Our final morning on the Otago Peninsula dawned rather foggy, nevertheless we decided to head further out on the peninsula towards Victory Beach as we wanted to investigate the rock formations there and also look for some more sea lions.
The drive took us up over the spine of the peninsula before dropping down to run along side the marshes along the Papanui Inlet. As we approached the trailhead in the Okia Reserve through the mud flats our attention was immediately drawn to the almost perfect pyramids on the horizon.
We walked through the bush to reach the smaller of the two pyramids which we were able to climb to get a view of the surrounding area, although the early morning fog somewhat limited visibility.
The pyramids themselves are actually made up of perfectly geometric basalt volcanic columns lying on their sides. After the sandstone cliffs and caves we had visited this trip, it was surprising to see such different geology.
We continued walking through the Okia Reserve over an undulating trail through the dunes which eventually lead out to Victory beach.
Once again we had the beach to ourselves, although we did manage to spot some sea lions that were snoozing in various spots along the beach.
As the skies started to clear we headed back to the car to start our trip home. We made a stop at Tunnel Beach which I will write about later, and arrived at Doctor’s Point just in time for lunch. Once again we timed our visit to arrive at low tide as the rock formations here are only accessible at low tide.
The tunnels at Doctor’s Point are sea caves that have been connected over time, as you round the point you can walk through the tunnels to access the next section of beach.
It is always hard to guess the scale of these caves and cliffs, but if you look carefully in the picture below, you can just about make me out standing on the left of the tunnel (look for my purple t-shirt)!
