Enjoying Dunedin

This weekend, we were fortunate to have really really nice weather every day! As it's the middle of the winter, the temps average around 45 every day, 30 at night, but the past few days it has been in the 50s and sunny! We couldn't have asked for better timing, as we saw this weather as a great opportunity to explore around Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula! On Friday after class, we took a drive along the peninsula to an Albatross actuary. We then went to Sandfly Bay, a BEAUTIFUL little inlet along the southern edge of the peninsula. We had to hike down sand dunes to get there, but the beach was amazing. There were sea lions lounging around the beach every 100 meters or so, and even Yellow-Eyed Penguins, one of the rarest type of penguin in the world! We saw three, but at nights, they come up out of the ocean and sleep on the beach/in the sand dunes.

Me at Sandfly Bay

Just some sea lions lounging on the beach

Graham & me with a sea lion

Sea lion at sunset

On Saturday, we hiked up Mount Cargill which overlooks the city of Dunedin, the Pacific Ocean, the Otago Peninsula, and the Southern Alps to the north and west. It was so beautiful. Such a great reminder of why we came to New Zealand to study abroad!

Otago Peninsula

Just me!

Michael, Rebecca, me, and Graham!

We loved Sandfly Bay so much on Friday, that we went back on Saturday to show some of our friends! Another great evening on the beach with more sea lions and a beautiful sun set!

Ash, me, Max, ZQ, Michael, Graham, Sarah, and Rebecca at Sandfly Bay

Today, Sunday, we went to Tunnel Beach and St. Clair Beach. Tunnel Beach was a long walk down to beautiful cliffs and the ocean below. We were even able to climb down a little tunnel through a rock to go down to the water...another beautiful spot in Dunedin.

Tunnel Beach!

Down on the water

Panoramic photo of Tunnel Beach from on top of the tunnel!

While making the steep and long walk back up, we decided to go to St. Clair Beach, which is just a couple miles down the road, and much more like an ocean beach where people could swim and surf. It was equally as beautiful. The land scape is so different here, so many hills, mountains, cliffs, and a lot of ocean.

St. Clair Beach

We had a great weekend of exploring and are hoping to do some skiing in Queenstown next weekend!! Hope you all on the east coast are staying out of the heat!