Friday 13th- Waikoua….where

Well it started out ok; a lovely sunny winter’s day and we were about to hit the road again, time to leave Dunedin & continue our snail’s pace journey north to warmer weather.  After being by ourselves for most of the week, the NZMCA Park was beginning to fill up. RVs arriving from far & wide, their occupants very excited to be going to the All Black vs England test match on Saturday night at the stadium.

Never mind All Ways,  I think this guy came the wrong way......or the long way or perhaps both!

We pulled out of Dunedin late morning and after the long haul up the northern motorway hills & down the other side, we eased into our usual steady pace of 85-90kpm (90 being our maximum allowed) At the aptly named Evansdale we turned right to follow an 18km scenic loop along the cliff tops overlooking the Pacific Ocean through Seacliff & Karitane.

The road was very narrow and winding with some tight corners in places, but the worst part was all the rail crossings we had to stop or give way to. The railway ran straight (of course), the road didn’t, up & down and over and back, the road weaved itself along the line.

Not before time we finally came to the end of the hills & a lookout, looking north over Karitane Beach & Huriawa Peninsula in the foreground onto Waikouaiti’s Butterfly Bay & Matanaka (Cornish Point) further on. It was a very hazy day but looked like it would be a great place to explore. We were headed further north so this was going to be as close as we got to the beach......famous last words.

Further north we turned into the Shag Point peninsula, thinking we’d see the seals while we had some lunch. We hadn’t stopped here on the way south late last year as we’d been to Moeraki & Katiki Point where we’d seen lots of seals & penguins. Shag Point is a well known tourist stop; today, we were the only ones in the carpark. And there were only a handful of seals on the rocks beside Boat Harbour & a few sunbathing on a grassy knoll further along.

Boat Harbour

The narrow Boat Harbour inlet must provide excellent shelter for the locals launching or hauling out their boats, except in a heavy easterly swell I would think. Can you spot the seal on the far right rock ledge down by the water? Another one is out on the point- see the following photo.

 

We walked down to the grassy mound where the others were snoozing but the surrounding grass was long and there are old mine shafts about and probably sleeping seals so we didn’t get too close. The smell wasn’t that pleasant either.

Back at the 5th-wheeler, I put the slide-out out about two foot so I could get lunch ready, it really is great to have your home right there; it’s so easy to make lunch, sit at the dining table if it’s cold outside and watch the world pass by.

On hearing an unusual noise when we pulled the slide-out back in, David decided due to our last episode, he'd be extra cautious and have it checked out back in Dunedin where we had a contact. But of course being a Friday afternoon with the weekend due and an All Black test match happening, Dunedin would be in shut-down mode. It’s not Friday the 13th is it?

And that was how we found ourselves checking into the delightful but deserted Waikouaiti Beach Motor Camp right beside the golden sands of Butterfly Bay. And enjoying fish & chips at the tiny local pub while the locals had their raffle evening.

Hi-de-hi????  :)