Up early with the sun shining through the curtains Glenn went for a run on the beach with only a couple of surfers for company. As it was so pleasant we breakfasted outside then set off further south on the highway towards Dunedin.
Yvonne had found a scenic detour on the map so we turned off and followed the coast past many picturesque viewpoints until we reached the village of Karitane where a throng of people indicated something going on. We quickly parked up and hurried to catch the final stages of the annual raft race. It looked a fun event with craft of all shapes and sizes including a bath tub and an old inverted wardrobe, and entrants of all ages, for this read lots of Dads!
Further along at Warrington we found a ‘dump station’ sign so turned off to seek it. After quite a long way down the hill we found it in a local beach camping park and while Glenn was doing the necessary Yvonne found an information board showing we were at a large spit inhabited by seals and penguins so off we set. The beach on the ocean side was beautiful, wild, had the most amazing fine sand and, once we’d left the surfers behind, deserted. At the end of the spit we thought we'd spotted three penguins in the distance. With zoom lens on max we crept along the beach saying 'are they, aren't they' to each other but we were gutted when the eventually flew away revealing themselves to be shags. Better glasses needed! With no sign of seals nor penguins we rounded the tip and headed back up the river side in soft sand that made walking hard going.
Back at the van we continued on to Dunedin. Populated by early Scottish settlers it is named after the Gaelic name for Edinburgh and the similarity is striking. Grand old stone buildings, wide streets and suburbs of Waverley, Helensburg and Portabello. The railway station is a particularly fabulous old building with columns of Aberdeen granite and an inside still with its Victorian tiles walls and mosaic floors.
Leaving Dunedin we drove down Portabello Rd heading for the Otago peninsular which stringently enforces no freedom camping in certain areas where fines are imposed. Bearing this in mind we were vigilant about where we camped in this area and soon found a lovely shoreline spot overlooking the bay and the hills on the opposite shore. With the dinner prepared we sat in the sunshine with a drink and enjoyed the fine weather - tomorrow is not looking good!
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| The raft race at Karitane |
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| Searching for penguins on the beach at Warrington spit... |
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| ...are these them. No! |
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| Dunedin Station |
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| Cooking dinner with a view. |
Very nice Abode! Doesn't look like roughing it in that Caravan. 😄 very plush. More beautiful views. I thought it was summer down there I see lots of cool rainy and windy weather. 😎
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