Aussie's in New Zealand: Sea-carved cliffs and Tunnel Beach - Dunedin

We reached our final stop on our New Zealand vacation today; Dunedin, on the south-east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, is where we'll be based for the next 4 to 5 days as we take in the sights.

After arriving and settling in we decided to take a drive around and check out the lay of the land and considering it was still only mid-afternoon we thought it might be a good opportunity to go to a couple places we'd put on our list of things to see.

A short 7.5km drive brought us to Tunnel Beach which is a series of sea-carved sandstone cliffs, rock arches and caves. It's a natural wonder created over thousands of years as the sea pounds the cliffs creating many different shapes and contours. Curiously though all those years of pounding and carving were ignored when it came to naming the site. It has been named after a more mundane feature...A man-made tunnel.

In the 1870's the tunnel was commissioned by a local politician for the personal use of his family to access the beach. It was rough-hewn right through the rock on a slope downwards to the beach however steps were added in 1983 when the tunnel was opened to the public.

At the top of the cliffs there is a small car park for visitors and it's from here the 1.2km track descends down to the beach. It is very steep in places, although is well maintained. It's a relatively easy walk however walking back up can be a bit of a struggle due to the incline. I would think it would be very slippery when wet too.

The stunning colour of the ocean contrasts against the green slopes of the cliffs and bright blooms of the Yellow Lupine and as we made our way down the path it was difficult to pull our eyes away from the vista.

It was quite breezy out there today and cool, about 9°C, however we were blessed with some intermittent sunlight to warm our backs as we walked. The sun wasn't required on the way back - We got a bit steamed up just making our way back up the steep track.

After Tunnel Beach we headed over to the Botanic Gardens for a wander; Faith is an avid gardener and we can't go anywhere without her wanting to find some garden or plant nursery to visit. Below you can see her feeling pretty happy with herself, being surrounded by plants. Throw in a horse and a couple of cats and I'd say she was in her natural element!

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By the time we finished there it was time for dinner so we headed to The Bog, an Irish pub for a meal and a beer - I had the beer, Faith didn't. We are on a train tomorrow, heading up into the Taieri Gorge which, I hope, will be a good day. I'm sure I'll see something interesting to photograph along the way but if not I'll simply photograph something that's not interesting and you'll have to make do with it. :)

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