Oh my was this a beautiful spot. A bit of exercise too as it was over a mile to weave our way down the newly constructed path to the beach. The up was well graded but, as a local just said, “it was a puffer”. As usual, the beach got its name from what you saw, a tunnel. More on that later.
The waves turned this sea kelp into what we likened to a car wash with its brushes swishing back and forth.
I saw a sperm whale and Laurie saw an old man’s face much like the old man of the mountains in NH. It was a sad day when it collapsed a few years back but it appears he was reincarnated here.
We had no idea the beach was called Tunnel Beach because there was literally a hand dug tunnel through the mountain down to the beach. Wild!
We knew this would be an adventure when we saw this signage. We love the idea that just because something has potential danger involved their government does not simply shut it down. Again, much like New Hampshire.
As we were visiting at lowish tide we had quite a bit of beach to explore. Amazing that so many things to see and do here are tidal specific.
Cool little cave to explore. Almost got wet going in as the tide began to come in. Our trusty hiking boots kept us dry.
Laurie is dwarfed by another “old man of the mountains”. Can you see the face in that huge limestone rock?
Never did have the urge to be a rock climber but I figured this one had to be stood on.
Tides coming in so it’s time to vacate the beach and head on to another adventure. What a cool tunnel. Cannot believe someone did this without those crazy tunnel boring machines used for the highways these days.
Off to what is called Seal Beach. We figured there would be some cool wildlife to view there. We were not aware that these beasts actually climb out of the water and waddle quite a long way inland.
The path down to the beach was quite steep and sandy but no problem with a bit of time and care. At least if we took a tumble it would be on sand and not rock!
The sign at the carpark said to stay 20 meters away from these creatures. We did not bring our tape measure and even if we did it is not ticked off in metric. He is actually yawning here and not upset. As soon as I snapped this picture he plopped back down in the sand and continued his nap.
We counted 7 seals napping on this day. Should that be part of the 12 days of Christmas tune? These did not move even though we were making a bit of noise.
It was a rather windy day and when the surf rolled it the white caps and their splash were blowing horizontally. Not sure you can see it here but it is a nice scene anyway.
We thought it pretty cool that the “flipper prints” were still visible in the sand.
Did not get to see any of the odd looking penguins today but a picture of the kiosk was interesting enough. They stay out feeding in the ocean all day and come into the beach to sleep at night.
We learned the differences between a New Zealand seal and a sea lion this day. Allan Beach had sea lions that were quite a bit larger than a seal and had a mane of fur on the top half of its body. Both species seemed particularly lazy to us. Not a single sea lion moved for us today.
They try to cover themselves in sand to keep the flies at bay while they nap. Did not hear any snoring from this soul.
Our accommodations near Dunedin was this Tiny Home. Really cool place with really nice hosts to boot. Spent some time comparing notes between our tiny home and this one as well as all other things NZ vs. US. They even invited us to their place on a nearby river to use their kayaks.
The downstairs was actually fairly roomy. Complete with a dishwasher and washing machine.
Upstairs was a nice sitting room and a queen size bed. I did have to duck before I covered when getting into bed.
Laurie is muscling her way up river, against the tide and into an extremely stiff head wind! Click above to view her in action. So nice of our hosts Greg and Angela to allow us to use their boats. These are smaller boats than we are used to but we found them very responsive and much lighter to carry.
From the farm………..
To the grocery store!! The only deer we saw on either of the two islands were in the fields being raised on farms and in the store.
Cool! I saw the old man and Eric saw the whale!!
Did you eat the venison?
Go Laurie!!!!
Tunnels at Tunnel Beach- NZ keeps true to its direct naming!
Sure hope you evaded any seals on the road. If they’re anything like NY deer, it could be quite the challenge.
The views continue to be awe-inspiring!