Otago and the Catlins; a special place

This is just a copy of my email, don't have much time left here:


Flew all the way back to Auckland yesterday, after a good few days in Southland/Otago. I did see the sea-lions at Cannibal Bay, and adjacent Surat Bay. At first the beach looked deserted, until I realised som old logs and piles of seaweed were actually sea-lions! I saw about a dozen altogether and had a ball photographing them. One big one gave me a fright, popped out of the surf while I was looking the other way! They don't move so fast, but all the notice boards warn you not get too close, or between them and the water. If they take a threatening attitude you get out of there, fast. Surat Bay is terrific, a remote and deserted beach, I had to walk a long way over sand-dunes to get there. Found a lot of sea-lions, playing in the surf and lying around on the beach. It was so beautiful I stayed to watch the sunset and only got back to Dunedin at 9pm. The albatross and penguin places were a bit of a disappointment, they only give you a few minutes at the hides before the guides chivvy you on. However, to be fair, those birds are very precious, and access is strictly controlled. Anyway, it's their country. The albatross nursery is particularly sensitive, it is the only nesting place of the Royal Albatross in the world, -- unless there are other sites on the sub-antarctic islands south of here.

There was an old man from SA,
Who went down to Cannibal Bay.
Lots of sea-lions he saw,
Right there on the shore,
And when he got home he had so much to tell he couldn't stop talking all day.

I'm to Perth tomorrow, photos are still on the memory cards and will only be sorted when I get back to SA!