Day 7 Thursday, Sep. 02 -- Catlins Coast

Synopsis

We drove South from Dunedin around the southeast corner of the South Island known as the Catlins Coast. We took several short hikes to explore the rugged coastline, several waterfalls and a few rainforests. We visited the furthest point south on our trip (the furthest south either of us had ever been, at about 45 degrees South Latitude), and were greeted by a large sealion. We then drove through the evening on a mad dash towards Fiordland on the southwest coast.

Detailed Journal

It rained throughout most of last night. Occasionally, waking us from the somewhat cold slumber. Lynette was very happy that we decided to buy her a new sleeping bag for the New Zealand adventure. The 30deg bag wouldn’t have cut it last night, but the 0deg down bag made her want to stay in bed this morning. At any rate, we woke up at about 6am when someone’s headlights shone into our van as they were parking at the rec pool area. We decided to get ready quickly and get a move on the day in case the lot was one that would be filling up with locals for the rec area. It rained a little on and off throughout the day. Today we set out to explore Catlins Coast.

We stopped at Kaka Point for a quick photo opportunity on the way to Nugget Point. As we started the walk from the parking lot toward the lighthouse at the end of Nugget Point, we saw about two dozen seals playing on the rocks far below. We took some pictures, but it’s hard to pick them out with our small zoom abilities on the camera. Nugget Point is a small peninsula with large rocks at the tip sticking out of the ocean. Imagine ultra-mini Florida Keys.

From there we drove towards Cannibal Bay in the hope of seeing some sea lions. Along the way we had to wait for a big cow to step out of the roadway. We approached the extremely windy and cold beach at Cannibal Bay with the disappointing view of no sea lions.

Our next stop was a hike to view the Purakaunui Falls. The trail led us through a lush rainforest, forest to the top of the falls, then down to the base. It was pretty cool to tramp through a rainforest considering that two days before we were tramping up to the foot of a snow covered, 12,000+ foot peak. The Falls were incredible, 3-tier falls. We took several photos here. We then went to Florence Hill Lookout and stopped briefly for some photos (cold and windy, still). Our next stop was the Cathedral Caves, something Jason was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, it was closed due to “active sea”.

We then completed the hike to McLean Falls. Again, several photos. These falls were more impressive in length, but lacked the girth of the Purakaunui Falls. We stopped at Niagara Falls, but decided not to hike it when Lynette read the sign (something to the effect of being named by some guy with an obvious sense of humor after seeing the North American Niagara Falls – we assumed they were most likely not impressive). We continued on through the fields back towards the coast. Along the way, we saw a herd of cattle heading our direction across a pasture, scaring the sheep as they came. We stopped to get a picture of the mini-stampede, and they kept coming towards and stopped about 10 feet from the fence between us. They all just stood there staring at us, daring us to approach the fence. A bit creeped out, we slowly rolled on, and sure enough, the “cow-posse” followed us. I think we were impeding on their hood, and they were there to protect their domain. It was a most peculiar, but hilarious sight!

Our next stop on the Catlins Coast tour was Curio Bay. Curio Bay is a yellow-eyed penguin molting area (not in season right now) and a shoreline containing petrified trees. We hiked down to see the trees in the sand and watched enormous waves on the rocks. We then drove over to the campgrounds associated with Curio Bay (essentially the other side of the Bay). We drove up to the pinnacle point and Jason jumped out to snag some pictures of the enormous waves. It was extremely windy up there. The campervan was rocking slightly. When Jason went to climb back into the passenger seat of the van, the door flung all the way open. He couldn’t pull it shut from inside the van. He had to hand over the camera and use both hands to pull/push it closed from the outside. He had to get in through the sliding door on the side. Unfortunately, we later noticed a small dent that is making it hard to open/close the door. We will pay for that in a few weeks. In the meantime, we have stopped using that door to minimize the damage.

We drove down to a safer vantage point and just sat and watched the huge waves coming in. It was incredible. When some of the waves hit the shore, water would shoot at least 3 stories high. We have lots of pictures of crashing waves.

At the advice of one of our guidebooks, we decided to pass up Sandy Point, the southernmost point in order to check out Waipapa Point. This, therefore, became the southern-most point of our journey. There were tons of sheep hanging out by the lighthouse. We walked to the coast in hopes of seeing a sea lion, but had no success. We took some pictures, including one in which Jason had Lynette stand in the grassy area near the lighthouse and point towards Antarctica (one of our future journeys, hopefully). We then climbed into the campervan and started the heat running again. Suddenly, Jason shouted “holy….” um…let’s say crap for the internet’s sake ;). Just a few short feet from where Lynette had been standing for the Antarctica pointing photo was a huge sea lion. Apparently the starting of the campervan woke him up from his beach side slumber. We grabbed a few pictures, he made a little noise and dropped down into his nap again as we were leaving.

We stopped at the information center in Invercargill to get some help deciding on where to stay for the night. On our way in, we talked to a guy dressed in a business suit heading out for LA tomorrow but obviously (we soon discovered inside) a recognizable person among those inside. The info center was coupled with a museum having some sort of an affair there tonight. He assured us that the best of our trip was on the horizon with Te Anau and Milford Sound. We spoke with a lady at the information center who called the Dominion in Tuatapere to set up our camping plans. We were excited to hear the scenic route was no longer than the inland route and that the cost for the hook-up site was only $10.

So, we started the drive through Riverton to Tuatapere. The clouds were really a cool backdrop along the long beach with the impressive waves. We reached Tuatapere, but couldn’t find the Dominion based on the directions that we got from the lady in Invercargill. Jason went into a local general store to ask for directions. There was an older man in line and when he was finished, Jason asked the clerk for directions to the Dominion. She said to take a left at the “zebra crossing”, at which point Jason asked for clarification. She was astonished that he didn’t know what a zebra crossing was. She rolled her eyes and drew a picture of what Americans call a crosswalk. Jason told her that in the US we call them crosswalks to which she said, “No, it’s a zebra crossing.” Well, silly Americans for not knowing what a zebra crossing is (of course in the opposite situation she would have no clue what a crosswalk was). Anyway, she finally sorted out directions and Jason returned to the van.

We were just about to turn around to head for the Dominion with our new directions when the car behind Lynette started flashing his headlights. She waited and still flashing lights. She finally decided that he must be giving her the go-ahead to turn around (since she had been sitting there with blinker on). At the instant she started to pull out, a car came whizzing by. A very very near miss. The flashing headlights continued and an older gentleman ran across the street and asked if we were looking for the Dominion. He had been in the store when Jason was getting directions. He gave us keys and we paid him.

We chose a spot near the kitchen and backed into the lot. Jason went to plug in the power and we found the outlet was not compatible with our plug. Since we were going to be without electricity, anyway, Lynette suggested parking on the paved area in front of the campervan parking spaces (which were in grass) since it was raining so hard. Turns out it was a great idea, as it was a huge effort to get out of the spot. After a night of rain, getting out in the morning would have possible required a tow.

We had taco salads for dinner. Lynette attempted a shower and was quickly stopped when it ran out of water (of course it ran out with only cold trickling for her to rinse out her hair. Oy! With that, we retired to bed.

Pictures

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