DAY 6: Gannets and a Lighthouse

From NZ - DAY 6

CASTLEPOINT – The glory that was my view in the morning from my cabin almost matched that of my hangover.

Early in the morning I headed to the gannet tour place. It was a nice tour. The bus that took the about 8 others on the trek to the colony weaved through the hillside of a large sheep and beef farm full of stories about the land and the people on it.

The tour guide was an older farm women of Asian descent that sounded like the British woman on my GPS device. She was very good.

The gannet colony was quite impressive. We got very close to the birds. I could have kicked one if I had wanted. I got some pretty decent photographs as a result.

The tour was about three hours, most of it was spent in travel. It took an hour to get to the colony and an hour to get back after spending a hour with the birds.

After the tour I headed out toward another coastal point – Castlepoint. My Rough Guide told me very little about Castlepoint so it was kind of a whim that I went there. I am glad I did. It was quite cool. There was a lighthouse and a wonderful cove that was at the end of a hiking trail.

I enjoyed it. There were not many people around so it was quite peaceful.

I ended up staying the night at this hotel a few miles off the coast. It was a hotel/bar. I had a drink and hired a cabin behind the bar. The cabin was not in great shape but it was cheap and had a shower.