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Bottom half South Island 2024

December 2024 - January 2025
A trip exploring Oamaru, Otago peninsula and Te Anau Read more
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  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 1

    Day 1: Lincoln to Oamaru

    December 29, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    After some spending a few days in Lincoln over Christmas mainly eating, drinking and socialising with family and friends, we headed south. A stop in Asburton for morning coffee/tea and then the plan was for a picnic lunch in Timaru at Patiti point. However started raining on approaching Timaru so another picnic in the car but at least had a sea view. Very rough sea and no sign of seals or sea lions. We arrived in Oamaru mid-afternoon and had a wander around the town famous for it's Victorian buildings made of Oamaru stone and walked out on the jetty. After a nice meal out we had a booking to view little blue penguins (the smallest of the penguins) as they came in at dusk, around 9pm. It was amazing to watch them arrive in groups, clamber up the rocks and then do a sprint across the grass to reach the safety of the under side of a board walk before heading for their nests. The biggest group we saw was around 20. One group also came over to our viewing stand (climbing over a sleeping NZ seal on the way) and then ducked underneath to reach their nests. On the way out we also saw some penguins close to the boardwalk, including some youngsters. They didn't seem too worried about people. Unfortunately not allowed to take pictures so no photographic evidence.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 2

    Day 2: Oamaru to Broad Bay

    December 30, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    We spent the morning doing a loop of the Vanished World self-drive scenic trail. This area has been designated a UNESCO geopark, a recognised area of geological significance. We had morning coffee/tea in Duntroon. The first site we visited was the Waipata Earthquakes geosite, cliffs that expose sediments that were deposited on the sea floor 23 to 29 million years ago. There was also a whale fossil to look at. There were interesting rock formations at the Anatini geosite and Elephant rocks geosite. We had a late lunch at Duntroon again before heading to our accommodation at Broad Bay on the Otago peninsula. We are staying at the aptly named kanuka cottage with flowering kanuka, good views over Otago harbour and native birds flying around. We popped out again to stock up on groceries. Liz's brother Robert joined us and we got some takeaway blue cod and chips from nearby Portobello. Very tasty.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 3

    Day 3: Taiaroa head

    December 31, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    Ian and Robert went for a bike ride around Otago peninsula while Liz and her parents went to Taiaroa head to visit the albatross colony. Tours were booked up for a while so there was time for a coffee before the 12 noon tour and a look at viewpoints for the pilots beach (where some nz fur seals lounged) and Tairaroa lighthouse. There were a lot of red billed gulls (native seagull of NZ) around with chicks. There was a good introductory talk to the albatrosses and video before a walk up Taiaroa head to the viewing hide. There were 4 northern royal albatrosses sitting on nests but windy weather meant that they were keeping as low a profile as possible and there were no swapover with partners to see any action. Liz and her parents had a good late lunch at the cafe at the albatross centre and arrived back at the holiday cottage just after Ian and Robert had got back. We cooked at the cottage for New Years Eve starting off with nibbles, Ian cooked venison again for a main then meringue, icecream and berries for dessert. We taught the others how to play 6nimmt and managed to stay up until midnight. We were hoping for some fireworks over Otago bay but none eventuated.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    1
    Day 4

    Day 4: Okia reserve

    January 1 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    A late start on New Year's day with a walk to Okia reserve for everyone. Interesting rock formations (the pyramids) and victory beach with another NZ fur seal dead to the world. We had lunch back at holiday cottage. Liz and Ian did a short walk to Yellow Head after lunch and tried to work out where the cottage was. Robert had a quick swim too. We sat out on the balcony for pre-dinner drinks with good views over the harbour and various native birds flying around (tui, bellbird, waxeyes and kereru), idyllic.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 5

    Day 5: Orokonui and Aramoana

    January 2 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Ian did another bike ride around Otago peninsula while the rest of us visited the Orokonui ecosanctuary. We entered through security gates in the predator-proof fencing, a bit like visiting a prison! Orokonui was a great spot for seeing native birds, tuatara (reptiles similar to lizards and NZs oldest resident) and other native lizards. We saw endangered takahe wandering around, including a plump chick; the closest Liz has seen them. There were also several endangered kaka (large parrot) around and saw some flying overhead. There were feeding stations where kaka knew to stand on something to open the food chamber. A real pecking order with tui chasing off the bellbirds and the kaka chasing off the tui. Liz saw a fernbird for the first time. Lots of south island robins around plus also saw kereru (nz native wood pigeon. tomtit, otago skinks as well as tui, bellbirds and waxeyes. We had both morning coffee and lunch at the ecosanctuary. We then headed to Aramoana for a walk along The Mole where we saw quite a few seals and terns. We dropped Robert back at his house and went back to Kanuka cottage for our last night there.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 6

    Day 6: Broad Bay to Te Anau

    January 3 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    Another wet travelling day on and off although managed to get most of car loading done before rain started. Liz's dad managed to lose his wallet and after his car and the cottage had been turned upside down, Ian luckily discovered by the side of the path/steps leading down to the cottage. State highway 1 south with a brief stop to look at Sod Cottage (originally built in 1860s) and coffee/tea at Balclutha. The highway has been jokingly renamed 'the presidential highway' between Clinton and Gore. We stopped at Gore for lunch but most places closed for holiday period or very busy so we had to resort to Dominos pizza chain. Gore was the first place we had to pay for parking this holiday (in an old fashioned park meter) - very unbritish! We got to our next holiday bach in Te Anau around 3.30pm. We did another grocery shop before doing a walk along the lakefront with a very cold wind but it stayed dry for us. We had a mexican meal in the town before heading back to the holiday home.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 7

    Day 7: Te Anau cycling and walking

    January 4 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Ian did a bike ride on the lake to lake trail from Te Anau to Manapouri then visited Mavora lakes and back via the mount york gravel road. Liz and her parents walked along the waterfront of Te Anau (getting overtaken by Ian) to the bird sanctuary. They saw another takahe but via a meshed fence so not as good as Orokonui where they were wandering freely by you. There were some cute scaup ducklings (nz diving ducks) but they proved difficult to photograph as they kept diving. There was an endangered Whio (blue duck) but not really photographable again and we didn't manage to see the ducklings - might have to go back to try seeing them. There were also some kakariki (nz parakeets) but again behind meshing. They walked back along the waterfront. The top of Mt Luxmore was under cloud - we are walking up there on the Kepler track later in the week. Late afternoon we had a wander around the town and had gelato.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 8

    Day 8: Glowworms and lake mistletoe

    January 5 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    At last we could see the mountains clearly today so that Mt Luxmore was visible. In the morning we did a short walk to lake mistletoe which had a good view of the mountains on the way back. We had a brief stop at the jetty which is used for starting the Milford track for more views and there was also a pair of southern crested grebe there. Back to the bach for lunch. In the afternoon we had an icecream on our way to the jetty for our trip to the glowworm caves, watched sea planes and looked at the view. A 30 minute boat journey over to the other side of lake Te Anau gave us more great views towards the kepler mountains (which walking later in the week), murchison mountains (where takahe were rediscovered after thinking they were extinct) and snow covered mountains at end of lake. Liz's mum took a picture of us on the boat with the Kepler mountains behind with Ian holding on to his hat for dear life! We then did our tour of the glowworm caves. Started off with a health and safety talk. It was a lot of bending over to get in (even for Liz) and not much lighting as we made our way to the boat that our guide moved around the caves. Was very much sensory deprivation as no light and we had to be quiet. But soon we had various coloured glowworms around us. The water levels were near minimum so the boat did make quite a few graunching sounds as it moved around. There was an interesting talk on the life cycle of the glow worm afterwards. Or should I say 'glow maggot' as they are actually from the maggot family rather than worm family. We returned by the same boat across the lake for more good views. Liz's dad barbecued sausages for dinner that evening and we ate outside.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 9

    Day 9: Rainbow reach to Control gates

    January 6 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The kepler track is circular and normally walked in 3 nights. We were doing in 2 nights as the availability of huts disappeared within minutes when they went live for booking in June - nearly as bad as getting Glastonbury festival tickets! So as there are 2 entry points to the track we decided to walk between them beforehand so could shorten one of the days on the track (to a more realistic 7-8 hours walking time!). Liz's parents dropped us off at rainbow reach and they did a different return walk to shallow bay. We made good time on the track which followed the Waiau river (outflow of lake Te Anau, largest river in Southland and used for some of filming of Lord of Rings for river Anduin). It was a hot day but we were in the shade for most of the time with lots of native bush around including flowering manuka. We had a family of fantails around us at one point but struggled for good photos. We reached the other track entry point (river control gates at lake) and had lunch by the shore with great views down the lake. We then walked along the waterfront on the lake to lake trail to get back to Te Anau. This proved to be the most challenging part of the walk as it was mostly in the sun and it was exceedingly hot (sorry to those in uk suffering with snow/floods). We stopped off at the bird sanctuary and managed to see a rare takahe chick that was out, both adult whio (endangered blue ducks) and also got better views of karariki (nz parakeets) and scaup than Liz had had with her parents. Still no sign of the whio ducklings. We got back to the bach and Liz's parents turned up shortly afterwards. It was too hot to cook so we went out for a pizza meal in the evening.Read more

  • TravelerBottom half South Island 2024
    Day 10

    Day 10: Manapouri walk and bike ride

    January 7 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Ian did a 70k bike ride to lake luxmore (for some strange reason on opposite side of lake Te Anau) and the Te Anau lookout point (showing mt luxmore in view finder at 1574m). Liz and her parents did a short walk from Manapouri between Frasers beach and Pearl harbour and back. Some good views of lake Manapouri and the mountains from the shoreline as well as some good reflections on the water. Liz and her parents stopped for coffee and cake at the cafe next to where the boat leaves for trip Doubtful sound (involving bus from other end of lake manpouri to take travellers to the boat on Doubtfull sound). However the sandflies emerged as probably a good place to find unsuspecting tourists. Pearl harbour also had very nicely painted public toilets. We had lunch back at the bach and then it was a mixture of packing for kepler track, bike cleaning, checking in at the department of conservation for our walk and shopping for the rest of the day. The rain started in the afternoon but the forecast looks ok for our walk. We will be away for 3 days with no internet so won't be updating this blog until we are back. It is Ian's big birthday on our last day on the track so hopefully good views when we wake up at Luxmore hut.Read more

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