A lovely walk along the peninsula 3

Woke to a gorgeous morning and as we’ve been kinda sluggish for the last few days, decided it was time to start walking off all those ice creams, cooked breakfasts, hearty dinners and late night chocolate munching.

Fantastic day for it and we set off with good intentions. Our first mistake (OK I’ll own it, *my* first mistake) was to stop off at Global Fusion just to “have a look” at the tees. Had a lot of nice ones and the woman in the shop was very nice, chatty, and funny so we got talking… Half an hour later we left after I’d tried on 3 tees, bought one and been pointed in the direction of where I might find the others I had my eye on in the right colour and size.

So we made our way to the i site and got some info about the walk. Then Ace spotted a market across the road. Luckily there wasn’t much going on except lots of old tat and some delicious looking blueberries “hand picked by my grandma” according to cute little grandson. We were sold…

Now it was time to get this walk underway. Along the esplanade…

…past Fyffe House – what’s left of an old whaling station…

…Up to the seal colony where seals were spotted and rocks were explored. Gorgeous blue sea with masses of kelp and other seaweed floating about in it.

And numbers of folk in wetsuits off to try their luck diving for Paua.

Lots of sea birds about including the odd heron and loads of seagulls. Now it’s time for a spot of lunch methinks. Out come the rolls and crisps, seagulls start circling expectantly but we’re on to their tactics by now and nosh is well guarded.

OK time to get this walk under way proper. Up to the viewing spot and along the cliff tops. Stunning, stunning, walk…

…with excellent views of the sea and mountains.

Every few hundred metres it seemed we were looking down on another gorgeous bay with crystal clear blue water, or spying seals basking in the sunshine on the rocks far below. Lots of photo stops and little conversations with other walkers.

A couple of hours later we were in South Bay on the other side of the peninsula for more fantastic views that I didn’t get when I last did this walk, and more importantly a much needed water and ice cream stop. A slow amble along the sea front watching folk out on their boats or playing in the sea and then it was back on the track over the hill through lovely pine forest and back to town where the seagulls were having a party.

By this time it’s around 5.30pm and we’ve been walking (OK admittedly with a few stops) for a good 5 and a half hours so the prospect of cooking dinner wasn’t that appealing. So treated ourselves to a great meal at Thai Siam  in the town centre. I’d eaten there before when the seagulls stole my lunch and the food was still every bit as good as I remembered it and the service still friendly.

All in all a really wonderful day and still got a cuppa tea and cinnamon swirl to look forward to before bed time. Off to Christchurch tomorrow.