Today started as a damp squib but has ended as the most exhilarating day since our zodiac boat trip in Canada! We woke to rain and continued mistiness, so after a final trip to Everyday Gourmet for our lunch items, we left Dunedin and headed south.

We knew we had the whole day and not particularly far to travel so were tempted off the beaten track to Sinclair Wetlands. We nearly turned round at one point as the road kept changing from tarmac to track but we persevered and eventually found the place in the middle of nowhere! As a birdy place it seemed quite promising and we needed a walk but it delivered relatively few birds and the signage was not all it might have been so we ended up walking rather further than we had planned!

We drove on and found a cafe in the next town for coffee and hot chocolate so that was good! We soon found the road to the Catlins coast and by lunch time were at the place we are staying tonight - Kaka Point. It was too soon to check in but we found a picnic area with a good view of the beach and sea and ate there. The weather had improved somewhat since leaving Dunedin but remained inclined to rain and now, by the coast, very windy! I suppose being exposed to the Southern Ocean and with nothing between us and Antarctica it must be a rather windy place.

After lunch we drove on a little further to a place called Nugget View. It was a spur of land sticking out into the sea with some rock stacks at the end of it and steep cliffs all round with a lighthouse on top. We were able to see a colony of spoonbills nesting in the lee of one rock, which seemed fairly incredible given the wind and precarious nature of the cliff. However it was the furthest point which was so exhilarating. You could hardly stand up with the wind and the waves were smashing into the stacks. There were amazing strands of seaweed being buffeted by the sea. Some looked like spaghetti and others (to continue the pasta theme) looked like papardelle - you know the broad ribbons of pasta!

It was quite windy!

View from Nugget Point

On our return we stopped at a small beach where we knew yellow- eyed penguins came ashore to nest but didn't see any as we were too early. We finally checked in at our motel and were given a lovely room with superb views up and down the coast. It also has a spa bath! The owner suggested we go back to the penguin beach at 8pm as previous guests had seen 12 the previous night.

By now the weather had improved greatly and we actually had some sun! We went down the road to the only restaurant around for dinner and had blue cod and veg, which was all very nice. Then we decided we had to have another go at seeing the penguins so headed off to Roaring Bay again. Yellow-eyed penguins are very rare and endangered so to have a chance to see them was irresistible! Sure enough as we approached the hide we could see one penguin coming up the beach and he/she was followed by 8 more over the next half hour or so! We were thrilled! And so a rather unpromising day comes to a very satisfactory end - except that we still have the spa bath to come!

Yellow eyed penguins coming home to their chicks

Today's whilst not exactly a washout has definitely been a whiteout! We understand that you may have had white in the form of snow but we have had white in the form of mist! We set off for the Otago Peninsula soon after 9am having been to our favourite cafe again for essential supplies!

The weather wasn't great then and as we climbed up onto the Peninsula we disappeared into low cloud, which swallowed us up for the rest of our trip. We think the views should have been spectacular but I guess we will have to come again to confirm that! A planned walk to Lovers Leap and the Chasm was quickly abandoned and we drove on up the Peninsula in the hope that the early morning mist would clear. It certainly was a little better down near the coast but there were no views across to the nearby mainland.

We continued on hopefully to the Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head as we had a tour booked and thought we could kill some time beforehand having coffee. However when we arrived at just after 10am the centre wasn't open. Although it was drizzling nastily we did a short walk down to a nearby beach and saw some seals but then decided to retrace our steps to the nearest cafe for coffee. This proved to be some distance away in Portobello but it did a good "flat white", which restored our humour if not our faith in the weather!

Fur seals

We then went back to Taiaroa Head - passing through the same roadworks with one lane working for the 3rd time! If the people working the stop signs hadn't kept swapping over we'd have become good friends by then! We did stop briefly to birdwatch and added a good number of seabirds to our holiday list not to mention lots of black swans and an Australasian harrier!

Back at the Royal Albatross Centre we were able to swap our tour for an earlier one. This involved a talk and video and then a walk to a hide to observe the albatrosses sitting on eggs or chicks. These particular albatrosses - and it is the albatrosses that are royal not the centre despite having been visited by royalty - only nest in 2 places and this is the only mainland place in the world. To get close up viewing of them was very special and we will be able to bore you with lots more detail on our return!

Northern royal albatross on chick

We had lunch at the centre and then went outside to see if we could see any albatrosses flying. Despite the mistiness we were rewarded with several flypasts and 2 albatrosses flying together so a somewhat dismal day was salvaged and we were delighted!

An albatross has a much bigger wingspan than me!

We returned to our motel and put the rest of the afternoon to good use by doing our washing! Well you have to do some at some point so it might as well be on a drizzly one!

Today we have done two of the things we really wanted to do
last time we were in NZ but couldn't fit them in. Firstly we travelled on the Taieri Gorge Railway and secondly we went to see the Moeraki Marbles.

Before embarking on the railway journey we returned to our favourite Dunedin cafe (from yesterday) and bought another cake and veggie scones for lunch. When I say cake I mean a cup cake sized one, just in case you think we have become totally cake obsessed! The ginger slice we bought yesterday was excellent though!

The train took us right up the Taieri Gorge through tunnels and over seemingly ricketty bridges up to a place called Pukerangi. I say place but if the railway hadn't stopped there it wouldn't exist.

The scenery was great varying from steep sided gorge to extensive plains. We spotted some wild goats and several raptors but not sure what they were. Steve spent a lot of time in the observation car with his photography kit!

Typical gorge view

The plain at Pukerangi

Once back in Dunedin we set off north to see the Moeraki Marbles. It is hard to describe exactly what they are or how they were formed so a photo may help! Basically they are big, perfectly spherical rocks on a beach not far from here! They are  weird but well worth a visit and qualify for today's quirky activity!

On the way up there we stopped off to see some seals basking on the rocks. The sea was quite rough but the coastline is very beautiful and despite a chilly wind it was worth the detour. On the way back we went via Trotter's Gorge to see the limestone formations, including some caves. This necessitated a walk through typical New Zealand forest which helps you understand why the fern leaf is their national symbol. We think fern is bracken but they have taken fern to whole new heights in their tree ferns!

Tonight we went to a local Asian cuisine restaurant and had a very enjoyable meal but couldn't manage to finish it as it was so big!

The weather has been distinctly English summer today - warmish at times but fairly cloudy and with mistiness on the hilltops. Latterly it has got a bit chilly but I guess its still a good deal warmer than you are experiencing so we mustn't complain!

We find it hard to cope with losing a day and going from being 8 hours behind UK to being 13 hours ahead so I'm not sure how you will sort it out! Anyway we are now in New Zealand having arrived at 7am on 28th! We arrived in Auckland and had to catch another flight to Dunedin. We had just about enough time to do this, though a stubbornly motionless conveyor belt threatened to part us from our luggage at the bag drop!

However all was resolved and we had a good flight, though to be honest I've had enough flying for now. I don't care of I don't see another plane for  - oh at least another fortnight! We picked up our car and we have been given an upgrade to something approaching a tank in size! It's a Toyota Highlander if that means anything to you. Steve is a bit disgusted as he is very disparaging about 4wd normally but he likes the parking camera!

We made our way into Dunedin and found some lunch at a great cafe. It was in the Rough Guide and was worthy of its recommendation. Not only did it have a very good pasta dish that we ate then and there but it had lovely cakes that we bought for later and we are planning on returning tomorrow!

We walked round the city a bit to get a feel for the place - it has a strong Scottish element and we found several references to Robbie Burns! We visited the Chinese Gardens which were a pleasant oasis and a tribute to the part played by the Chinese in Dunedin's past.

We like to do some quirky things on holiday and today we walked up Baldwin St, the steepest street in the world, according to the Guiness Book of Records! It was very steep and took a good deal of huffing and puffing to get to the top but we managed it despite our increasing jetlag!

Baldwin St, 1 in 2.86 - from the bottom

Since then we have checked in at our motel and have a very nice room with all the facilities we need. We were certainly very glad to be able to have a shower and sort out our cases. It has made us feel a lot better! The motel is quite close to the beach and we wandered up there at about 7.30pm. I had a paddle and we sat on the beach watching the terns fishing and the sun sinking - though it has only just set at gone 9pm!

Today (26th Jan) dawned a little cloudy but we were still up and ready for a walk by 9 o'clock having had our bagels again and repacked from scratch as everything was in such a mess! This time we walked along the beach in the opposite direction towards Venice. The route was shared with lots of people exercising in different ways and it was pleasantly warm.

On our return to the hotel we checked out and headed off north to Malibu. This proved surprisingly uninspiring - just many miles of buildings on both sides of the road preventing us from seeing the sea and many were not very attractive! We decided not to stop at this point and continued on to Point Dume beach. This was a lovely beach with small surfable waves and we spent an hour or so watching the pelicans flying past and surfers failing dismally to surf!

It was still comfortably warm despite only occasional glimpses of the sun. I had a paddle - mainly to say I had paddled in the Pacific in January! Steve remained steadfastly out of the water!

We then made our way back to Malibu to eat at a restaurant we had identified through Tripadviser. This proved a good move as we had a most enjoyable lunch and ordered a sandwich to take with us for later.

After lunch we decided to head away from the coast and up into the Santa Monica mountains. We chose a route we thought would take us on a loop and back to Santa Monica but after travelling along it for some miles it stopped abruptly and became a track! We had to turn round and retrace our steps. When we were nearly back at the coast we found a sign for Solstice Canyon and decided to explore there. We had an enjoyable if noisy walk as a flock of parrots kicked up a right cacophony and were joined by frogs croaking near the river, not to mention all the other bird calls. At one point we had the option of taking a loop back and soon found ourselves scrambling over stepping stones as we crisscrossed the stream bed. This sounds a bit precarious but actually wasn't as bad as it sounds as there was very little water in it! California is in the grip of a drought at present. I mention this because it started to rain as we got to the end of our walk - not much to start with but increasingly heavy as the day progressed and in fact continued till we left.

We returned to our hotel as they had said we could use their "restroom" to change before heading off for the airport. It was as well we left with plenty of time as the journey took ages. I'm not sure whether it was just rush hour or perhaps the rain but we crawled along for most of the time and what had taken us about half an hour on Sat took an hour and a half on Mon!

Having handed back the car we ate our pre-bought sandwich and followed it up with a cup of tea and a peanut crunch cookie. I don't know how many calories that was but it was just as well we shared one! Mind you it was yummy!

I did try to write the blog before boarding our flight to NZ but I just didn't have enough time - so sorry to those of you who were expecting it. Since then we have had more trouble with this as I wrote it and then somehow it deleted itself!! Grrr!

I must tell you about our flight though. Some of you will know that we had booked a Sky Couch with Air New Zealand. This is 3 seats together which have footrests which come up to make a flat area with the seat. They give you a mattress topper, pillows and blankets and as long as you don't mind getting cosy with each other its a great way to get your feet up and your head down without spending a fortune on upgrades! It is definitely the best long haul flight we have had!

Having had a fairly early breakfast - and the bagels were very good - we set off for a walk on the beach. This was just a couple of minutes walk away from our hotel. Our nearest point of access to it is at the local Muscle Beach which is set up for all manner of gymnastics and weightlifting. Deciding to give these options a miss this morning, instead we walked onto and along Santa Monica pier. At that time it was relatively quiet though it was thronging later in the day when we came past. It was a beautiful morning - not a cloud in the sky, the sea was flat calm and it was pleasantly warm! Not a great day for surfing so we had to resign ourselves to just walking but it felt great to need only t-shirts and shorts! Sorry to rub that in!

Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, LA

We returned to the hotel to organise ourselves for the main event of the day and then set off for the Getty Museum, about a 15 min drive away. Having parked we were able to take an electric tram up the hill to the museum. It is a stunning place and a great piece of architecture in its own right. We were keen to see the Impressionist works and did so right away. We loved the Monet's we saw and Van Gogh's Irises.

Getty Museum

We followed this up with a walk round the Winter Garden which was stunning! In fact I think that it was the best part of the day! We had a great lunch in the cafe and then viewed a cactus garden and finally some earlier works including 2 Brueghels. It is hard to do justice to the whole experience in a few words but we had a memorable time which has given us a great start to our holiday!

Winter Garden

Guess what?

We thought we would follow up the museum trip with a walk in the hills and had read that Will Rogers Historic State Park had some good trails with views across the city. It didn't look far from the Getty Museum and I'd read that it was off Sunset Boulevard. However it proved a little elusive and was further than we had thought but we did get there in the end! We had a lovely walk and found a few birds that we couldn't identify and one we definitely could - an Anna's hummingbird. It is a remarkable, tiny bird with the most amazing iridescent plumage which changes from greeny purple to bright orangey red as it turns its head!

Rather large beetle, Will Rogers State Park

Following our walk we returned to the hotel via the Pacific Coast Highway. Since then we have been out for a meal. There are hundreds of restaurants within reasonable walking distance but had heard of one particular one before we left home. However that was booked up so we set off for our second choice - which had a queue outside! We resorted to third choice and were able to get a table - outside! I know that seems bit unlikely in January but in LA that is fine! We had a very enjoyable Italian meal and its now 8.45 so nearly time for bed!!

I'm not sure there is much to blog about yet but we have arrived in LA safely and without any hassles. No lost jackets this time! The journey to Heathrow went without hitch. It took about 2 hours and all for £11 each - amazing value!

Having checked in we had a leisurely lunch - very nice eggs Benedict before making our way to the boarding gate. Our Air New Zealand flight left pretty much on time. I have to say that as long haul flights go this was one of the better ones. There was more legroom than often. The entertainment was good - we watched Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel and the food was as good as airline food in economy gets!

We landed in LA at just after 6pm local time and were reasonably quickly through immigration and security. We picked up our hire car and were off to Santa Monica. We reached our hotel with only one wrong turn, which we realised as soon as we had done it!

The Hotel California is a little shabby but given its intentional retro theme is acceptable and it's clean. The bed is comfy and the shower works! What more could we want? No kettle but we successfully managed a cup of tea using the coffee maker! The car is parked just outside the door for a fee that will cost us more than the rental of said car but that's America for you!

We have slept as much as we can - our bodies are telling us it is early afternoon not early morning - so we think it is time to blog and avail ourselves of the free bagels in reception that pass for breakfast! We are close to the beach but as yet haven't seen it because it was dark when we arrived and it is just becoming light as I write! We have plans for the day but I'll keep you guessing about those till my next blog!

A surfboard for headboard - we must be in LA!

We are nearly ready to go! Just the last few things to be crammed into the cases! Turns out there is no room for those of you who hoped to smuggle into one of them!
Don't expect a blog tomorrow though I guess we might have time at Heathrow, as we don't get to LA till 7pm their time and you will all be tucked up in bed. Hopefully there will be something to read by Sunday.

A new perspective on where we're heading!