Otago peninsula

The trip to the Otago Peninsula was one of our points on the Todo list because of the nature and landscapes. And it was definitely worth it!
After changing our plans several times during the drive to there we decided to head first to the other side of the peninsula. There is a Albatross center which cares about the nesting birds there and also has a free museum and paid tours to offer. Luckily it was a very windy day so we could see them gliding over us for free :) We also saw a group of seals on the rocky shore below the lighthouse.
The next stop was at "The Pyramids", rock formations that are shaped like pyramids. They were pretty nice but the trail led further to a bay. There we saw a large male New Zealand fur seal (they're actually sea lions) that just came to the shore. We watched him roll there in the sand and hop around for a while, then we took a stroll along the beach. As we came back he was still there so I sneaked closer to him while staying on the dunes. There I almost stepped accidentally on another sea lion that was relaxing in the dunes!!
For the late afternoon we decided to hike up to Harbour cone. A really distinct hill in the middle of the peninsula. As we reached the summit after an hour hike up we got to see a beautiful panoramic view reaching all the way back to Dunedin. The wind started to blow harder and we could barely stay on our feet, so we made our way back to the van.
While searching for a place to stay for the night we came by the Sandfly Beach Bay where we wanted to go the next day. So we parked there while wind gusts up to 70 km/h shook our van the whole night like a cradle.

The other day the storm had calmed down and we could go to hike the beach on a 4 hour loop trail. But unfortunately we go lost because of some unclear markings (meaning none at all...). On the way we saw a whole group of sea lions on the rocks beside the beach.Lue lisää