Sunday, January 17, 2010
Dave's birthday
On Dave's birthday, New Year's Day, he got invited to go fishing with his good friend Nick and Nick's father-in-law. They drove south two hours to the Mataura River. It was super windy, so Dave could hardly fly fish but he tried. Nick was fishing with bait and caught a wonderful trout.
Murder's Beach
There's a beach near Dunedin called Murder's Beach. I don't know how it got its name, but I'd heard from several people it was beautiful. So the other day after dinner, Dave and I took advantage of the long evening light to go and find it. Here's a view from above.
Here's another view from above, with the obligatory sheep in the foreground.
And here's a view of the gravel road we had to drive down to get to the beach, with our wonderful Honda in the foreground. One of the amazing things about South Island beaches is how often you are the only person there.
We didn't get any good shots of the beach from close up, because the clouds got heavier and there wasn't good light. But we took a detour on the way to the beach and got a wonderful view of the mouth of Otago Harbour. The beach in the view below is Aramoana Beach. On Dave's first day in Dunedin, a friend drove us out to see that beach, and we've never been back. We'll need to remedy that.
The next photo shows the view just left of the previous photo. That's Taiaroa Head with its funny little lighthouse poking up. Below the lighthouse, on those cliffs, is where the albatrosses nest, the only albatross breeding area that's on any kind of mainland. From that viewpoint, with Dave's binoculars we could see albatrosses wheeling around the headland. That gives you an idea of how big those birds are.
Here's another view from above, with the obligatory sheep in the foreground.
And here's a view of the gravel road we had to drive down to get to the beach, with our wonderful Honda in the foreground. One of the amazing things about South Island beaches is how often you are the only person there.
We didn't get any good shots of the beach from close up, because the clouds got heavier and there wasn't good light. But we took a detour on the way to the beach and got a wonderful view of the mouth of Otago Harbour. The beach in the view below is Aramoana Beach. On Dave's first day in Dunedin, a friend drove us out to see that beach, and we've never been back. We'll need to remedy that.
The next photo shows the view just left of the previous photo. That's Taiaroa Head with its funny little lighthouse poking up. Below the lighthouse, on those cliffs, is where the albatrosses nest, the only albatross breeding area that's on any kind of mainland. From that viewpoint, with Dave's binoculars we could see albatrosses wheeling around the headland. That gives you an idea of how big those birds are.
Cargill's Castle
Here's one more picture from the top of Flagstaff. Somewhere on the hill in the background, near that stand of trees right in the middle of the photo on the bluff above the ocean, Dave could see the ruins of a big old house, which he knew was called Cargill's castle. It's in ruins now. A few nights after Dave climbed up Flagstaff, and he and I set off to try to find the ruins. It's clearly marked on the map, and we could see it as we came up over a hill in the car.
The ruin is nestled among modern houses. The map showed two different paths to get to the ruin, but we couldn't find either of them. We drove to the end of a road, where we could see the castle behind some trees when we looked left. You can see it behind Dave. When we looked right, there was a wonderful view down the coast. We figured we'll have to ask at the tourist information center in town to find out how to get to it.
The ruin is nestled among modern houses. The map showed two different paths to get to the ruin, but we couldn't find either of them. We drove to the end of a road, where we could see the castle behind some trees when we looked left. You can see it behind Dave. When we looked right, there was a wonderful view down the coast. We figured we'll have to ask at the tourist information center in town to find out how to get to it.
Flagstaff
Dave's training for one of the New Zealand "great walks" he's going to take in a couple of weeks. These "great walks" are what I would call strenuous hikes. He walked up to the top of Mount Cargill the other day, then a few days later to the top of Flagstaff, the second highest point around Dunedin. Here he is, near the top.
In the next photo, he's looking toward Mount Cargill, the tallest peak around at 660 meters (2165 feet). It's to the left in the photo.
The next photo is a view of Dunedin. The long body of water in the foreground is the Otago Harbour. If you go left down the harbor, you'll come to the ocean. You can also see the ocean in the background.
One more photo of the view from the top.
In the next photo, he's looking toward Mount Cargill, the tallest peak around at 660 meters (2165 feet). It's to the left in the photo.
The next photo is a view of Dunedin. The long body of water in the foreground is the Otago Harbour. If you go left down the harbor, you'll come to the ocean. You can also see the ocean in the background.
One more photo of the view from the top.
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