Portobello Vacation Park

After awakening in the still-cold camper van, I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30am to get pictures of the area during the sunrise. It was more difficult than expected due to the specific location of the sun relative to our campsite, but I think it worked out for a couple of the photos.

Kelceys bush is a "natural" area containing native wildlife and some wallabys that are decended from a breeding pair let loose in the areas decades ago. The walk was pleasant enough, with a small waterfall and some beautiful ferns and flowers, but didn't last particularly long.

This is another shot of some farms along the way between the Mt. Nimrod Scenic Reserve and Timaru.

We stopped at a set of rock drawings along our way from Mt. Nimrod back to Timaru for lunch. The drawings themselves are interesting, but the electric fence that needed to be traversed "at your own risk" was equally so, as were the sheep guarding the way.

After passing over the 45th parallel (the other one), we headed south on NZ1 towards Dunedin. Our first stop was at Moeraki, where there are a series of boulders deposited on the beach which are nearly round. The boulders are not necessarilly unique in the world, but they are definitely interesting. Theory states that they were formed over time when the local mud solidified into rock and then was eroded away by the sea.

Our last touristy stop for the day was at Shag Point, which is supposed to be home for seals and yellow-eyed penguins. The billing did not disappoint. Although we saw only one of the birds, we were able to get close enough to provide some excellent pictures.