With Cyclone Gabrielle on everyone’s minds, autumn crept up on us all, and before I knew it, winter was coming.
As the summer we barely got to enjoy was coming to an end, it was getting darker faster and autumn was really settling in. I found myself getting quite tired and sad, which I have labelled as the pre-winter blues.
Feeling like I was about to get stuck in a rabbit hole, I messaged my long-distance boyfriend, Matt, and said “let’s run away”.
No, that was a joke, but I did ask if he had a few days he could take off so we could go on a little road trip - no work, no worries.
Now, keep in mind we are both 22, saving for our first home (which seems unattainable in this economy) and are trying to sustain a long-distance relationship with regular trips between the North and South Islands to see each other, so this trip had to be on a budget.
Walking down the Tunnel Beach track the views of the natural rock archway/land bridge and crashing waves had us saying 'wow' the whole walk down. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
No strangers to a budget holiday, we threw a mattress, blankets and camping stuff into the back of Matt’s Hilux Surf and hit the road, driving the nearly five hours to Dunedin, where we booked into a holiday park, set up for the night and had dinner while watching others around the campsite fix their rally cars and a kids’ baseball team play hide and seek.
By the end of the day, I was tired from all that driving Matt did and decided an early night was best.
The next morning, the sun was out and we were eager and energetic, so we headed off to do a little one-hour return walk to Tunnel Beach.
Known for its coastal views, including a natural rock archway/land bridge and access through an historic 1870s tunnel to a small but beautiful beach nestled among towering sea-carved sandstone cliffs, Tunnel Beach was the one walk I had on my must-do list while where were down south.
The wind had picked up and the grey clouds had come in as we parked at the top of the walk. However, we were determined, so jackets went on and we headed down the steep but picturesque track.
The historic 1870s Tunnel Beach tunnel takes you through solid rock to a little beach beneath a towering sea-carved sandstone cliff. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
At some points, the decline walking down to the land bridge felt practically vertical, and by the time we got through the 150-something-year-old tunnel, my legs were shaking, the rain had started drizzling and the wind was howling.
Making it to the mass of the natural limestone and rock land bridge, accompanied by the crashing waves, was truly breathtaking, and walking through the man-made tunnel carved through the middle of the cliffside was like walking into another world, although I would love to go back in better weather at low tide.
Walking back up that steep track was another story. I could feel the burn in my calves, thighs and lungs.
I was so overheated I had stripped my layers off and was climbing up the track in a T-shirt as people were coming down the track in beanies and raincoats.
Even with the rain and wind, the Tunnel Beach track is one I would recommend everyone check out if they get a chance. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
The rain kept our outdoor activities to a minimum and we spent the day exploring Dunedin’s inner city and the stunning 149-year-old Larnach Castle, and ended the night at the movies before heading back to our campsite.
The next day, the sun was out and we were looking forward to more big walks - however, I soon discovered I had pulled every muscle imaginable in both my calves and it was rather painful to walk. After Matt laughed at me for a while, we decided to check out Nugget Point, roughly 30 minutes out of Balclutha.
I have never seen the ocean look so beautiful against the cliffs. It was an amazing, dark turquoise-blue colour, and the whitecaps popped as the ocean made contact with the jagged nuggets of rock sticking out of the peninsula.
We couldn’t have asked for a clearer day to go out to the Nugget Point lighthouse. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
While my legs were still sore, the walk stretched them out, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day.
Making it back to the truck was a rush, as we wanted to get back to the Otago Peninsula for a Nature’s Wonders wildlife tour at 3.30pm. We thought we were making good time, only to realise we still had to drive out to the peninsula - and there was a 40-kilometre speed limit as we were right in the middle of after-school traffic.
One curious Fur Seals came up to tour our tour group and would have been around a meter or less away from me. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
This wildlife tour was the highlight of the trip for me. A coach takes you across a private family farm to the breeding habitat of yellow-eyed penguins, blue penguins and New Zealand fur seals.
Not only was the tour guide funny and informative, but we got to see seal pups learning how to swim in rock pools below the coastal cliffs, and saw some bathing in the afternoon sun up on the clifftops.
One curious pup even came up to the grassy clifftop less than a metre away from us - I was in awe of this little pup, and its big black eyes were just staring at me.
We got to see blue penguins up close and personal in the middle of their catastrophic moult, when they lose and replace all of their feathers at once.
This Wildlife tour with Natures Wonders was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares
We also got to use binoculars to see yellow-eyed penguins in their nests along the grassy sand dune at the base of the peninsula’s cliff face.
The tour with Nature’s Wonders is definitely something I would happily do again. It was such an amazing experience.
We left Dunedin that night and made our way to Moeraki Boulders Holiday Park in the dark, where we parked up for the night, and the next day we went out to check some of the most famous rocks in New Zealand.
While at first I really wasn’t too impressed with the Moeraki boulders, once I really started to look at them and think about how long the ocean has been carving out the almost perfectly spherical boulders, I was rather amazed.
We made our way home to Christchurch feeling like we both had a nice few days away from work. It was definitely what I needed to beat those pre-winter blues.
