Managed to drag myself out of bed at half six and even remembered to grab the camera. It was well worth it, a lovely pastel sunrise with no kids running about to distract me from the serious art of painting with light. Got a few nice shots in round the beach next to the campsite, nothing worthy of National Geographic but decent enough. Sunsets are normally more spectacular (more water vapour and dust in the air) but can be a bit too bling. Sunrises are more pastel and subdued. The subtle versus the brash.
Stopped at Cannibal Bay in search of sea lions but we are still having no luck with the wildlife. Finally, on the path back, Esther and the kids nearly fell over one which was sunning itself amongst the vegetation. He was startled (he must have been nearly on the path) but just moved out of the way. I was a bit behind and only saw him after he had settled down at a new location in the undergrowth. He had the decency to wave us goodbye though.
After that we went to Nugget Point. There is a cliff walk up to the lighthouse. Down below, far away, we saw more sea lions and a few seals. In front of the lighthouse are a few huge nuggets of rock, which make this part of the coastline so treacherous to small ships. Next door, at Roaring Bay, is a colony of yellow-eyed penguins. I ran quickly to the hide but there didn't seem to be much action going on so I didn't bring the rest of the family down - we were running late and needed a big supermarket shop. Finally reached the campsite at Dunedin after 8 o'clock.
After the kids were asleep I went to see the glowworms which live near the campsite. They are quite nice but the night wasn't truly dark (nearly full moon and some clouds). Fireflies are cooler though, as they don't stand still like the glowworms.
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