The weather has been lovely in Dunedin for the past few weeks and Chris and I are making sure to take advantage of it. Over the weekend, we decided to drive up to Aramoana to take in some sun and fresh sea air. I was prepared to soak in the sun while Chris was prepared to go fishing - but I'll leave that story for him to tell.
Aramoana, as Chris has mentioned before, means "pathway to the sea" in Maori. As you walk along Aramoana spit, it's literally a pathway to the sea. Giant rocks line the jagged edges of the pathway while remnants of an old wharf or ancient railway ties or something like that lie under foot. At the very end of the spit, there is some sort of large metal landmark, possibly something to warn boats about this piece of land that juts out into the sea. Other than that, it just ends. I imagine that if I drew a line from the end of the spit, the first thing I would hit would be Chile.
One time, while walking to the end of the spit, we saw a few adult fur seals amongst the rocks sunning themselves in the sun. Chris thinks that they're ugly, but I think they look like bears with no ears. Or furry and cuddly sausages.
This past weekend, as I waddled along Aramoana spit, I looked ahead and shouted to Chris, "Look, there's a stray dog! Or ... actually ... um ... oh, it's a seal pup!" Lo and behold, it was a fur seal pup! We only concluded that from far away because as the pup scooted along the same path as us, we noticed that it's "feet" were joined in the back ... not feet, but seal flipper feet instead. Oh! This pup was so cute. If I thought the adults were cute, you should have seen this pup! It had such a small, furry face but giant cutesy black eyes.
As we approached the pup (we had to pass it so that we could get to the end of the spit - the best place to fish) I started to get a bit nervous. Maybe even a little scared. This pup, though, was only about as big as a puppy - 2 feet or so. I made sure that Chris passed it before me (I can't waddle that fast. You know, in case the pup isn't so cute and cuddly?) Anyway, Chris was so engrossed in taking photos of this pup that while he was passing it, this innocent little animal suddenly starts to walk towards Chris ... and then starts to CHASE him! Ahhh! I got so scared, I pulled out my camera and took a picture of the pup chasing Chris. ha ha ha!!!
Can you believe it? It was hissing at him! It was trying to chase him! Chris, armed with his fishing pole, started running away from this seal pup!
Okay, I have to admit, I was a bit scared even when it was my turn to pass the pup (who didn't hiss at me, by the way.) But I couldn't help but laugh as well. My poor husband being chased by a seal pup. What a scene.
When we walked back to our car, we had to pass the pup. Luckily for Chris, it was happily and peacefully sunning itself on some rocks. I think Chris was prepared to strike this time. He learned his lesson. (ETK)
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