Down by the (Curio) Bay

Yesterday, I went on a little day trip to Curio Bay with Geoff, Bryce, Emmet and Kate.  It was great to get out of Dunedin for a little while to explore New Zealand some more.  We rented a car and I was the designated driver.  Things went pretty well with Kate as my co-pilot.

We stopped for a second to stretch our legs, take a break from playing 20 Questions, and take a picture of this rainbow:

Our first stop was the Jurassic fossil forest.  At low tide we saw the stone remains of tree stumps and logs.

After all that fresh air, we needed a tea/coffee break.  The place we stopped at just happened to be near Niagraa Falls!

Turns out, it was nothing more than a bump in the water.  It was given the name by a surveyor with a sense of humor.

Next up, a pit stop at Nugget Point.  I really enjoyed the short walk to the lighthouse.

Today, we took another trip, but headed to the peninsula this time.  Our final destination was the Royal Albatross Centre.  It wasn't windy enough for them to be out and about.

I had one minor goof-up with my driving today.  We made a wrong turn, so I pulled over to turn around and my brain didn't process the change in direction very well - I ended up on the right hand side of the road and a car was headed straight for us.  No big deal to move over, though!  The second driving "uh oh" moment occurred when we took the wrong road to the albatross colony.  The roads here are half the size of roads in the U.S. and on one side of the road was a cliff and on the other was the side of a hill - not much room to maneuver! We had to use team work to get the car turned around - my 3-point turn turned into a 12-point turn because I was SO nervous that I'd drive us over the cliff, even with Geoff out of the car directing me!  Despite a few hiccups today, I'm feeling much more confident with my driving. Yay!

Do I see a New Zealand driver license in my future? Stay tuned!