What a Grey Day!

Saturday 6 June

With a grey & rainy day forecast, there wasn’t much of a sunrise, but I did spot some seals on the rocks at the end of the pier, saw two moons 😉, discovered the plug that drains the sea 😳 and found some beautiful shells in the little bay.

We’d not spent time at South Bay previously so hopped in the Pajero mid-morning and parked up at the end of the Peninsula Walkway - by the stunning Māori waharoa or gateway. There wasn’t much to see in the bay in terms of marine life, but a few shags were resting on the rocks as we set out along the coastal path, and it was still a bit grey and blah at the South Bay lookout where we got our selfie.

We climbed up & up until we came to a stile which crossed into a cow field and offered 2 paths - one up & over and one round the contour. We chose the latter, but so had the cows so it was a challenge of skipping round enormous wet cowpats all the way to the other side!

The views out over the seal colony & the ocean were impressive if a little lacklustre under the grey skies, and we could see rain closing in from both north & south so we turned back. We took the high route this time, up and over (steeper than the photos suggest), and bumped into a group of frustrated whale watchers with their binoculars on top of the hill - not a humpback in sight. Looking down, all these flat rock areas used to be under the sea but seismic uplift has brought them above sea level over the years & centuries.

Back to Banjo for lunch & a siesta as we’d both had a bad night’s sleep then I had a shower and blow dried my hair, which promptly went frizzy in the damp as we met up with Sarah & Marcel from Gallichan Truck Life Nz for a lovely afternoon at The Pier Hotel catching up and hiding from the rain! It’s lovely meeting new friends along the road - these guys live in a huge truck called BEAST and we met them at Ashburton Lakes.

Quick breakfast-for-dinner back in Banjo after we’d said farewell and got a “Cardi Bros” pic, then we walked round the bay to Mayfair Cinema to see “The Christophers” which was fab.

The walk back under the stars was just beautiful - hope this bodes well for sunshine in the morning!