Sandfly Bay, Otago Peninsula

If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now. New Zealand is the perfect country to go out for a nice Sunday drive. Every 10 minutes of driving you’ll stumble upon a different scenic view, and each view is more amazing than the last! Last month Derik and I went out for our weekly drive down random side-roads, and stumbled upon an absolute treasure of a beach. Sandfly Bay is a popular location in Dunedin, but being newbies to the area, we had no idea.

Sandfly Bay is known for its yellow-eyed penguins that live in the sand dunes off the beach during the day and come out at night to feed. Also there are numerous seals and sea lions that drop by each day to sun themselves on the warm sand. We’ve visited the beach a couple times just because it’s a GREAT hike, and also because it has amazing wildlife! We have yet to see any penguins (probably due to the fact that they come out late afternoon and it’s been too freaking cold to stay out that long), but are always guaranteed to see at least 2-3 sea lions each time we go.

Don’t be surprised when you have to hike through a farmer’s sheep pasture to get down to the beach. That’s normal.

Travel Tips: You’ll be tromping up and down really steep sand dunes. Dress appropriately. Also don’t bring any sort of lunch container you can accidentally drop out of fear when a sea lion starts chasing you. You’ll feel guilty about littering for days.