We took an impromptu trip up to Cape Palliser over the weekend. I was looking for day trip ideas, and this one came up. It’s just a two hour drive out from Wellington, and we were promised lots of beautiful coastal views and a lighthouse. So off we went!
The last 45 minutes of the drive were really stunning! As promised, we got lots of coastal views.
Even from inside the car, I was getting snap happy. Seeing the rock cliffs on one side and the sea on the other was really pretty.
We stopped a couple of times along the road and took some more photos. The scenery along the coast got more rocky. Soon we spotted the lighthouse in the distance.
It’s striped red and white and high up on the hills! We kept driving down the road and kept getting closer.
Eventually we saw the track to get up to the lighthouse. The track was short, but can you spot the massive staircase? 258 steps to get to the top. I started off confident, but by 100 steps in, my legs were begging me to stop. But you can’t, cause this is a long, steep staircase, no space to sit, and nowhere to go but up!
Once I made it to the top, I sat down for a bit. I had to catch my breath, and wait for my legs to stop being shaky. Eventually I did, and I was able to fully appreciate the view! In a way, I felt like I’d earned it.
Can you spot that tiny yellow car on the road? I loved watching the cars driving along, they looked like toys! Now that we made it up, we spent a while taking lots of pictures.
It was crazy windy up there, and even though my hair was braided, loose bits kept getting knocked out and whooshing around.
We both took photos of each other, as well as a few selfies. Selfies that I probably won’t share because my hair looked insane in every single one of them. Seriously, it was so windy!!
After enjoying the view, our sights turned onto the lighthouse. It’s locked up since it’s not really in use anymore. It’s also huge close up! It took lots of maneuvering and crouching for me to get the whole lighthouse in one photo.
We stayed up there for a while, enjoying the sights and just basking in the sun. We had the place to ourselves for a few minutes while the next group made their way up those crazy stairs.
Finally, we decided to head back down. Walking up was tiring, but walking down was daunting. Those steps were really steep. I made my way down very slowly, and soon we were back down where we started.
Before leaving to find lunch somewhere, I took a few more photos of the sea. Isn’t is incredibly blue??
That’s all for this post! I hope you enjoyed coming along on this little trip to Cape Palliser! It was so beautiful, and gave me yet another chance to play with my camera. Rory and I also had quite a fun road trip up, we had the windows down, and did lots of singing and talking.
Have you guys gone on a little day trip lately? Where’d you go?
Angela.
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