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The Windy Coast
One word I would use to describe the South Coast is windy! A local told us that they’d had strong winds and heavy rain for the past three months but it was highly unusual for that time of year - summer! So we endured just over a week of grey miserable weather. It did clear up occasionally and strangely never rained at night, luckily! We only spent a night at Riverton so didn’t really see much of it but had a great evening at the campsite. We had our first free wining and dining! We met a couple from Surrey who had cooked way too much Rogan Josh and were invited to join them, as well as share their wine! We stayed up talking for ages and didn’t feel too guilty about eating and drinking their food as they had their own business and could afford a luxury campervan for 3 weeks!
A bright start the next morning gave us false hope for the trip around the coast and up to Dunedin. As we reached Invercargill the rain started and didn’t seem to stop until the next day. We passed through quickly (it looked a bit drab and I don’t think that was because of the rain) and drove on to Bluff, one of the southern most points of the South Island and the port for all ferries to Steward Island. It was also the end of SH1 complete with matching sign to Cape Reigna at the top of SH1.
We somehow managed to drive for over an hour in the wrong direction to Slope Point, the official south-most point. When we arrived, after well over an hour of slippery gravel roads, it was shrouded in mist and the rain and wind were too torrential to even get out of the car. We nearly gave in for the day and stayed in a nearby hostel when we realised we didn’t have any money and the nearest ATM was at least 45 minutes drive, so instead decided to carry on to Balclutha, a small non-descript town. We didn’t do any driving in South America but after 3 months travelling on buses got used to being on the right side of the road. For some strange reason I completely forgot which country we were in and pulled out of a garage on the wrong side of the road. I didn’t even notice for a while until another car came straight towards us (I wondered what HE was doing!) and Craig said I was on the wrong side!!
Disaster averted, we got money and headed back the way we had come to camp (the rain had finally stopped) and then see the things we’d missed because of the weather. We managed to set up the tent despite the ridiculous wind then drove to Nugget Point to see some local wildlife. We found a viewing point above the beach, looked down and saw a penguin hopping up steps from the beach towards the cliff. A moment later another came hopping out of the water and joined the other. They then proceeded to clean themselves and then hop up a steep cliff! We didn’t even know penguins did that! It turns out that they were Yellow-Eyed penguins, the rarest in the world and we had just seen 2 of only 3000! It was a really special moment as I have loved penguins for years and if we had arrived at any other time we’d have missed them. With the sun setting we walked up to the lighthouse and saw dozens of sealions. Craig tried to communicate with them and they replied! Not sure what they said but it sounded like we were in Jurassic Park!
We spent the next day re-visiting the sights from the day before. We saw a few waterfalls, nice but not too impressive, then on to Cathedral Caves (yes more Cathedral Caves, they like that name here). The rock forms a massive chamber that’s really high and only accessible for one hour either side of low tide. We waited around for about an hour then found the water was too high to enter even at low tide. So we drove up the coast to Dunedin (pronounced Duneedin) and got very lost in the city due to crazy streets, traffic and map. We eventually found a campsite and put up the tent in (another) gale.
Day 100!
Dunedin is completely styled on Edinburgh, it even has the same street names. It had some great architecture but we thought it was just a bit too grey and drab to be properly compared to Edinburgh. We had a look round and found ourselves at the Otago Settlers Museum. Craig wasn’t keen as there was the possibility it could be educational but it turned out to be the most amazing place. It was full of stories and memorabilia of the first, mostly Scottish, settlers to arrive in Otago. However, the best part was a special exhibit which displayed photographs taken by Stephen Jacquery, a renowned photographer for the Otago Daily Times. Ranging from 1979 to the present, the pictures showed everyday like and people of Otago as well as important events in the area, from Price Charles’ visit to lethal bushfires.
The next day we visited St Kilda’s beach which we were camping next to and also drove up the Otago Peninsula where we visited an albatross colony (no sign of any at all) and then Port Chalmers on the west side which is an embarkation point for many expeditions to the Antarctic.
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