We continued along the Southern Scenic Route to get to Nugget Point, a beautiful spot and home to New Zealand fur seals, Hooker's sea lions, and a multitude of sea birds. The wind is extremely strong all around the southern coast, so strong that it actually affects the shapes in which the trees grow. You can see an example in the picture below. We saw some trees which grow in winds so strong and constant that branches wouldn't grow in the direction from which the wind blew.
You can't see in these pictures, but down on the rocks were scores of fur seals. With our binoculars we could watch them swim, lounge, and occasionally get belligerent with each other. The Hooker's sea lion pup below is one of only 4 known to have been born last year off NZ shores. Normally they breed around Antarctica, then swim to NZ for the summer, but this one was too small to have made the journey. Nugget Point is the only place on the mainland where the sea lions and seals coexist.
