D woke early, got up & made breakfast for the kids, then L, once she'd risen. Started to pack, and on the first trip to load the car, D walked straight into an army exercise! Chatted to the soldiers briefly, but on the second trip, J accompanied, so ended up spending 20 mins chatting & taking photos. J was invited up onto their armoured vehicle, & was also allowed to hold a gun!

Once packed, said goodbye to the staff, & followed the coast road south (still on the fossil trail). Drove past the Old Bones BPs (Simon's old place) & stopped for a quick photo. Then on to Kakanui Point to see the eroded & exposed geological layers at the shore line, & some great rock pools (the tide was out, but starting to come in!). Also stopped briefly at the T junction where the old coast road was now closed to traffic, as it had started to fall into the sea!

Next stop Campbell Bay, & exposed limestone containing enlarged, eroded, prehistoric shrimp burrows. Looked remarkably like Swiss cheese! Kids played on the sandy beach for a while, even though it was cold & raining lightly! Short drive to All Day Bay - deep water mudstone (~20 million years old) plus fossil molluscs - a sandy beach, with many perfect skimming stones (flat and round!). Taught J to skim, & he was soon getting 3 or 4 bounces on a regular basis!

The road turned inland, and we were soon rejoining the main road, and driving over Waianakarua Bridge (of limestone construction, quarried from near Oamaru) which was the last landmark on the Vanished World Fossil Trail!

Moeraki boulders next - spherical concretions emerging from the (gradually eroding) cliff face, looking like huge stone marbles, sitting at the edge of the sea! The kids loved to sit and stand on the boulders, & a shattered one soon became an opening dinosaur egg, for one of J's photos! Then into the café for hot drinks & cake. Drove through Moeraki township to find the lighthouse & the hide, from which we saw NZ fur seals & a yellow eyed penguin. Ate our lunch in the car (in the drizzle), then drove a few km further south to Shag Point, to see Black Capped terns & more NZ fur seals.

By now it was very grey & getting cold and rainy, so we rejoined the SH1 for an hour's drive to Dunedin. The sun came out, just as we reached the outskirts of town, & we arrived at the Leith Valley Motor Camp in warming sunshine! Were running low on supplies, so D,J&M walked to the local shop to buy a few e3ssentials for breakfast - shockingly expensive! Spanish omelette for tea - made an extra for tomorrow's lunch!