drove up the newly tarmaced Tasman Valley road and parked at the Blue Lakes car park. The walk was quite step and rocky at the top but I made it in half an hour or so and it was well worth the effort. The Blue Lake is actually no longer fed by meltwater and is now green with algae but still beautiful. We could see the Tasman Glacier and several icebergs floating in the glacier lake although they were no longer glistening white!

We drove back to Tekapo and the skies darkened so we definitely had the best of the day. As we drove through we picked up a takeaway Thai for dinner.

Thursday 27^th November

We had a long drive today partly because we took the scenic summit road from Akaroa which was very windy but gave us some superb views of the inlets.

Having crossed over the longest bridge in New Zealand, over the River Rakaia, we stopped in Ashburton to have some lunch and try to get Iain a new watch (strap broken again on the old one) unsuccessfully.

We arrived in Lake Tekapo around 3.30pm and settled into our abode – a bedroom, lounge, kitchen and bathroom with a shared laundry attached. It is situated right on the lake in lovely gardens and we wandered out around the lake and into town to get some breakfast provisions and see where we might eat. We have decided on a Thai takeaway tomorrow but tonight we had a good meal at a recommended restaurant – I went vegetarian with a spinach, feta and quinoa salad followed by a spicy chickpea and spinach bake – both very good. I then spoilt my resolve by having vanilla ice cream with kaluha..delicious!

 Wednesday 26^th November

We woke to a sunny day and after an early breakfast at 8am we were on the road for just after half past to drive down past Christchurch to Akaroa. The route took three and a half hours and we had a coffee stop at a very pleasant café garden in Waipara winery. We arrived in Akaroa, which is situated on a beautiful sheltered bay created when the large volcanic crater connected to the sea many thousands of years ago, with time to park, grab a sandwich and get to the jetty by 1.20pm to board a boat for a nature cruise around the harbour. As two liners were in the bay today it was quite crowded but Iain managed to find us seats on the upper viewing deck.

We motored around with a guide pointing out the various sea birds and rock formations including basalt columns and sea caves. We also saw some more fur seals. 

We then went outside the harbour and came across a large pod (about ten) of Hector’s Dolphins that we have heard a lot about but not yet seen. They are very small for dolphins but played alongside the bow wave for a considerable time so we were able to get a good look at them. The sun was hot and it was pleasant rather than cold to have the sea breeze blowing on us as we travelled!

Once back ashore we found our way to our overnight stay which was outside the main town set on the hillside with lovely views of Akaroa from our verandah. 

It has a small kitchen so we decided to self cater tonight. We drove back down to the town and sat by the waterfront having a beer (or a ginger beer in Iain’s case as he was driving and he won’t drink anything alcoholic at all when he is driving) before going to the local butcher for some steak and then across the road to the supermarket.

We sat on the verandah with a glass of white wine and some crackers with chilli humous or camembert – delicious. We are then going to have porterhouse steak with mushrooms, asparagus and fresh bread – yummy!