Sandfly Bay - Otago Peninsula

Wednesday, June 30.  Today started as a beautiful sunny day -a good day for our trip to Queenstown.  Our last stop before heading to the mountains was to visit Sandfly Bay on the Otago Peninsula just outside of Dunedin.  This bay is a wildlife refuge and is home to sea lions and penguins.  See the pictures of the bay and sea lions -- no penguins as it's not the right time of year.

To get to the bay we drove on Highcliff Road -- a very, very narrow and curvy road.  They don't seem to believe in guard rails or shoulders - yikes!  I am getting more comfortable driving, but still talk to myself at every right turn "turning right, crossing traffic" (kids laugh).  We parked at the top of one of the cliffs and then walked down to the beach.  It was a fun and easy walk down through soft sand (like Lake Michigan sand), but the hike up was a killer.

By noon time we were on our way to Queensland.  It was a 4 hour drive and was the first extended driving we've done.  Kevin and Louise took turns being my co-pilot as we headed to the mountains. 

The temps have been in the 40s while we've been in Dunedin, but they steadily dropped as we headed inland.  We went through a very pretty section where there was "ice fog" that had covered all the trees and plants -- even the wool on the sheep sparkled with ice.  Thankfully the roads were okay.  We arrived in Queenstown shortly before sunset.

The highlight of dinner was sitting next to a family from Ohio (recognized by the Ohio State sweatshirts).  I leaned over and said "O-H" and they replied "I-O" and laughed.  They were traveling with their daughter who had been an exchange student in Australia.