Caroline Bay

Caroline Bay in Timaru was on our list to visit, and what a pretty place it was.  The sun was shining and people were out and about enjoying the beach.

There has been extensive planting done to restore the sand dunes and they were awarded the Best Dune Re-vegetation Project trophy in 2010 after they were revegetated with native sand binding plants. A long wooden walkway protects the fragile environment, and a colony of penguins are now established in and around Caroline Bay.

Protected sand dunes

The wide sandy beach looked inviting, and as school holidays are still running there were plenty of youngsters about.  And dogs, we noticed, sadly taking absolutely no notice of the “No Dogs” signs on the beach put up to protect the penguins.  This beach is the only sandy beach between Oamaru and Banks Peninsula. The beach is bounded by housing on one side and a very busy port on the other.

Lovely sandy beach

Black Billed Gulls were happily going about their business.  With a slimmer build and not as common as their Red Billed cousins, they usually nest on the shores of inland lakes and along the braided river banks in the South Island.

 

Black Billed Gull

The Piazza straddles the railway line and provides access for pedestrians via a grand staircase or via a lift which is unique for a public park in this country.  We drove up to the top to see what was up there.  The stair case is an amazing structure indeed.

The Grand Staircase

Water trickles down from bubbling fountain at the top.

The Piazza overlooked lovely gardens

And views of the bay

There was an interesting double sided bronze circular statue on the Piazza – goodness knows what that represents.  “Encircling the Baroque” was completed by Llew Summers in 2017.

Encircling the Baroque

On our way back to camp we passed some signs which led us to Waipopo  Orchards where we came away with a box of freshly picked apricots.  The tiny shop was busy with several cars pulling in at the same time as us.  Just a shame we are on holiday as I would have loved to purchase a big carton and make some apricot jam – no chance of doing that while travelling around in the caravan.

We also passed some signs on fences from locals who embrace the Phar lap legend so stopped for a few snaps – a play on words it seems.

More memories of Phar Lap

We were invited to a BBQ at Lou and Tony’s home in the evening.  Lou is a quilter too so there was a lot of catching up to do.  Many thanks, it was great to meet you at last and we appreciated your wonderful hospitality.

Tony cooking our dinner

So ended another great day in the South Island, we certainly are having a wonderful time.