Blogs from Curio Bay , South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd. I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." Douglas Adams Well it kind of felt like one of those days. The destination for the day was the Catlins. This is the southeast “corner” of the island. It’s roughly 3 hours from Wanaka. I was up fairly early had coffee and breakfast at the backpackers and was on my way. First stop was Cromwell for gas and a look around. Nothing special. On down the road to Clyde and then Alexandra. Clyde is actually where I will end up on my Rail Trail ride next week. At Alexandra I cross the Clutha River, which I will follow for more or less the next two hours to Balclutha. This ... read more

Nibby- Moving on from Dunedin we headed further south to the Catlin Coast. I hadn't travelled here before so it was a new experience for the both of us. The Catlin coast is thriving with wildlife. The first place we stopped off was Surat Bay where we found some massive male sealions chilling on the beach. For ages we wondered what the difference was between NZ fur seals and sealions and now we know! Sealions are so big and the guys have manes which the seals don't have. The weather wasn't the best so we didn't hang around for long. Further along the coast we stopped off at a waterfall which was pretty cool because it had been raining quite a bit. We found a lovely little backpackers to stay at near Curio Bay that only ... read more

hey bloggertjes Eindelijk zijn we op de surfplanken geraakt! in drie woorden, geweldig, vermoeiend en niet gemakkelijk... als surplus kwamen de dolfijnen mee surfen in de golven... je kon van de dolfijnen leren welk de goede golven waren. we kregen dan ook nog eens een persoonlijke dolfijnenshow... ongeloofelijk mooi we hebben ook een nieuwe vriend gemaakt, Sammy de zeeleeuw, die lies gegijzeld had in het winkeltje , die kwam uitrusten op de kampeerplek en waarvan mama dacht dat het een hond was, maar waar poten naartoe waren kon ze niet op antwoorden... in de buurt van de baai was een fosielenwoud van 170 milijoen jaar geleden. hier waren yelow eyed pinguins. schattig om de pinguins te zien rond hoppen over de stenen. geweldig om op zo een kleine plek omgeven te zijn door zoveel verschillende dieren. ... read more

Our journey of the South Island continued into the Catlins where we stayed in the lovely Curio Bay where we saw the graceful Hector's dolphins in Porpoise Bay and Yellow eyed Penguins returning to nest on the beach which also contained the Petrified forest. The sleepy Otago Peninsula further up along the east coast had a very cornish feel to it. Here we saw more impressive wild life including the Royal Albatross and New Zealand Sealions. The Department of Conservation campsites were a perfect way of exploring the unspoilt and stunning natural beauty of the South Island. One of the highlights of the South Island was a two day kayak and walking trip in the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park.... read more

Day 529 (8.9.08) Getting up early enough we had another two additions to the orphaned lambs to help feed before going into Invercargill itself to see what it had to offer. Going into the ‘i site’ we found a great museum attached and spend a good amount of time reading up on some local info - very interesting. As the weather was still a bit iffy we decided against the walk around the town and instead going to the Bluff - the most southerly point (you can access at this time of year). It’s a pretty uninspiring place, especially in the rain, but yet again there was a handy café for some coffee and chips - not that we usually do that obviously! The highlight of the day had to be our visit along the coast ... read more