Walking the dog ...

The dog

I know you were expecting a thrilling update after all this time but lacking material I've had to include photos from a walk with Clyde (oh, alright they might be a mention of an orca encounter, stay tuned)

The start of the tip track

Just before Christmas (I know it feels like only yesterday), I took the hound on a hike called the Tip Track-Sinclair Head-Red Rocks route (catchy I know).

The view from the top of the tip

The walk is about 15kms starting at the Municipal Tip in Happy Valley (I kid you not). The track starts with a nice 3k uphill section to reach the ridge line. From there it's a 6k meander to the abandoned gun emplacements at Sinclair Head - these are left over from WWII, when the Kiwis believed that they could keep the might of the Japanese Navy at bay with a few guns dotted around Wellington Harbour.

Looking down onto the South Coast

Remnants of the Sinclair Head gun emplacement

To get down to the shore Clyde and myself went off piste and had a nice half scramble down the banks to reach Red Rocks and see a truly amazing sight. In the bay there were four Orcas (Killer whales) feeding in close to the shore!! New Zealand Orca have a trait particular to them, they come in very close to the shore to hunt rays so you can occasionally see them from the beach.

Of course Lisa had to out do me! She was teaching an Open Water dive course a bit further down the coast and had one of the Oracs buzz her underwater, coming with a metre of her and her students - you don't get much better dives than that.

If you look closely you can see the dorsal fin of the Orca