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Published: December 10th 2013
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Friday 6th December, 2013. The Catlins - Day 1
The whole of the Catlins was an important area for Maori. Forest birds, cabbage tree sugar, fish cockles, eels and lamprey (which were caught o the first full moon in spring) were important food sources. Waikawa harbour was a seasonal campsite.
The first Europeans in the area were sealers and whalers. A short-lived whaling station was established just inside Waikawa Harbour entrance in 1838 - it was abandoned by 1844. Waikawa developed as a timber port in the 1880's and in 1889 had a pub, a couple of stores and a smithy. The main communication with the outside was by coastal steamer which shipped timber to Dunedin. Today the main activities are based around fishing, farming, and tourism.
M wanted to come here to see the rare Hector's Dolphins. We should have been able to see them in the Porpoise Bay from the terrace of the Lazy Dolphin. Hector's Dolphins are one of the smallest and rarest dolphins in the world with a population of only 7000. They are only found in NZ inshore waters. They feed close to shore, favouring shallow, discoloured water to catch mullet, arrow squid,
red cod, stargazers and crabs. They remain in the same area in winter but travel further off shore but stay within 8 kilometres. They live until 20 years, with females giving birth every 2-3 years from thee age of 7 to 9. After that they stop reproducing - at most they produce 4 - 5 calves in a lifetime. They are seriously threatened as they get caught in fishing nets and their low reproductive rate is insufficient to counter their losses. There is a resident population of about 20 animals in Porpoise Bay and it is usually (so we are told - they were here yesterday morning apparently!) possible to see them playing in the surf.
We awoke, however, to a thick fog that blocked out the whole coastline. We couldn't see more than a few feet (1 metre for the metrics) in front of our faces. This was pretty much going to be the scene for the whole day. We had decided to start with the Catlins Heritage Trail (most of which was on the coast of course). We returned to the fossil forest on the off-chance that we might catch a glimpse of the illusive yellow-eyed penguin.
There weren't any - no surprise there - well there could have been for all we knew as we couldn't see! We decided to continue with our plan despite the weather. Our first stop on the heritage trail was Waipohatu Recreation Area. This was slightly inland and the weather was absolutely perfect. This coastal walk explored the Catlins coastal forest which has a fascinating range of tree and fern species. The Maori believed that mythical hairy giants inhabited these forests. It was a magical walk, well constructed with swing bridges and boardwalk sections. The sunlight came through the forest canopy and created a mystical glow. The walk took about half and hour in total.
Next point of interest on the trail was Slope Point. This is the southernmost point of the South Island of NZ. We still couldn't see a thing and it was a 40 minute walk to get there. We met a couple of Austrian/Swiss girls who took a photo of us with the sign marking the southernmost spot. D took some murky photos of the 'views'.
We gave number 10 on the trail a miss (a cemetery) and continued on to number 11 which was
Waipapa Point. The Maoris spelling was originally Waipapapa which means "basket of seafood". The name was shortened by European settlers. The reef of the coast here was the scene of NZ's worst civilian maritime disaster in 1881, when the SS Tararua sank with the loss of 132 lives (many of them are buried at the cemetery that we gave a miss). The lighthouse, the last wooden one built in NZ, was erected at the point after the disaster. It first beamed in 1884 and was automated in 1976. The trail finished at the Fortrose Cemetery. We did not stop as D wanted to get to the Cathedral Cave when the tide was right.
We had been told we had to be at the caves between 12 and 1 pm. We set off on a white knuckle ride and arrived at about 1.05. The note on the gate said they would close at 2 pm. D screeched to a halt in the car park and started off. He was stopped by the girl selling the tickets who said it was too late to go down as the tide was coming in. D promised he would be back by 2 pm
so she let him go. M paid the ticket and chatted to her for the next 45 minutes or so while D went to the cave.
The access to the cave is via a steep path down to the beach about 1 km long through dense forest and across a long wide stretch of sandy beach. Cathedral cave has a passage 199 metres long and is one of the finest examples of a sea cave n NZ and is currently one of the 30 longest known sea caves in the world. Although it is only 1 cave it became so because the two separate entrances (east and west) have joined at the rear. D made it down in less than 15 minutes. He went into the East Entrance first as the tide was coming in there quicker. He took some photos and one looking out from inside this cave. He then entered the West Entrance where he took another photo. He took some photos of the misty beach too. He then returned to the car park. He did the return trip in 45 minutes! Excellent going including some snaps of the forest and the dinosaur (a particular tree formation
on the walk).
We continued our drive towards Owaka, and stopped at McLean Falls. It was a pleasant stroll through the forest to reach the falls which weren't as good as they could have been as there hadn't been a great deal of rain. We took some photos and then returned to the car.
The next stop was Lake Wilkie where there was a lovely forest walk with signs explaining the different stages of the forest growth. We walked the entire circuit and took some more photographs. We continued on to Tahakopa Bay where we stopped at the picnic area and took some pictures. We were now a little peckish so when we found the Gypsy Gallery on the main road we stopped hoping to get a snack This is a really weird place with an old bus full of wind up gadgets. There were a couple of hippies outside singing really badly. No food was available so we settled for a couple of hot drinks. D was ambushed by sand flies so we rushed back to the camper and sat inside until we had finished our refreshments.
Our last stop before arriving at Owaka
was a double waterfall. The first one was called the Matai Falls. It was quite a leg up to get to it but it was quite pleasant. We continued up until we reached the second waterfall which was called Horseshoe Falls (not quite as impressive as the previous ones). We returned to the car and drove on to Owaka where we found the Hostel fairly easily. The hostel is an old hospital. We went shopping for dinner and decided we needed another day to finish the Catlins. Nigel, the warden who was a Brit, very kindly upgraded us to a superior room (with en-suite) for the same price as a budget room - result! We had a steak dinner, watched some TV in our private lounge. We hope the weather is better tomorrow as the Catlins is all about the coastline, and the wildlife and the sea mist has spoiled it today.
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