13th-14th Dec - Day 7-8 - The Catlins 1

From Dunedin, we headed south to the wild Catlins. Soon, beautiful secluded beaches alternated with cliff passages for the first time. In addition, lush green meadows and countless sheep... This is how I imagine Ireland, even though I have never been there.

First, we visited Nugget Point via the small village of Kaka Point. Nugget Point is a rocky promontory with a still-inhabited lighthouse that extends far into the sea. Very impressive and beautiful.

Upon arrival, the gray sky gradually darkened and an endless thunderstorm with hail shower broke out. Of course, the rain jacket was sensibly in the trunk, so after a twenty-minute sprint, we sat soaking wet in the car.

On a whim, instead of heading to the planned campground, we went to nearby beach cabins at 'Newhaven Holiday Park' with private bathroom, refrigerator, kitchen, and laundry facilities - a jackpot, but at 125 dollars, a different price range than the usual 8 dollars at self-catering sites.

After quickly starting the washing machines, we grabbed a cold beer and wanted to go for a beach walk to spot sea lions in the now shining sunshine.

We crossed a small bridge towards the beach. I hopped elegantly over the large stones at the beach boundary, when I suddenly heard a loud warning shout 'Babsi', followed by something big and gray thundering, snorting, and above all, sprinting towards me. There it was, the sea lion of the bay, closer and faster than expected or desired.

In panic, I stumbled backwards, of course forgetting the rocks behind me, fell backwards over them, spilled the entire beer bottle over my head and body, got back up, and rolled (of course, incredibly elegantly ;-) onto the safe side of the stone boundary. Sea lion and Claas, both equally surprised, stood frozen, staring at me from about the same distance. Well, that's what happens when you want to watch sea lions in the wild... An involuntary beer shower (including an empty bottle afterwards...), a lot of bruises, a slight shock, and respect for nature.

In any case, our beach walk turned into a dune walk with due respect for 'Bombolo', the angry sea lion. From a distance, they are really beautiful and surprisingly elegant animals that one should not get too close to and is also not allowed to for conservation reasons.

So far so good, one might think, if I had not noticed a short time later that my credit card was missing from my phone case.... and indeed... it was lying 2 meters away from Bombolo, near the rocks on the beach. Unfortunate... But what do you do in such a case?

Wait... and wait until another foolish tourist from the other side of the beach, with camera in hand, also gets too close to the sea lion ;-)... Sea lion chases tourist (in this case, a Russian) and is distracted, credit card can be reclaimed, and the walk ends successfully.

And so ends a slightly more exciting day.