4/4/10 (catlins coast)

Catlins Coast-Nugget Point-Dunedin

It was a cloudy morning but the sun was making its way. The weather is definitely starting to get cooler as we enter the fall season and feels like it’s about 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Luckily we have a warm comforter. It’s also nice that we changed our clocks for daylight savings so it’s not so dark in the morning.

We had set our eyes on Dunedin since we are now in the final days of our trip and still have to make our way past Christchurch to Kaikoura to swim with the dolphins. We also really wanted to see the bottlenose dolphins, yellow-eye penguins, and the little blue penguins. It’s hard to catch a glimpse of these creatures but we were feeling hopeful. First we made a quick stop along the Catlins Coast to check out the Cathedral Caves. We timed it quite well since you can only go one hour before or after low tide. Jon was more adventurous and scaled both caves while I stayed on the outskirt of the first cave. However it was me who ended up getting my shoes and pants wet. How did that happen?

Our next stop was Nugget Point to try to catch the yellow-eyed penguins. They are quite shy so there was a shed built along the mountain for people to view the penguins. We were in luck! We spotted two of them. As they moved inland they would wobble along but if they got to a step to high for them they would jump up. It was quite funny to watch them.

Along the way to Nugget Point there were huge pastures of sheep so Jon got this crazy idea of shooting from inside the car to use as B-roll for our New Zealand video. I was driving the car while he was in the camper bed with his camera outside the side window. We got some beautiful shots since the sun was setting so hopefully it will make it into the final cut. I forgot where I was for a moment and drove on the wrong side of the road for a good 400 meters. Luckily no cars were on the road. Yikes!

On a really cold day sometimes all you want to do is stay in and snuggle underneath the covers, which we decided to do for the night. We rented The Fastest Indian from the campsite. It is a great story and made me appreciate the real life motorcycle that we saw in Invercargill.

We didn’t catch the dolphins or the blue penguins so hopefully we’ll catch them along the east coast.

Like: yellow-eyed penguins, The Fastest Indian, B-roll of the pastures and sheep

Comments

[Mary Lappan]

So you liked it all that day!

[Jon Carr]

Except the part about getting wet.

[Hilary]

Sounds like a great day!