South Island: Day Four

Dunedin - Portobello

Saturday 16th February

Up early doors to pay a visit to the Otago Farmers market; Stock up on eggs, fruit and vegs. Amanda, does well to avoid the bread and cake. :0)

Today's destination is the Otago Peninsula. Our guide book recommends several walks in the area; the best of which appears to be the Lovers Leap track.

Civilization is soon left behind; as is the last petrol station. The roads on the peninsula or twisty, often very steep and in many places, gravel. The camper struggles a bit on some of the steeper ones and when we hit a very steep gravel road, we decide to leave it at the bottom and walk up!

Amanda not overly keen. Decide to see how it goes; it does not look far on the map. Turns out it was further than we thought; each time we reached a crest in the road, thinking we were there, we found out we were not. Lot's of evidence of the drought - the country's worst in quite a while.

Worth the effort though as the views were stunning. Judge for yourself.

It takes 40 minutes to reach the start of the walk proper; meet two guys who have cycled all the way from Invercargil. Next hour is spent walking around the headland and then scaling Sandy Mount for even more spectacular views across the peninsula - A mixture of woodland, bush and farmland.

With the walk finished we still have the return journey back to the camper. Thankfully it mostly down hill; and a good thing too as the sun is out now and blazing away. Amanda thanks me for 'forcing' her to do it. Twas just some gentle persuasion, says I.

Famished, we lunch at Portobello's 1908 Cafe. Reasonable; another huge bowl of wedges with sour cream and chilli sauce - seems to be standard fare here. Coffee poor.

Head over to the other side of the peninsula and 'Sandly Bay'; named after flying sand and not the little critters. Stop off on the way at Lanarch Castle; not really a castle, but a rich man's idea of a house. Spend an hour ambling around the grounds - well maintained, large succulent garden and impressive views. A wedding is under way as we wander.

With early evening beckoning we continue on to the bay. The big draw here is the 'Yellow Eyed' penguins who come to shore around dusk. To avoid scaring them we need to use a hide; at the opposite end of the beach.

However, first we need to get down to the beach itself; clamber down some huge grass tufted sand dunes - they are going to be fun coming up again later! At the bottom we meet a volunteer. She will be here for about 5 hours clipboard in hand. Don't envy her as it's very windy down here. Thankfully yesterday's rain means that there is not too much sand flying through the air though.

It's quite a slog along the beach; and with the wind howling around us we also need to take care not to bother any of the sleeping sea lions, slumbering on the beach.

The afternoon sun is a distant memory; and both cold and windswept, the hide makes a welcome reprieve from the elements. We are rewarded with a view of the famous and rare penguins - Amanda is very happy!

There are two of them sitting at various heights on the cliffs preening - how do they get there?! Not lucky enough to see them move, but still pretty cool. Can see a lot sea lions lounging around too.

It's starting to get dark (and cold) and we don't fancy navigating the sea lion infested beach, nor climbing those dunes, in the dark. So time to bounce.

Odometer: 429km