Family visit
Trips we took . . .
When my brother and his wife came over from the UK to visit, it was essential that we fitted as much as possible into their time in New Zealand. We allowed time for them to recover and acclimatise, after the journey, then started taking them to the places we love. Heath came everywhere and if he couldn’t come with us to see things, played the important role of guard-the-car-dog! This was one place he DID come and thankfully came away when called, to enable us to get closer to the juvenile Yellow-eyed penguin. It had come ashore on a beach close to another colony, but was clearly lost. We took the opportunity to get closer but stayed back a sensible distance, leaving it a few moments later, to recover and rest, ready to go out on the tides turn, first thing in the morning.
One of the reasons we had gone onto the beach where the penguin was, was to look for shells. With a flower festival coming up soon after their return to the UK, they wanted to take some of the beautiful shells we’d spoken of, back with them. We found a good selection and washed them well before packing them in tissue to take home in their luggage!
On another beach, while walking, the wind was blowing hard, even though the sun was shining – a typical autumnal day. The terns seemed oblivious of the weather conditions and stayed perched, facing the wind, a tiny regiment of birds!
On another day we drove north to a beach we had not explored before. Warrington was a place we were exploring together and which gave us great delight. There were thousands of tiny white shells blowing across the vast expanse of sand, the sea was well out, barely causing a ripple as the waves came in, and the sun was not letting us down. When we had walked as far as our legs would carry us, we returned to the car and drove back along narrow lanes, crossing the railway track about a dozen times and found this delightful old Church.
We continued north to see what could be seen. High in the hills we found a scenic viewing place, so stopped and took pictures into and away from the sun. The contrast is quite remarkable!
It looks like these were taken on totally different days!
A bit further on we came across this horse and her foal, not tethered, not fenced, just grazing along the side of the road. They must’ve escaped from a paddock, but with no houses around to stop and ask at, we had no option other than to come away and leave them to amble along together.
The coastline alters with every turn you make. You could find yourself at sea level or high above. The cliffs are quite dramatic and stunningly beautiful.
When we reached Karitane we walked on the beach. Storms had brought huge swathes of Elephant kelp ashore and they were draped across the beach like an interior designers nightmare! We met a local dog – and elderly yellow Labrador, who decided that Heath was his best friend and that he had to come with us, despite being quite lame.
We walked slowly and let the dogs play, then returned to the car and drove on to find a café for a cuppa. After that it seemed something of an anti-climax to come back to Dunedin to have a well-earned rest!