Otago Peninsula (Portobello) to Milton to Kaka Point (Nugget Point)

Wow! Otago Peninsula was something I don't think either of us expected. Stunning in everyway possible. With stunning comes hills...with hills comes steep...with steep comes torture. We both knew this was going to be a difficult day. If there was any possiblity of making this day easier without physically getting on a bus - we were going to do it. Yeah, right...shortcuts never work.

Dunedin holds the world's steepest street. Although our destination did not require us to climb over this part of Dunedin, it surely did require working equally as hard. We took the Southern Scenic Tourist Route which gave us great views of the South Pacific Ocean but eventually we'd have to work our way back to SH1. Our end destination would be Milton, just north of the Catlins. A portion of the scenic route was supposedly gravel...this portion we knew was going to be hilly. This would make for a steep and interesting day. Fortunately upon our arrival it was sealed (blessing in disguise). The rest of our cycling will go down into history. See picture of me pushing bike up hill/peak. All in all we were pretty astounded with our accomplishment. 50 miles all within reasonable time to Milton - considering the amount of ups/downs we did that day...we were pretty pleased. I know we talk alot about what the cycling is like within the blog. I think it's our opportunity to process what our bodies feel.

Milton to Kaka Point (Nugget Bay) - Tuesday, February 26th. We need to start taking time to do things other than just riding our bikes. The trip starts to become about the bike and not about the sights. Can get frustrating because you don't see as much. We decided to cut our day short (30 miles) and hit Kaka Point (Nugget Point) to see some rare Yellow-eyed penguins. Nugget Point is sort of an oddity. This is one of the only places that you can see fur seals, sea lions, and some other type of seal all in one area. Nugget Bay is also breeding grounds for Little Blue penguins, the rare Yellow-Eyed penguin, and Gannets. Plethora of wildlife! Bingo!

We arrived at Kaka Point around 2:00 PM. Easy day but we still had to get out to Nugget Point which was another 6 miles one way - gravel road. Clouds were rolling in but that wasn't going to stop us from witnessing nature. DOC had a viewing site to watch the female penguins come in from their long day of feasting. Paul might have already said this but the Yellow-Eyed penguin ventures up to 40km off shore to fill up on fish for their chicks. The male penguins stick around the nest protecting the young and molting. Their nests sit high on steep slopes of scraggy bush and grass. Each day the little ladies hobble down the hillside and rocks to then swim miles just to keep the next generation kicking. It's said there are only 3,000 breeding penguins which apparently makes them the rarest of all penguins. Farming, food chain depletion, and breeding interferences (humans) have placed this shy penguin close to destruction. Witnessing this little penguin at work brings a tear to your eye. The females return to feed their young anytime between the hours of 6:00 to 10:00 PM...or not at all depending if there's something impeding it's route onshore. We saw 4 penguins that night. You might be able to see them in the pictures below. I think you can click on the picture to blow it up.