South East Coast, New Zealand South Island – April 29th – May 3rd, 2017

What to do on a rainy day in Dunedin? Obviously, the answer is aqua jogging, followed by buying only the popcorn at the movie theater to watch Harry Potter in the van. Let me explain: As it was a Sunday, the alternative public showers were closed, leaving the public pool as the only option for ridding ourselves of the stench we had accumulated over the past week. If you are going to pay an admission fee though, you ought to make use of all the activities you are admitted to partake in. So, we swam, hot tubbed, water slid, aqua jogged, and showered. Admittedly, the aqua jogging took us a while to figure out. We watched the locals for a little while before attempting to bail, when we were forced to participate by the friendly lifeguard. You put on a flotation belt and run underwater, slowly circling the pool. It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds, especially when it takes 30 minutes of struggling to realize your flotation belts are on upside down. After showering, we drove around town, got groceries, and hit up the movie theater for some popcorn before settling in for a Harry Potter marathon in the van. Overall, a pretty grand rainy day.    

The skies had cleared by the morning, so we made our way to Baldwin Street – the steepest residential street in the world. Some dumbsh*t city planner had originally laid the street out on a grid, disregarding the fact that the landscape was hilly/mountainous. Although some streets were adjusted during construction, Baldwin Street was constructed using concrete instead of asphalt, since gravity caused the asphalt to slide down the hill before solidifying. It was not hard to believe that the short residential street was indeed, the steepest in the world.

Baldwin Street and the drive from the Catlins, including a stupid steep dirt road which we had to attempt twice (the first time Freddy was in the wrong gear.) It was steeper in real life than the picture shows. 

Next, we made our way to Aramoana, about an hour away. The road to get there was literally a foot from the water’s edge. Perhaps the same city planner was involved in that route too... It was an incredibly beautiful drive though and completely off the beaten tourist track. Once in Aramoana, we explored the beaches, attempted to climb up an arch (but got scared when the route got tougher and I looked down and realized that falling would not be pleasant), and hiked to Heyward Point. In our opinion, the hike was one of the best in New Zealand! Not only were we completely alone for most of the trek, but the views were stunning, and the animal life was abundant, to say the least. Once at the plateau at Heyward Point, we looked down the cliff to find several hundred seals playing in the pools below. After watching them for a while, we made our way to the other side of the plateau where more seals were basking in the sunshine. But wait, is that a cat down there?! It is! There was a cat living amongst the seals! How the cat got there was a complete mystery – we were at least 3 miles from the closest house and there was absolutely no way the cat could have climbed in or out of the steep cliff faces surrounding the bay. Perhaps he fell in and was adopted by the seals who seemed to treat him like one of the colony. The cat looked perfectly healthy and happy so we took a bunch of adorable photos and left the seal-cat family in order to return to the comforts of Freddy.

The beach at Aramoana and my failed attempt to reach the arch.

The Headland Track to Heyward Point. 

Wildlife at Heyward Point.

Seal-cat family!

After a pleasant night camping at the beach, we left the splendor of Aramoana, stopping at Port Chalmers on the way for wifi, coffee (Andy’s addicted), and scones (I’m addicted). A few hours later, we made it to Shag Point where dinosaur eggs littered the beach. Yup, dinosaur eggs. Not only do they look like dinosaur eggs, but on the inside of each of these crazy spherical rocks, is a fossil that the boulder built itself around. Inside one of these Katiki boulders (the legit name), an 8-meter (26-ft) long plesiosaur dinosaur skeleton was found – NZ’s largest fossil! Yay geology! After not shagging at Shag Point, we went to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are the same as the Katiki boulders at Shag Point, but situated on a beach rather than embedded in the tidal shelf. The only other difference was the hoard of mostly-Asian tourists who accompanied us at the Moeraki Boulders. Last up for the day, was a visit to Katiki Point Lighthouse where Scott said we should be able to spot some endangered YEPs (yellow eyed penguins). He was right! It was incredible! There were penguins, seals, and bunnies galore! All co-existing in one happy penguin-bunny-seal family (no cat though)! Loved it!    

Sunrise at Aramoana and the adorable town of Port Chalmers.  

Shag Point.  

Moeraki boulders and all of our Asian tourist friends.

The harmonious penguin-bunny ecosystem at Katiki Point.

The modeling animal life at Katiki Point... oh, and the stunning scenery and lighthouse!