Hoʻopuka ʻia: 07.02.2017
On Friday it was finally time. Our last day of work in Ashburton came to an end. We spent Saturday morning loading our car because we were already supposed to leave for Oamaru in the afternoon. It ended up being a little later than planned, so we said goodbye to everyone around 3 PM and hit the road.
When we finally arrived there about two hours later, we went to a lookout point first to see penguins there. However, we couldn't spot any penguins anywhere. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the beautiful view over the coastal town of Oamaru. Afterwards, we went to a campground conveniently located on our route to spend our first night in the car.
The next day, we headed towards Dunedin and made two stopovers along the way. First, we arrived at the Moeraki Boulders. However, they were not as impressive, although many Asians were excitedly taking photos there. Strange people.
The next stop was at Katiki Point. From there, you can apparently see wild penguins and seals. Fortunately, we were able to observe some seals up close, but there was no trace of penguins here either.
So we continued to Dunedin, our destination for the day. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to explore the city center on site because the warm weather drew us to the beach "Sandflies Bay" instead. We spent several hours there and enjoyed the day in peace.
In the late afternoon, we went to a sight in Dunedin, the Baldwin Street, which is supposedly the steepest inhabited street in the world. Again, it was visited by many Asians who enjoyed driving up and down the street. After this long day, we spent the night at a campground, which was also the parking lot of a horse racing track, so we could enjoy our dinner from the grandstand overlooking a huge lawn.
The last leg before going to Invercargill was Kaka Point.
We set off relatively early to be able to make full use of the long-awaited shower and the rest of the "luxury" that this relatively expensive campground offered. In addition, we planned to see the sunrise at Nugget Point, a lighthouse on the southeastern tip of the country.
After the small town welcomed us with rain, we spent the rainy day in our car and in the campground's common room.
Our alarm clock rang at 5:10 the next day. Sleepily, we drove to the lighthouse and waited shivering for the first rays of sunshine of the day. On the way there, we could already hear loud penguin calls, but unfortunately it was too dark to see any. Unfortunately, the sky was quite cloudy, so the sunrise was not clearly visible. Nevertheless, getting up early was worth it, as the view of the sky and the endless ocean behind the lighthouse was very beautiful.
After breakfast and another hot shower, we set off for Invercargill, where we will have our first experience as Wwoofers. (Explanation & experience to follow...)