For the first time in a long time, it was almost sunny on a Saturday. Naturally, we celebrated outdoors. We went to Queen Elizabeth Park, which is known for it’s mature costal forest, tram (which is one small car on an equally small track), horse stables, model aeroplane club and most importantly sand dunes. We were sold on the sand dunes and took our camera for the special occasion. To our dismay, the glorious sand dunes were covered in native plants. So, we enjoyed more rolling hills by the sea.

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Last weekend we went out for a walk to Red Rocks. Apparently the Maori believe that Kupe, yes the same Kupe that was hunting a giant octopus in one of our previous posts, came here hunting for shellfish. One clamped his hand and his blood stained the rocks red.

Besides a location for the misadventures of the famous Polynesian explorer, Red Rocks is known for it’s New Zealand fur seal young bachelors who were unsuccessful at achieving the status of breeding male in South Island colonies.

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While chatting with a local gallery owner, he mentioned that the ferry service was halted today because of the stormy weather. He suggested that we drive over to the coast to see for ourselves. So we did. Oddly enough, we ran into quite a few other Wellingtonians driving around the coast and staring into the turbulent sea. And, we weren’t the only one taking photos either.

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Castlepoint was found in 925 by a man named Kupe while trying to catch a giant octopus. Today, over one thousand years later, our beamer was trapped by an impromptu fish market. We had to wait until it was over. Luckily there were only about 30 people in town so it was rather quick.

There is also another lighthouse. Europe is marked by castles. South-east Asia is marked by temples. Here, it’s lighthouses..

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Putangirua Pinnacles were formed 120,000 years ago by rain eroding an ancient gravel deposit. It’s gravely and had a surprising dry, desert feel. We walked through the riverbed and circled up through the mountains.

And yes, like many places in New Zealand, Putangirua Pinnacles was a Lord of the rings filming location.

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Cape Palliser is the southern most tip of the North Island and is further south than a few towns on the South Island. It is home to the largest breeding colony of fur seals in New Zealand. The seals are well camouflaged against the rocks so they are a little hard to spot at first. But then, you notice that their blubbery, log-shaped bodies are everywhere. There are no barriers between people and the seals. Regardless, we weren’t going to hug any of them for fear of getting our hand bit off.

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We drove to the Tararua Forest and went for a day hike. Naturally we picked the Gentle Annie track because it sounded like a nice, leisurely stroll. But, it was false advertising. It was about 60 degrees uphill and about 50 degrees downhill. At least the look out provided panoramic views of the forest.

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