Seal Adventure (The Non-Seal Parts)

Between Christmas and New Years, J and I went on a Seal Coast Safari. I found out about it when I saw a deal on Grabone, and it looked neat, and excellent value for the very discounted price, so off we went!

I took lots of pictures throughout the whole experience - so many that I decided to break the post into two parts. This post will be the non-seal parts, and then the next part will be the seal extravaganza.

We started out downtown, where we met our guide and the other people going on the tour. Four out of six of them were Americans on holiday, which was pretty funny! It was the first time we were in a group where Americans were in the majority since we got here. The Americans and the other people were all nice, which was good, because we all piled into a big Jeep off-road vehicle. It wasn't cramped, but it was cozy.

This is our guide. Sadly, I can't remember his name, but he was very friendly, informative, and a confident and adept driver, even in difficult conditions.

First, we went up to the wind turbine on a hill above the suburb of Brooklyn. 

From there, we had great views over the city, from a completely different angle than the ones we get from our house or Makara Peak, so that was fun.

J is not as impressed with amazing views as I am, but he enjoyed them.

We were confused by this view, which seemed to show two completely separate bodies of water where we were expecting to see one. J pulled up on Google maps, and unsurprisingly, when you actually pay attention to where things are, it makes total sense. The closer body of water is Evans Bay, which is long thin, and divided from the rest of the harbour by Miramar. Which I did know, but in too abstract a way for it to come into play when I actually saw it.

As we headed further away from the city, out to the opposite coast, we went past this "radar tower" that looks like a golf ball. I don't fully understand its purpose, but it is very cool-looking. It has to have the golf ball, as well as the thick concrete walls around it, because the winds up at the top of these hills are so strong. Our guide told us that the previous day's tour hadn't been able to get out at the higher stops at all because of the wind. When we went, there was almost no wind in town, but even so, it was blustery up there!

We stopped at the peak of Hawkins Hill, which is 500m (1640ft) above sea level. I continue to think that is crazy, when we can see the ocean right there! If it weren't cloudy, we would have been able to see the South Island. Our guide was disappointed not to be able to show it to us, but J and I have seen it from several places in Wellington, so we weren't worried.

We drove down, down, down through the rolling hills to the beach, and then drove along the beach itself.

We saw lots of shags (cormorants), which I always love.

We splashed across several streams, and went along some narrow paths, like this one up against the steep hill.

Sometimes the tyres spun out in the sand, but our driver assured us that as long as you're confident and don't go too slow, you won't get stuck. He then entertained us with many stories of people who had gotten stuck, which was hilarious!

There was more driftwood and such on the beach at that time, as a result of landslides from the earthquake and floods in November, as well as from the higher level of the sea itself during the floods.

There were crazy, rocky places like this that we drove through. Can you imagine getting a vehicle through there? Our guide handled it amazingly, and we were jolted around enough to feel adventurous, but not so much that we were uncomfortable.

We stopped and saw some beautiful deer on a family farm. They were so calm, and not scared at all.

We fed them muffins, and this one and I became friends. The ducks were very friendly as well, but I wasn't as focused on being their friend.

After that, we saw the seals, which was completely wonderful, and about which I will tell you in my next post.

On the way back, we went past the road we'd used to get onto the beach, and went the other way along the coastline to Red Rocks. I'd heard of Red Rocks, and people had told us to go walking there, but we hadn't made it happen yet. I didn't realize how red the rocks would actually be!

There is this strip of red rocks that runs through the normal-coloured rocks, just at this one place. It is a clear-cut line, not fading in or out at all. I found it very interesting.

Well, that's quite a lot of adventure already, but stay tuned for the seals!