Dunedin

Date: 5/5/15 Position: Otago Yacht Club, Dunedin

We left windy Stewart Island at 0900 on Saturday morning with a 25 knot westerly blowing. On sailing out of Patterson's Inlet we were presented with an eerie scene, with rays of sunlight filtering down through the dark, grey clouds ahead of us that were gathering over the outer lying Muttonbird Islands. As we sailed through these outer islands we were escorted by small Cape Petrels and both White-Capped and Buller's Albatrosses. After leaving the shelter of the islands we were exposed to the full force of the wind and waves coming through Foveaux Strait from the west. The wind was gusting up to 30 knots so we reduced sail down to just a partially furled headsail. It got quite rough at times with waves breaking onto the deck. But as we cleared the Strait and closed in on the East Coast of the South Island the wave action became smoother and the wind dropped to a nice, comfortable 15 knots and we set full sail again.

We continued sailing throughout the night taking three hour watches in turn. It was a beautiful evening with a full moon and good visibility. The wind stayed steady at 15 knots from the north west until it died away at 0600 and we were left to motor the remaining four hours to Taiaroa Heads. Sunday dawned with a colourful sunrise and the morning sun highlighted the colours and contours of the sheer, broken cliff faces of the headland with the rolling green hills of farmland beyond. There were large flocks of seagulls resting on the smooth surface of the sea with a few Cape Petrels and Royal Albatrosses standing out amongst them.

As we made our way over to the first of over seventy something channel markers that would lead us down the Otago Harbour to Dunedin we spotted our friends Susie and Richard on their motor vessel 'Siapako' leaving the harbour. We had a quick catch up on the water before they headed north. As we neared the headland of Taiaroa Head we could see white spots scattered amongst the green foliage. After looking through the binoculars we worked out we were seeing Northern Royal Albatrosses sitting on their nests at the albatross colony. We continued to motor down the harbour hearing and spotting several Little Blue Penguins along the way. The harbour channel reminded us very much of the Tamar Valley in Tasmania. It meandered its way along with green rolling hills on either side, broken by the colour of deciduous trees here and there. Occasional groups of houses were scattered along the waterfront until we reached the sprawling city of Dunedin at the end of the harbour.

We tied up alongside a floating pontoon which was adjacent to a building colloquial known as the 'Glasshouse'. We were only a 5 min walk from the centre of town and three major supermarkets. This was a great chance to do a major reprovision after four months. Being in port always seems hectic as we rush about getting this and that and trying to locate shops that sell what we need.

On Monday afternoon we left the pontoon and moved into the Otago Yacht Club, a small, tidy and friendly place still quite close to town.

All is full on on board with our waterline back down to where it was when we left Tasmania.
Kathy and Wayne

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com