Farewell Spit

Today I took an eco-tour to Farewell Spit which was wonderful. It was expensive, but is the only way to travel right out along the Spit to the lighthouse. Today dawned not nearly so fine, with some heavy showers on my tent. But we were lucky that the weather improved, and the clouds and wind made things quite atmospheric.

After a short drive on the inner beach, we 'crossed' to the outer more exposed part of the spit. Down under the cliffs we spied several fur seals 'resting'. (No, I didn't go close: this was taken with the zoom lens.)

Near the end of the spit, we saw the lighthouse with its unique structure.

And we enjoyed our lunch break in one of the old lighthouse keepers houses.

It was just windy enough for us to understand a little about the forces that built the dunes. I was amazed to learn that the spit has been built in quite a brief geological period, and the sand comes from fine material eroded from Mt Cook and other mountains.

We had a brief distant view of the gannet colony, unusual because it is quite 'low'.

Some people went up and down one of the sand dunes, but I decided to wait that one out!

And on our return, we saw the viewpoint above Cape Farewell, the northernmost point of the South Island.

It was a great day. Thanks Farewell Spit Eco Tours.

 

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