seals – Steffi & Gerry: Trip around the World

Cape Farewell / Wharariki Beach

A short walk to Wharariki Beach in the morning was a pleasant start for this day. The Archway Islands look amazing in the wild ocean, a significant contrast to the seal laying at the beach.

Just a five-minutes-drive away you reach Cape Farewell, the northernmost point of the South Island. Stone arch, seals, and in the distance Farewell Spit, a massive sand bank. Again a scenery almost out of this world.

Cape Farewell – Farewell Spit in the distance (the sandy thing)

But we had to take care of the strong wind blowing over the cliffs – and of the sheep poo. To get a nice picture of a typical New Zealand sheep Gerry had to sing a Peach Weber song: “Bäääähsame, bäääähsame mucho” – and it worked!

A rather long drive to the Cable Bay near Nelson to set up our camp at a farm. This time no kangaroos, but dogs and chicken freely wandering between the camper vans. We liked it!

ChickenFactory office – Gerry and his secretaries

Milford Sound – Fiords, Sharks and a Hike

We joined a small group with Trips & Tramps. It’s a scenic drive to Milford Sound with some good photo stops, e.g the Mirror Lakes.

As written in the previous article, Milford Sound is known as the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world (up to 9 meter rain per year!). Travel guides write it basically rains every day. Might be a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea. However, we had a warm and cloudless day and a wonderful time cruising through the fiords. After spotting some seals we wondered if we could also view some dolphins. Well… no, but even better. Even the captain and the tour guide were surprised, as a tresher shark jumped out of the water – multiple times. Hard to believe, but we have the footage. Gerry’s theory: the beginning of a Sharknado!

The ride back to Te Anau had to be earned. We did the Key Summit Trail hike and enjoyed New Zealand’s alpine region. Well, that was a day, even to our (now very high) benchmarks! Thank you, land of Kiwis!

Mirror Lakes
Milford Sound
Milford Sound
Jumping Tresher Shark
Jumping Tresher Shark
Milford Sound Waterfall
Milford Sound
Trap for stoats and weasels
Key Summit
Key Summit

Nugget Point

Nugget Point is a beautiful, almost kitschy spot with a lighthouse and wild cliffs at the Roaring Bay.

Oh, and seals and sea lions.

On the way back to the main road we had picnic on a nice beach.

Our next neighbor was another seal. We also stopped quickly to take a picture of the famous New Zealand sheep.

Otago Peninsula

It was the description of a campground which took us to the Otago Peninsula, and it was worth the ride. Scenic roads through high hills and wild coasts with abundant wildlife. On the short hike “Seal Point to Sandfly Bay” we almost stepped over two big seals.