NZ Holiday - Off to the Catlins - Alexandra to Kaka Point

Penguins in the wind - 24th & 25th October
The Lighthouse at Nugget Point
These must be the Nuggets at the Point?
View to the Lighthouse at Nugget Point
Kaka Point - The cabbage tree outside our place
Nugget Point - spot the fur seal?
A penguin puts on show near Kaka Point
It is really amazing how much the scenery varies in New Zealand over very short distances. One minute you are driving across what is virtually a rocky desert and just down the road you hit an area growing fruit trees. Go a little further and you might see sheep grazing. Our route from Alexandra to Kaka Point certainly rang the changes. One thing you do notice is the development of off-road cycle paths. The Otago BikeTrail is very popular and is being expanded. Cycling is definitely seen as an important way of increasing tourism and filling Motel Beds.
When we set off from Alexandra it was very chilly, when we arrived at Kaka Point it was very much warmer but the wind was phenomenal. Not a cold wind as it was blowing off the land but we were buffeted by massive gusts. TW was a bit unsure about walking to the Lighthouse at Nugget Point as she thought the wind might carry her over the cliff to join the fur seals down below.
No chance of that, her handbag is like a land anchor! The highlight in Kaka Point was seeing Yellow Eyed Penguins come ashore. These gentle creatures put on quite a show for us.
Penguins at Kaka Point
Penguins climbing to their nests
Turn left, or end up in the sea
We did manage to borrow a couple of bikes and take a ride along the coast road for a bit.
TW finds a downhill in the Catlins

A flakey paper tree on our Bush Walk
Location: Kaka Point 9271, New Zealand

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wales - A Postcard from Stackpole Pembrokeshire in July 2020

Image
Heading West on a Staycation Broadhaven South Beach TW found a last minute cancellation to this 2000 Acre National Trust property.  Our cottage usually takes six so it is not a cheap deal for just two people. In normal times, of course, we would have headed east for Austria but these are not normal times.  The need for an expensive Covid test before we entered Austria made it inconvenient and impractical.  Private Covid tests cost between £150 and £200 and there is no guarantee on how quickly you get results.  To enter Austria you need the test to be carried out within the last 4 days.  So the staycation made a lot of sense.  Spending our money in the UK to help protect jobs was also a strong persuader. So with the car laden with our bikes and provisions we headed west on the 240 mile journey to Stackpole.  Crossing the Border on the Severn Bridge No Covid test was required but the Welsh did make us go through a sheep dip ...
Read more

London to Salzburg on a bike - Stage 9 - Marckolsheim to Laufenburg via Basle - 142km - Rhine Cycle

Image
French Leave - 14th September 2013 Good Morning ride down the Old Rhine Canal Into the Forest - and out of the wind Crossing the border - walking bridge at Huningue over the Rhine Another good breakfast, another shower of rain and a return to the Old Rhine Canal. Got a bit adventurous after a while and turned off to take a look at some local villages. Am afraid I went a bit around the houses in the flat farming country. Found my way back on track near Volgelsheim. The place names around here do not exactly trip off the tongue. A fierce headwind from the south made cycling very difficult so had to get my head down. I needed my Patisserie stop!  A diversion through a massive forest added distance but gave respite from the wind for a while. My downloaded Eurovelo 5 course headed for Mulhouse but I did not need to go there. I headed off to Basel. I think I was paying the penalty for not researching this area sufficiently. I could see the big Rhine Canal through the tree...
Read more

Italy - A postcard from Tuscany

Image
 An Italian Escape With Covid in abeyance and another health issue resolved it was time to head South for a week in Italy. Bologna 17th May 2022 We chose the noble City of Bologna as our starting point and BA from LHR our carrier of choice. We had a shedload of BA credits from all our cancelled flights over the Winter so we even took checked luggage! Really great to be landing in Italy and even better that they did not make us line-up in the 'Other Passport' queue, we were straight through the e-gates onto the Marconi shuttle into the City. Bologna Station is a bit of a maze and we struggled to find our way out. Eventually we found a long overpass that took us to the front of the building and a Taxi to our digs for the first two nights. Coincidentally this was in Via Marconi. I thought the comms pioneer was an adopted Englishman but clearly he is very well remembered over here. Our La Dolla Apartment was really nice and modern, a bit of a contrast to the lobby and stairs but th...
Read more

London to Salzburg on a bike - Stage 11 - Romanshorn to Rothenbach via Lindau - 75 km - Bodensee-Königssee-Radweg

Image
A water theme for the day - 16th September 2013 At Bodensee - the shore of Lake Constance on a wet day Romanshorn to Rothenbach (timer reset after Lindau) I sat at the wrong table at Breakfast at the Anker Hotel in Romanshorn. My table was apparently set for a couple of elderly ladies. The waitress/boss ignored me after that. No offer of extra coffee, or whatever. Took the 9:36 Ferry to Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppelin. It takes about 45 minutes to cross Lake Constance/Bodensee at this point. It is a car/lorry ferry but with only two cars on this particular crossing plus, of course, one bicycle. It was raining when I set foot on German soil and started to cycle to Lindau, about 28km to the South. Quite a nice route along the Lakeside but a bit busy in the towns. Lots of tourists wandering about with their umbrellas up looking lost. Cycling around Lake Constance is a popular holiday pursuit and I suffered the ignominy of being passed by a large group on e-bikes. Oh well,...
Read more

Bordeaux to Nimes on a bicycle Day 4 to Castelsarrasin

Image
25th  September Day 4 Feugarolles to Castelsarrasin 84km Hunting for snails Crossing the massive viaduct over the Garonne Really enjoying the cycling along the canal. The prevailing wind is from the NorthWest and our heading was South East. Couple that with a smooth surface and only a slight incline and you have a cycling idyll. There are also plenty of towns and villages en route so, really, it would be possible to do the trip several times and get variety by stopping at different places. So anyway, down for Breakfast on another cool day. Six cyclists now, the lead peleton had been joined by les Frères Eccossais, the Scottish brothers. After a jolly meal we headed off. I joined up with the Scots as the pursuivants, the Three Musketeers, in Tour de France terms. The yellow jersey had already left and we did not catch him. This wasn’t grape country. The fields alongside the canal were planted with a myriad of different crops including tobacco, kiwi fruits (what a...
Read more

USA Road Trip - Las Vegas to Zion National Park

Image
Day 12, 13 From Glitzy to Glorius A remote Ussie - Tourists at the Checkerboard Mesa A big day today as we saddled up the Hyundai to head across the desert to the Zion National Park. The roads were busy in Las Vegas but the traffic petered out as we headed Eastwards into Utah via Arizona. Not a lot to see en route other than wide vistas, big skies and very occasionally a desert town. We made a stop on the way in Mesquite at another McDonalds. Mesquite looked to be a retirement community on the Nevada/Arizona border with big Casinos and a number of Golf Courses. Amazed that there is enough water? The Virgin River, a tributary of the Colorado, flows through the City but its not very big. The name has nothing to do with Mr Branson, it was named a couple of hundred years ago after a Pioneer. A Ranch on the way We were due for only a brief incursion into Arizona but they decided to do some big road works to keep us there for a while longer. Anyway, no complaints, it was a good dr...
Read more

Austria - Bad Hofgastein - Langlauf - Cross-country skiing and the village in Winter 2012

Image
A Day in Winter - 13th December 2012 All quiet at the Advent Market - Daytime in Bad Hofgastein Winter in Bad Hofgastein Bad Hofgastein Kur Park with the Stubnerkogel in the background Bad Hofgastein Kur Park - across the frozen lake Ducks to water The current High Pressure system has brought low temperatures and clear blue skies. TW had the day off and took a few pictures as she walked into town through the Kur Park. In the evening the Advent Market is full of people enjoying a Gluwein or Hot Chestnuts and horse driven sleighs criss-cross the Park. During the day, all is quiet with just a few shoppers and some very hardy Mallard Ducks in the Kur Park. Open Loop - 14th December 2012 On the tracks We can see the Langlauf Loipe (cross-country loops) from our window and we noticed that they had put in some classic tracks. Had to give them a go. Slide and Glide, Slide and Glide. Looking North in Gasteinertal Looking South No downhill today ...
Read more

NZ Holiday - West Coast of NZ - From Cape Foulwind to Hokitika

Image
Pancake Day - Pouring in Punakaiki - 18th October Punakaiki Rocks take a battering Piled up Pancakes Hokitika -  the clock tower Blown away on Hokitika Beach The wild weather continued. To be fair to the West Coast, if you drive down when a Severe Weather Warning is in place you can expect a little inconvenience. Even more so if the warning is for strong South Westerlies. Our little Yaris was buffeted by these blasts from the southern ocean as we wound down on Highway 6 towards the Pancake Rocks. We pulled up in a Car Park in Punakaiki that was filled with Camper Vans. Not sure how stable they are in the wind. One Aussie said he had seen one earlier that slid four feet sideways on the road ahead  of him. They are very popular here though and range from basic people carriers to more sophisticated North American sized vehicles. We are relatively slow drivers and some have no difficulty passing us. Campers are certainly a reasonable option for a holiday here, th...
Read more