The drive from Te Anau to Curio Bay felt much longer than the advertised three hours even accounting for the stops I made along the way.  I think one of the reasons was the fact that there was not a direct route and I was winding around on what passes for backroads in New Zealand.  The scenery was beautiful though (as it has been everywhere) and I pulled off when I could to get photos.  As I headed south and then east, I eventually left the mountains behind and emerged into rolling hills dotted with sheep.  The landscape looked like a giant green and white polka dot tablecloth that had been rumpled and left in disarray as far as the eye could see.  While sheep were the most prevalent livestock, I also ran across plenty of cows and more of the mysterious deer farms.  The density of animals in the countryside was sufficient to add a permanent aroma to the air; I knew I was in the country!  Like my experience on the west coast, I saw plenty of rivers draining, south in this case, towards the ocean with the accompanying one lane bridge crossings. I also saw tons of large trees that had been blown over and in many of the fields I passed there were HUGE stacks of tree limbs, a result of the post-storm cleanup.  I had heard that the storm I sat through earlier (Murchison, when the roads were all getting closed on the west coast) had hit the east side of the island much harder.  Seeing the number and size of the trees that were down, I believe it!

The view back towards the west as I was driving east. The countryside turned decidedly agricultural.

One of the stops I made, as I was working my way to Curio Bay, was at Gemstone Beach.  If you are a rock person and you want a place to go to get a wide variety of sizes, colors and types of rocks, then Gemstone Beach is a sure bet.  The whole beach is littered with stones, and the lore has it that, if you look closely and spend some time there, it is possible to find actual gemstones.  When I arrived, there were several groups crouched down in the sand, looking serious about finding something.  I took a walk on the beach and picked out a few stones but did not put any work into testing the rumor about gemstones.  (It was super windy, like all the New Zealand beaches I have visited.)

I continued my journey, which was complicated by the fact that my map app, which had plotted my route to Curio Bay, took me via a few small towns and a gravel road. It was a bit sporty with my cell phone signal coming and going and the route markings not great, but I eventually found my way to the Curio Bay campground.  The bay is a remote, picturesque bay,  and I had selected it for a stop just to have some down time in a peaceful locale.  So that is what I did while I was there—nothing!

Curio Bay, or part of it. It was big enough that I could not get the whole bay into one frame.

I arrived early evening, so once I got settled, I called it a day.  It rained for half the day the next morning, but when the rain ended, I walked around the bay and simply just hung out and enjoyed the scenery.  The water reflected multiple shades of green and some blues that were somehow still different than the blues in the sky and I spent some time fiddling with my camera, trying to capture all the vivid colors.  It was a nice relaxing day—no driving, no decisions about what to do, no energy required.  (I did do a little work via wi-fi to catch up on some email, but nothing that required a lot of thinking!!!)

The next morning I headed out to Dunedin, where I was staying for three nights.  I meandered my way there stopping quite frequently.  I really wanted to see the Cathedral Caves but, unfortunately, they were closed (indefinitely-maybe the area also sustained damage from the storm??) so I kept going to my second planned stop – the Tautuku estuary.  A short walkway led out to the estuary and I enjoyed the silence for a while before heading back to the campervan and continuing my journey.  I also did a short hike to Tahakopa river bay.  Evidence of the bad storm was present on the trail as I had to skirt around and under multiple blown over trees.  Again, on the beach I was the only one there and it was wonderful to have the whole place to myself. As I emerged from the trail, returning to the parking lot, a British couple were just getting ready to head down the path.  We chatted for a bit, I filled them in on the trail, and parted ways. There were several other beautiful beaches and look out points that I visited during my journey to Dunedin- the New Zealand coastline, everywhere, is amazing!

A typical landscape — amazing greens dotted with a yellowing plant (I think it’s gorse) and the blue backdrop of the ocean. Missing from this picture are, of course- the sheep!

The campground in Dunedin was south of the city, near the Otago Peninsula, the focus of my visit.  It was a bit jarring driving into the city (population 133,000) and having to deal with traffic and stop lights and so forth. I had been spoiled with all the country driving, no cars in sight most of the time.  I easily found the holiday park, set up, then wandered over to the nearby beach, only to discover that people were sunning themselves and quite a few were swimming.  I was a bit shocked about the swimming, especially, as the water temperature usually hovers in the 50’s (F).  Yikes!  With an air temperature only in the mid-60s, I doubt I would be enthusiastic about sunbathing either- and yes, it was windy. Dunedin is a university town, however, and most of the people looked like college students…. I headed back to the campervan to make some dinner and settle in with a book for the evening.

The next morning, I had planned to go to the Otago Peninsula, but glancing across the bay it looked like some low clouds were hanging out, rendering any vistas impenetrable, so I changed my plans and decided to explore Dunedin instead.  The weather report guided my choice as it was predicting sun the following day- better for exploring the Peninsula.  I sorted out the bus system and hopped on a bus for the short ride into the city center.  Dunedin is known for its street art, the city council actively encouraging and supporting artists to adorn the sides of buildings with their creations.  After grabbing a steak and cheese pie from a bakery, I went off to find the information center to see if they had a map of where to find the murals that were hidden around the city.  They did and the nice gentleman who provided me the map also suggested an efficient walking route.  Map in hand I set off on my urban hike to view as much of the art as I could find.  It took a couple of hours, but I managed to find about 90% of what was documented on the map. Some of the art was small, elaborate graffiti type murals, while other paintings spanned the surface area of one (or more walls).  If you are ever in Dunedin—get a map and check it out!

Dunedin street art. It was all very whimsical.

Another example of Dunedin street art.

As I was finishing the route, I turned a corner and there was a pub right in front of me, so I stopped for a drink and took a break from the walking.  Refreshed after that interlude I decided to walk back to the campground instead of taking the bus back.  The 50-minute walk was straightforward and I would pass by a grocery store, allowing me to stock up on a few things.  By the time I got back to the campervan, I was ready to chill for the rest of the evening.

Thankfully the weather report did not mislead, and the sun was shining when I headed up the Otago Peninsula the next morning.  I decided to head out to the furthest point on the Peninsula, which happened to be where an albatross colony was located.  Apparently, Otago is one of the few places where it is possible to find albatross nesting on a mainland—they normally nest on remote islands in the south part of the southern hemisphere. (I recall seeing a colony on one of the Falkland Islands during my Antarctic cruise.) New Zealand has a conservation and protection program running for the colony, so they regulate access. As I had seen a large colony before (Falklands), I simply perused the visitor center and walked along the scenic walkway to an overlook.  Even though I did not visit the albatross colony, the walkway was surrounded by a very large colony of sea gulls, so there was plenty of bird action happening.

The furthest point of the Otago Peninsula. The small tower is the observation point for the albatross colony.

The road I followed on the Peninsula wound up until the hills then down again to hug the coast.  The view at the top was incredible (see featured image at the top) as I could see the whole bay and all the way out to the ocean.  The bay is very shallow, which is evident when the tide is out, with a deeper channel hugging the northern shore, also evident when the tide is out.  The view was super distracting while I was driving, but I forced myself to pay attention to the narrow, twisting road!  Luckily there were places to pull over from time to time, which I did, to focus on getting photos that did some justice to the scenery.  The one main road that runs internal to the Peninsula was closed for tree cleanup, so I probably missed some even more spectacular birds-eye views….

After leaving the albatross colony I started my return journey, but with a stop planned at the famous Larnachs castle, which sits high on a hill on the peninsula about halfway back to town.  It was built in the 1870s by a banker and politician, and mimics a castle keep with an Australian architectural twist – a full veranda surrounding the main structure. It is unique in New Zealand and unfortunately had fallen to ruin until a couple bought it in the 1960s and started the restoration process.  Today most of it is restored, but some work continues.  The castle is surrounded by an extensive garden, which can be toured separate from the house.  I spent a couple of hours exploring both the gardens and the house, including climbing up to the turret on top of the house to check out the view (of course!).  By the time I left the castle it was starting to get cloudy and the wind was picking up so I headed back to the campground and settled into my cozy campervan with some wine and a book for the evening.  The next day I was off to Oamaru.

Larnachs castle. Since it was architecturally a combination of a European keep wrapped in a verandah, it didn’t look like a typical castle. the interior room layout was, however, noticeably a square.

View from the turret of the castle. A low cloud was coming into the area at the time, blocking out the sun but the view was still magnificent.