Red Rocks Reserve + Seal Coast adventure

Dar and I (for a change) got up early in the morning (early for us is at around 11) and went out to go the famous red rocks and seal coast. The tour would normally cost $79 per head but I thought if we could just get hold of a map of where the place is actually at, we could just go there ourselves. I googled and found this map which is good enough because we live really close to Owhiro bay.

When we got there, at the end of Owhiro bay, there were already a few cars parked and at the very end, a sign saying only four-wheel drive can enter. We only have a Honda CRV, which Dar said was only a mini-RV and he didn't want to risk it since we don't really know what the terrain will be. So we just left our car at the bay and decided to walk. We thought that the walk would just be okay and at every turns we made around the mountain we thought we're going to see some seals already. After walking and walking, we decided to stop and eat. Then got up and walked and walked and walked, and finally got to the Red Rocks Reserve.

Still, no seals to see so we walked further more. Walk and walk and walk. Since we were already there, there was no point in turning back. After walking for an hour, we finally got to this point of the course:

And after walking past that mark, we were finally at the seal coast and we weren't disappointed! We didn't see not just 1 seal or 2, but lots of them, camouflaged among the rocks, just lying around.


After taking some pictures and resting for a while, we walked back again for another hour. Next time we'll take the CRV after seeing the terrain and after seeing a couple of cars that are not really 4WD (what damage they did to their car) and maybe just take it even for only half of the course so we won't walk as far. Hehe..

The walk from the start (at the end of Owhiro bay) up to the seal coast is around 3 km (1 hour of average walking). Then going back, so a total of 6 km and 2 hours of walking. If you're really a fit person, then that's nothing I guess. A good exercise for the average person. A really, really long walk for those who don't get any kind of exercise at all. If you're a biker, then you can bring your motocross bike or mountain bike and go back and forth the terrain (like what other people do).

More pics here.