I got up at 07:15 to find there was a queue for the showers! Reluctantly I returned to my bed and dozed for another 2 hours...
We left Invercargill on the State Highway 1 which connected to the Southern Scenic Route we travelled yesterday. There weren't many tourist attractions en route and our atlas didn't highlight any particular places of interest. We arrived at Dunedin at lunchtime, checked in to our haunted hostel which happens to be an excellent, full of character, extremely tastefully decorated and furnished, three storey former private 'Chalet Hospital' whose blueprints are framed on the wall showing where the operating theatre was.
We strolled to the Octagon, ate a lunch with a huge bowl of hot chocolate with chocolate sauce drizzled across the frothy milk. It was delicious!
Taieroa Bay, on the Otago Peninsula, beckoned for the afternoon. Sadly, the royal albatross reserve was touristy and they were offering expensive 'tours' only, all of which contained a showing of a film. One of the tours didn't even leave the information building! We grumbled to ourselves and filmed albatrosses and shags flying above us from the confines of the car park instead, which is very difficult! It was far easier to photograph seagulls stood still in the car park...
Neighbouring Pilots Beach was visited by New Zealand fur seals and we watched a couple of adolescent males relaxing for a moment. They were a considerable distance from us. We then cottoned on to another beach on the peninsular that wasn't advertised like the royal albatross reserve of the penguing place at Penguin Bay. This was a little tougher to reach by car so we banked on there not being many tourists.
Sandfly Bay was indeed visited by the dedicated wildlife viewer, the kind that bother to carry binoculars with them. I was one of those people.
Enjoying the steep descent over very fine sand gave rise to concerned thoughts of the steep ascent over very fine sand. It was a good 30-40 minutes walk from the car park to the end of the beach, passing sheep and magnificent sand dunes on the way. Many a photograph was taken of those!
At the end of the beach we spotted a sea lion resting in the sand behind us, some 20 metres from the sea. She was peaceful and unperturbed by our presence.
A sign directed us to a wooden hide from which we could watch penguins come ashore. Ian guided my eye to the yellow eyed penguin he saw some way up the grassy headland. He was alone. Yellow eyed penguins are considered to be the rarest in the world and although we only saw one, at a generous distance, it was a real privilege to view this magnificent creature.
Our return journey to the car was dire. The steep ascent over very loose sand made me pause three or four times. My legs ached. Our progress was minimal. It was really heavy going!
Back in Dunedin we enjoyed a good meal at the Speights Brewery Alehouse which had fantastic decor and copper air conditioning units. The beer was good too.
Our travels from Invercargill to Dunedin covered 305 kilometres.