A Mountain, a Steep Street, and the Rarest of Them All

Had a great weekend this past weekend in Dunedin. Amy from Wanaka and her friend Emily were here and good times abounded :)

On Saturday I convinced the girls that a hike up Mt. Cargill was in order, since it was sunny and warm and beautiful, and the views from the top are stunning! We met my flatmate Chris at the museum and he drove us out to the trail. The four of us climbed up through thick native bush, and scrambled up the rocks to the top. We were met with a view of the Otago peninsula, the surrounding city of Dunedin (the 6th largest city in the world by area) and a silently flowing sea fog enveloping the coastline far below us. Chris had thought ahead and brought a watermelon and a chocolate bar. Woohoo! After a bit of a hang out at the top, including watching people run and jump off the mountain to hang glide, we headed down through the forest. Saw the "top five" NZ forest birds: wood pigeon, tomtit, fantail, tui and bellbird.


<-- Eating watermelon, Amy me and Chris









<-Amy, me and Emily at the top






On the way back into town, we just had to make a stop at Baldwin St., the steepest street in the world! Not only did we stop, oh no, Chris had to drive up to the top! It's like going up the first part of a roller coaster, you are afraid you are going to flip over backwards! We almost made it, but just before the end all the girls had to get out so the car could get to the top. It was crazy! Everyone cheered us on though, it was really funny.







<--Me and Baldwin St. behind my head




Ok, then on Sunday there was a lot of banana pancake and scrambled egg making in the morning, then we stole our friend Paul's car and headed to the Otago Peninsula, namely Sandfly Bay. After a bit of a scary cliffside drive up over the hills in the middle, we descended on the south coast and parked at the DOC sign. It was a great walk down to the beach, with sweeping views of the bay and Otago coastline and huge dunes stretching back from the beach. We were all pretty happy just to be on the beach on such a nice warm day, and then it got better... wildlife!!



Not only were there sea lions lounging on the beach within feet of where we were walking, but there was a pair of yellow eyed penguins at the other end of the beach! I didn't think we'd see them, but since they are molting they are not feeding in the ocean during the day. We got great photos, and even some video. They are so charming and adorable :) And they are one of the rarest penguins in the world, so lucky us! When we finally left the bay us three girls were very happy. It also didn't hurt that we had a gourmet pizza cook-off at the end of the day complete with red wine :)




<-- Yellow Eyed Penguins! One of them is molting :)








<-- Can anyone spot the penguin in this photo?





That's my update for now, am making plans for Stewart Island for the upcoming week, so stay tuned!