Bluff and Orca

Five hours after my first lift I arrived into Bluff, New Zealand's southern most town. On first appearances Bluff is a place that looks down on it's luck - A grotty harbour town with empty shops and closed down hotels. It epitomised my gloomy mood following attempts to hitch a ride out of Dunedin.

But first impressions  can be deceiving, and following my first good night's sleep in quite a while, I was ready to explore Bluff the next morning.

The sea was calm, the birds cheerfully tweeting, fishing boats were going about their business, and the day-trippers were getting their photos taken at the yellow distance sign - It's 4810km to the South Pole, and 1401km to Cape Reinga, New Zealand's most northerly point.

Bordering the Bluff coastline is Bluff Hill, with walking tracks heading off in all directions. In times gone by it has been used by Maoris as a whaling post, and by the military as a lookout - The 'gun pits' with their grey concrete daubed in grafitti look quite out of place on the tree covered hill, but provided a great chance to explore. And explore them, in their small entirety, I did!

I walked and explored the area for a good four or five hours - Nothing particularly exciting about that. But, on my walk back along the coast, with a sheer drop into the ocean on my right and forest to my left, I heard an extra loud splash. I looked, and could see nothing (at first). Not even a freak wave. Then something caught my eye in the water - A whale? I continued looking, and there in front of me an Orca came up for air! A brief, but exciting glimpse. My first orca sighting! I watched as the fin settled back into the water and the orca swam off. With an extra bounce in my step I bounded off back to the bakcpackers.

And tomorrow, after a call to the British embassy, I'll be hitting the road to Queenstown! Bring it on!