Hannah-papa Blog: Dunedin - Otago Peninsula

Friday 3 April 2015

Dunedin - Otago Peninsula

On Tuesday we went for a day-trip to the Otago Peninsula. This is a magical place created 12m years ago by wizards, and populated by elves and pixies until the first humans arrived just 700 years ago.

Video: Otago Harbour panoramas

First stop was MacAndrew Bay where we mad an impromptu visit to an art exhibition in the village hall.

MacAndrew Bay

The Peninsula has always been a popular place for artists to live, and also a source of inspiration. So I wasn't surprised to see that the variety and quality of the artwork was high.

Art Exhibition

I loved this cake - actually it is a demonstration piece made in plastic, but you can order an edible version in marzipan. I bought a nice pastel landscape of Te Rauone Beach (see below).

Seagull Cake

Then on to Portobello, where I once lived as a student in the days before it was connected to the town sewerage system. (You had to use a chemical toilet and bury the treated poo in the garden. Which rather put me off hosting large dinner-parties).

Portobello and Harbour Cone

Portobello is a little village snuggled at the base of the iconic Harbour Cone (1033'), or 'Harbour Tit' as the locals call it.

'Harbour Tit'

It is hard to look at the landscape of the Peninsula without thinking of the work of local artist Robin White, whose apparently simple screen prints somehow managed to nail the colours and landforms.

Harbour Cone by Robin White (1972)

I've always loved her work, and regret not buying one when I had the chance.

White Oystercatcher and
Harbour Cone by Robin White

These days, one of the most well-known Portobello artists is 'Happy Hens', who spotted a gap in the market for hand-painted ceramic chickens. Who would have guessed this would be so successful?

Amazingly my family all own one. And Rika had bought one for Baba, but since Hannah had accidentally broken it, Rika was happy to take the opportunity to resupply...

... while Hannah played in the playground.

We then carried on to Tairoa Head at the end of the peninsula. Tairoa Head (wiki link) has several notable sights including the famous Royal Albatross colony (which we visited with Baba in 2008, blog link). It also has old fortifications similar to those in Hong Kong including an Armstrong disappearing gun installed in the 1880s to defend Dunedin from the perceived Russian threat (!).

Waikouaiti Coast from Tairoa Head

But this time we visited the local sheep-farm which runs a side-business in eco-tourism called Natures Wonders (website link). They have done a really good job. We had coffee and snacks at the visitors center which makes the most of the terrific location and the views across Blueskin Bay to the equally magical landscape of the Waikouaiti Coast (another of my favorite places).

Then we were taken around the farm on the cool Argo all-terrain-vehicles. This was my first time to see the Peninsula and Harbour from the summit of the headland.

Otakau and the outer Otago Harbour

Until 1840 the headland was occupied by fortified village (Pa) of the Ngai Tahu tribe called Pukekura. On the flat land below is the important village and marae of Otakau (wiki link), from which the province of Otago got its name. The maori had arrived around 1300 initially hunting giant Moa, which became extinct around 1500.

West towards Aramoana, and Blusekin Bay (right)

The first European settlement in Otago was the Weller Brothers whaling station established at Otakou in 1831 (link), followed by another near Waikouaiti in 1837 (link), although sealers has been active along to coast from 1809. (See this link for an interesing account of the often fraught interactions between local maori and the early europeans).

By 1840 the formerly huge seal and whale populations had been largely destroyed. Fortunately, they avoided extinction. Whale populations have gradually recovered and they are now often seen off the heads.

Pipikaretu Beach

In fact, Tairoa Head is now a haven for wildlife, especially birds, partly because of extensive fencing and traps to control pests like rats, cats, stoats and weasels which normally prey on vulnerable birds, eggs and juveniles.

Video: Natures Wonders Tour:

The tour took us down to the beach where a colony of NZ seals were resting. Many of the seals were pups laying-up while their mothers went fishing. The guide told us that only 30% of seals make it to maturity, as sharks and Orcas are very fond of eating Seal McNuggets.

The seals were very relaxed around humans and we could observe them up-close.

NZ Fur Seal

Then on to penguin beach where little-blue penguins hatch in the sandy scrub at the bottom of the cliffs. We couldn't see any penguins on the beach this time, but the guide opened some small doors in the side of the 'hide', and we could see small baby penguins nesting.

Penguin nests, Penguin Beach

One of the most amazing sights fro me was large dark patches on the surface of the see far off the headland. These are schools of fish, driven to the surface by packs of dolphins or whales, which then attract flocks of sea-birds.

Schools of fish off Tairoa Head

I'd never seen anything like it, and was rather surprised by the bio-mass of fish that these blobs must represent.

Schools of fish

As we left the headland the weather brightened up and the landscape became very picturesque.

Aramoana and outer Otago Harbor from Tairoa Head

Video: Tairoa Head Panorama

On the way back home we stopped at Te Rauone Beach near Otakou, the subject of the pastel landscape I'd just bought.

Te Rauone Beach

As you can see by comparing the drawing with the photo above, the artist has moved the headland in the background south by about 500m to improve the composition.