Part 3 – Albatrosses, Sea Lions and Lighthouses

Last time we had just departed Taylormade Motors in Dunedin in a loan car whilst they fixed our campervan . We were heading for the far end of the Otago peninsula where the only mainland colony of Royal Albatrosses in the world is located. We were looking forward to this visit as we both like a good albatross, having previously seen huge colonies of Black Browed Albatross in Antarctica as well as having multiple encounters with Wandering Albatrosses. Those adventures will be featured in another blog post in the future.

The drive along the Otago peninsula was one of the real joys of our trip. Again blessed with good weather in a part of the world not known for good weather, we were treated to a fantastic drive on a road built right down by the waterside, and so we got a brilliant view of the inlet that goes for miles from the sea opening all the way to Dunedin. So we stopped off along the way to catch some nice photos of the scenery and of some of the birds including cormorants (actually called Little Shags) and a South Island Oystercatchers.

We finally got to the headland but were a bit early so we headed for a cafe just along a rough track from the Albatross Centre at a place called Natures Wonders and had a nice pot of tea looking out over the windswept sea and headland. Time for our tour, so we headed back down the track to the Albatross Centre and checked in for our tour. We waited with others and then at the behest of a cheerful guide we were ushered into a room with a massive video screen. We were then given a video all about the albatrosses which started off well, stating that the nearest land based relative of the albatross is in fact the humming bird. Well, I never did! But after that the video kept going, and going, and going. After 25 mins I was getting a bit agitated, we’d come to see live albatrosses not a frikkin’ video. After another 5 mins we eventually were allowed out and up the hill towards the observation point. Above us were circling red-billed gulls and albatrosses, a couple of Royal Albatrosses, so that was good. We were then taken into the observation hut and the guide who had been talking continuously, carried on talking, and talking and talking … Any chance you can shut up please so we can watch these wonderful birds …? Oh wait , what there are only 4 of them? And they’re all the way over there?

To say this excursion was a bit of a damp squib would be putting it mildly, as Sandra said, it would have been better to just go outside and watch them circling around. Very disappointed, so not a good start. We would have been better booking something through Natures Wonders where we had the tea, but that was with hindsight. But undaunted we headed down the hill to the second part of our excursion and a boat trip to the mouth of the Otago peninsula to hopefully see wildlife in the bay.

And indeed this was much better, the boat chugged it’s way up the inlet, battling against the huge volume of water that was heading into the inlet as the tide rose, and also against the not insignificant headwind. We saw seals and sea birds a plenty, and it was great being in the boat, as we turned around to head back after about an hour, the captain spotted some Blue Penguins in the water and circled around them. When they had disappeared we noticed that we had been pushed way back down the inlet and it only took about ten minutes to get back to the jetty after an hour of chugging against the wind and tide!

Great trip, and more satisfied now, we headed back to Dunedin along the peninsula again and picked up the van which was hopefully now fixed. Back up the peninsula again to Portabello campsite and to another pleasant overnight stay.

The next day we headed South again, heading for the region known as the Catlins on the South Eastern side of South Island. Our target was Nugget Point Lighthouse and also Roaring Bay to try to see the Yellow-Eyed Penguin. The weather was good setting off and stayed fair as we approached Nugget Point. As we approached Nugget Point we saw a sea lion on the beach right by the road, so we had to stop of course and get it’s picture! Here’s something we learned. How do you if know it’s a sea lion or a fur seal? Sea lions bask on beaches, fur seals on rocks. Simple.

Leaving our sea lion friend on the beach to rest, we drove on up the headland of Nugget Point. We parked up and walked along the marked track. The views got ever more spectacular as we got along the narrow path, and the drop on the left hand side got ever steeper and deeper. Coming out of the trees we were met with a dramatic coastal landscape, that was one of the highlights of our trip. The wind had got up by now and as we approached the lighthouse itself, the wind became ever stronger as the cliffs towering all around us funneled the sea air at us. But what a view, with the sun shining he scene was utterly beautiful, the sea an incredible blue-green and the rocks and cliffs a blaze of colours.

We could see however out to sea, the weather was closing in, so we called it a day and headed back to the car park and picked up the van as it started to rain and the clouds rolled in around us. Before we got back in the campervan though we saw something really odd. Spoonbills on the near-vertical steep cliffs! We had no idea these birds could nest or feed in such a place. Weird! We made a brief visit to Roaring Bay, parked up, had some scones and tea and visited the hide in an attempt to spot the yellow-eyed penguin, but they apparently had no chicks this year and so were unlikely to come back, and we saw nothing.

We did another stop off at the pretty Purakaunui Waterfalls, after that for the rest of the day South Island gave us the real South Island weather treatment and it rained hard and blew hard as we drove down through the Catlins as we headed to our overnight stop at the Department of Conservation campsite at Purakaunui Bay. The bay was very isolated with no signal, the sea was up and rough and the wind rattled around us. We were glad we were not in a tent for the night! Here’s the route for the day’s driving below

Next up was our drive through the rest of the Catlins to Bluff, the most southerly town on South Island and a rendezvous with sharks! More of that next time.

Cheers