Steep greens and deep blues: Mount Charles and Allan's Beach

G'day! I'm finally back with a wee update. I reckon keeping up with a blog is harder than I expected, but I will try to start posting once a week because playing catch-up is heaps harder. Rather than write one giant post, I'll split the last two weeks' events in sections.

Saturday, August 6th was my first time out on the Otago Peninsula! In the morning I met up with a group from the Otago Christian Students club and we drove for about half an hour on a winding road along the coast--a bit foggy and overcast, but really beautiful. We parked on private farmland, and got permission from the owner to start our hike from his property. Our destination was Mount Charles: the highest point on the peninsula, at 1338 feet. (Any Coloradans reading this, stop laughing. Yes, they call that a mountain. :)

No more than five minutes after we hit the trail, we realized that there was no trail, the whole hill was extremely muddy and slippery, and those with cameras had a fantastic advantage over the unfortunate souls who didn't.

Once we were quite wet and dirty and had resigned ourselves to the prospect of several more hours of this, it got better. The terrain was steep so the elevation climb was pretty quick--each time we turned around, the view was even more spectacular than the last one. The sights were breathtaking, and I didn't really have words... so I took lots of pictures.

Allan's Beach

The Pacific

Papanui Inlet

At the top with Gladys

...and everyone else.

After our descent we walked to the beach. The sun was out and the water beckoned, so Naomi and I kicked off our socks and shoes and sprinted into the (freezing cold!!) sparkling blue. What a natural high! We squealed and laughed at how icy the water was, twirled in circles, ran down the beach, and let the moment overwhelm us.

We went looking for wildlife, and found some!

We may have interrupted her nap, but she didn't seem to mind too much. This was the closest I've ever been in real life to a seal. And yes, I now know the difference between a seal and a sea lion. (Not a chance we ever would have gotten so close to a sea lion!"

We ended the excursion driving to a wildlife viewing center. We didn't see any penguins this time, but an albatross appeared right before we left. These birds can have a wingspan of anywhere from 8 to 11.5 feet!


At home, a shower and a cup of tea made a perfect end to a spectacular day!