Slope Point – and seal capers

Next on our list of adventures, was a repeat trip to Slope point and the Waipapa point Lighthouse. The last time we were down this way the light house was all shrouded in plastic wrap as it was being re-furbished. We hoped to see more than just the top of it this time.

Once again the weather wasn’t the best but as it was just showery, I guess it could have been worse. Once again we were lucky in that it cleared enough for us to have a wander around.

At the base of the path up to the lighthouse is a sign warning that there may be sea lions in the area, and to stay at least 10 metres away from them as they can be aggressive. I wandered around the base of the light house and was on one side when Bruce called to me from the other. He pointed out this brown lump in the grass that I had not seen at all having been concentrating on photographing the lighthouse itself. It was a large lump, and at first I thought it must have been dead, but on closer observation I could see it breathing.

We hastily moved away and left it undisturbed.

The beach down from the light house had a big rocky point but also a little sandy cove.

There was a distinct path down to the beach so off I wandered down the path, expecting Bruce and the dogs to follow. The dogs started barking, and Bruce started calling out to me. I looked behind to see what all the fuss was about, and it seemed there was another sea lion in the grass next to the path that I had innocently wandered past. The dogs had woken it up, and it was starting to get a bit stroppy, lunging towards me once, and towards the dogs a couple of times. I was stranded!

Bruce had to take the dogs away, and I kept out of its way to give it a chance to settle down, and then I gingerly picked a path through long grass on the other side of the path, hoping I did not come across any other seal lions in the process!

Thankfully I didn’t, but so much for keeping 10 metres away!

I happened to look down to the beach and saw a couple of big paua shells lying there. Bruce was keen to go down and get them, but that would have meant going past the sea lion again, so I vetoed that!

Once we had recovered our nerves we settled into the motorhome again for the short trip to Slope Point. Slope Point is the southern most point of the South Island, and although we had been there before, we had to go again as we were so close.

To get to the point you have to trek over farmland, avoiding sheep poo and cow pats.

There has clearly been some erosion since we were last here, and the place is still rugged and exposed, with steep drops down to the sea.

We wandered around a bit and enjoyed the view (and the wind) before trekking back over the farm back to the car park.

The trees around this area are legendary in that they are all bent over by the wind. Some of them were judged to be the world’s most beautiful in 2017.

Even the long drop toilets at Slope point are cute.

All done for the day, we travelled on to our resting place for the night at Kaka Point.