February 20, 2026
We got up very early since we had reservations for the 0800 ferry sailing back to Bluff. On the walk to the ferry terminal I took some final pictures of Stewart Island. The weather was nice with partly cloudy skies.
The ferry ride across Foveaux Strait was not quite as bouncy as on the way out, but there was still a fair amount of wind. The weather deteriorated and it was raining and windy at Bluff when we arrived. So we left the area quickly.
We drove back to Dunedin where I had reservations for two nights at an AirBnb house located on the Otago Peninsula. I had booked it months ago with the plan to go on the Blue Penguins Pukekura tour while we were there since it was only a few miles away at the end of the road. But when I went to reserve the tour, it was completely full for those nights. This was why we stayed in Dunedin earlier on February 13: it was the only date I was able to find that was still open for seeing the penguins. Now we were returning so that we could explore the other areas on the Otago Peninsula close to where we would be staying.
The weather rained off and on for the first couple of hours of the drive. But it improved as we drove further north. By the time we reached the town of Gore it was partly cloudy. We stopped at a bakery in Gore to buy a few treats and a couple of steak and cheese pies for lunch.
We ate our pies at a local park and then continued driving to the town of Balclutha. We stopped at the Arthur Strang Reserve at the edge of the Clutha River to eat our bakery treats.
We drove on into Dunedin where we stopped at the PAK 'n SAVE store at the edge of town to buy groceries for the new few days. Then we drove the rest of the way to the Otago Peninsula and our AirBnb rental.
The rental was a house with windows overlooking the Otago Harbour. At the rear of the house was a path that led directly to Te Rauone Beach. It was very peaceful and quiet with beautiful views. Best of all, the back yard contained a hot tub that we were free to use.
The AirBnb rental had advertised there was a propane grill that we could use, so at the PAK 'n SAVE grocery store we had purchased some steaks and pork chops to grill. But when we tried to start the grill we found out it was out of propane. I contacted the owner of the AirBnb and she said she would not be able get us a new tank until the following day. So we ended up using the electric fry pan for our pork chop dinner.
After dinner we enjoyed using the hot tub.