A Day On the Dunes...

Dunedin, New Zealand

May 20, 2007
S 45°52.447
E 170°30.195

Dunedin is a college town located along the Otago Peninsula, very close to the Pacific Ocean. The city center is in the shape of an octagon, with all major streets stemming off one of the eight corners. Definitely not the most user friendly city we have visited, but more of a challenge to find things when exploring. Also, there are many very steep hills, so if you get lost it is easy to go to the top of a nearby hill and find your way.

From our Top 10 Holiday Park we have a straight shot to the center of the octagon via Stuart Street and that is where we headed this morning. Our plan was to grab a cup of coffee, take a ride out to the Peninsula for a hike, and hopefully catch a glimpse of the yellow-eyed penguin native to this region of the South Island.

We hit the trail just after 1:00 PM, sun shining and only a slight chill in the autumn air. A clearly-marked path led us down to the ocean over massive dunes of very fine sand. As we walked down the dunes, we commented it felt more like walking in a fine powdered snow. We immediately knew it would be a tough climb back to the trail head, but we could already tell the views would be worth it.

The yellow-eyed penguins are an endangered species that breed along the Otago Peninsula. The Department of Conservation built a hide at the top of a dune about 100 feet above Sandfly Beach for people like us to view the shy birds, all while keeping the penguins comfortable in their natural habitat. The hide, very similar to a duck blind, had a small slit in the wall that allowed you to look out upon the beach and water below as the penguins swam in from the waters after a long day of eating. They normally arrive on the beach a little before dusk and then make their way back out into the ocean before dawn.

Still having several hours before dusk we decided to hike to Lover’s Leap, approximately 2 KM away. Following the trail that led us straight up the giant sand dunes, our goal was to get to each marker before looking for the next one. This was a good idea at first, but the fine sand made it feel like we were walking in place… two steps forward, one step back. When we finally reached the top, we looked at the spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean with the sand dunes in the foreground—the site was breathtaking, literally.

We caught our breath for a few minutes before cutting across a path of thick brush and stinging thistles to reach Lover’s Leap. We took a quick view of the stunning coastline from Lover’s Leap and since neither of us was ready to jump we decided to head back the way we came. We were there to see the penguins and didn’t want to miss our opportunity.

Marc took a GPS reading at the top of the dune and estimated the climb up was 600 feet in .9 miles, approximately a 12% grade! We took off running down the mountain of sand in our Tevas, at times nearly stepping in sand up to our knees. The climb up the dune took us at least 40 minutes, and the run down the mountain of sand took a mere 10. After Marc took all of his measurements and geeked-out with his GPS a little, we headed back to the penguin hide.

Without any luck, we sat in the hide for about an hour patiently waiting for the coveted yellow-eyed penguins. The only thing we spotted on the beach and rocks below were a few sea lions being harassed by seagulls. It probably wasn’t dark enough for the penguins to come ashore, or they saw people on the beach and decided to stay in the water where it was safe.

We decided to head back to the trailhead at around 4:20 PM. We still had a steep climb up one more massive dune, and since the sun was going down the temperature was going to drop rapidly. The wind was now ripping off the ocean and propelled the fine grains of sand into our nose, ears, mouth, hair and any orifice that wasn’t covered. We were ready to get out of there; our sunny day at the beach was over.

When we left the penguin hide a group of sea lions was on the beach blocking our access to the trail. They were fighting, harassing and generally being assholes to each other. They stood between us and our warm car. We decided these fat slovenly beasts were no match for our speed and we ran between the ocean and the dunes to get around them… too fast for them to chase.

We finally made it back to our car, got warm and started the drive back to Dunedin—admiring the views of the dunes and the Pacific Ocean the whole way.