Blogs from Curio Bay , South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Vypadá to že déšť nás ještě chvíli bude doprovázet. Při dlouhých přejezdech nám to nevadí, tedy pokud se nemusíme s naším autem brodit :-). Pár takových míst, kde voda přetýkala z příkopů, popřípadě louky už nebyly schopny více vody pohltit, jsme projeli naštěstí bez problémů. V Invercargill doplňujeme zásoby jídla v jednom ze supermarketů. Vlastně bych mohla přiblížit, jak se tu stravujeme po dobu našeho pobytu. Jelikož se ve většině míst zdržíme jen na jednu noc, nelze si dělat nějaké velké nákupy a především kupovat potraviny, které podléhají rychlé zkáze. Potřebujeme tedy vždy snídani, velkou svačinu na celý den, nějaké sladké tyčinky, kterými můžeme doplnit cukr a pak také večeři. Nejrychlejší jsou instantní kaše či polévky, ty v sušené formě můžete na Zéland přivézt. Dost často máme k dispozici kuchyňku, kde lze připravit nejen tyto rychlé ... read more

Off to start my journey through the Catlins and head up the east coast of New Zealand via the Southern Scenic Route. First stop was Stirling Point, Bluff, with it’s famous signpost. This is the beginning of State Highway 1 which traverses the length of the country to Cape Reinga in the far north. A milestone for me as a few weeks ago, on day 10, I was in Cape Reinga. I have actually crossed the entire country of New Zealand in my travels - tip to tip. After my obligatory selfie, I made my way to Curio Bay. The last 20 km or so was a gravel road so it took some time. There I visited a fossil forest - trees 180 million years old petrified in waters on the beach. Of course you can ... read more

We camped Tuesday night on the headland between two bays; Porpoise Bay and Curio Bay. This was the most idyllic of sites we have stayed in so far; miles from anywhere and really back to nature which is all around. Though we were not fortunate to see the dolphins that swim around the headland, we did meet up with some very rare Yellow-eyed penguins that nest in Curio Bay. There are only 6 nests in total in this area but we managed to see 4 juvenile birds later in the afternoon and early in the morning. Facilities at the campsite were very basic as you can imagine but we have excellent facilities with us and managed to survive! With no light pollution the stars of the Southern Hemisphere were a sight to behold. But the real ... read more

The Catlins We moved on our journey bidding farewell to Edel in Invercargill which is a large non-descript city on the southern end of the south island. She was heading for Stewart Island which is just off the bottom of the south island and we were headed for a place called the Catlins. Lots of people we have met along the way and in NZ advised us to take a trip here so we decided to take their advice and the next two nights were to be spent one of the least populated parts of NZ and the days were to be filled visiting so many sights and seeing lots of wildlife. If I could describe the Catlins to you in one sentence for those of you in Ireland I would could only say that it ... read more

Thursday 23rd & Friday 24th Oh, so they have Internet on computers now! Hommie That is sort of how I have felt for the past 24 hours. I have been trying to Skype and e-mail with very mixed results. The video feed on the Skype was so bad we just gave up. Anyway, Thursday…I was still in the Catlins. The last two stops were Porpoise Bay and Curio Bay. Porpoise Bay as implied is the home to a number of Porpie. I was not quick enough to get any photos but I have to tell you I was treated to quite a show. The waves here are breaking at about 10ft. high and these silly guys were out there shooting the curl! More than once I saw them come into a wave and just stay either ... read more