January 11

Again it was the usual procedure, up at 0640, a cup of tea, toast, a shower and got dressed.
I packed, packed car and got ready to leave. Alas again, the hosts don’t make things clear and I found I was up for a NZ$5 charge for Internet, so I was not too happy. Next time I will be ensuring that either the cost is stated upfront or otherwise I will not pay.
We set course for Mt Cook but Fran soon decided the day would be too long. After filling up at Shell (no Woolworths discount dockets) in Invercargill, I headed out (on wrong heading) for the Southern Scenic Route. I eventually caught up with the correct route after going through some very scenic little places.
Along the way we sidetracked into a number of interesting places – one was Niagara Falls, certainly falls but on a different scale to the Canadian/American one. There were nice beaches and coastal scenery at Curio Bay and Owaka.
At Nugget Point we had something to eat from the prepared food we had bought the day before and then walked out on the point to see the rugged scenery and many seals resting on rock shelves and small sandy areas. Back at the car, we spoke briefly to a couple in the car next to us – another brother and sister, the sister from near Invercargill but the brother from Melton (Vic), who had his Mazda car serviced at Werribee (just near where I have DOUG, ARTIE and DOUG 2 serviced). We called in at Balclutha and then went straight onto Dunedin. Unfortunately the SatNav took us on a torturous route before we found the motel. We booked in, put all the luggage in and went straight off to Moeraki. At Moeraki the tide was nearly in, and we had to scrabble along the top edge of the beach and at the foot of a cliff. I had no problem to see the boulders but Fran was reluctant to run the risk of being trapped by the sea. Then it was quickly back to Dunedin where we did some shopping.
After going back to the motel and unloading that shopping, we set out to the Otago Peninsula. There were some very scenic areas along the way, and out at the point we got fish and chips for tea (at a very busy shop). We went right out to Taiaroa Head and then headed back to Sandfly Bay, on the advice of the chip shop owner and a customer.
We parked in the car park, then went down to beach. Along the way we saw some wildlife officers who confirmed there would be sea lions for sure and penguins possibly. The path started out as a sealed track, then sandy, then scrabbling across dunes. We walked along the beach to a hide, passing very close to a sea lion. We saw many sea lions from the hide but only one penguin (from hide) struggling up a cliff-face. It stopped for a breather, but out of our sight. On the way back along the beach we saw another climbing up a sand face. Fran had real trouble getting back from the beach, having great difficulty on the loose sand of a few dunes. We ended up with me at one end of a stick pulling Fran at the other (lower) end. Even so, it took a long time and gave Fran a bit of a scare.
After that, and a drive back along a narrow ridge with strong winds pushing us in both directions (but not at the same time), we were back at the motel by 2245. Fran went straight to bed. I piggybacked on an open network and checked my email, then transferred and processed photos, summarised my blog (no detail, as it was getting late), did some other work and then went to bed.