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Published: January 29th 2009
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I am getting ahead of myself by posting this blog, since prior to the trip I am about to describe, my daughter Rachel came for a 2 week visit and we had a whirlwind tour of the Highlights of the South Island. However, since I am still awaiting Rachel’s pictures, I will jump ahead to tell you of our most recent jaunt to the Catlins.
South of Dunedin there is a coastal stretch known as the Catlins, which is known for its wild and rugged beauty and abundant wildlife. The southernmost part of the South Island is Invercargill, beyond which is Stewart Island and then…..Antarctica!!!
We started out passing through Dunedin, and picked up the Southern Scenic Route, which is well marked with suggested sights along the way. This road was only “sealed” a few years ago and it is not a usual tourist route.
Our first stop was “Tunnel Beach” which involved a rather steep walk down to the sea (always worrisome due to the knowledge that the way UP will be just as steep!!) but this was a worthwhile tramp since the rock at the ocean’s edge has carved out an
arch that is quite beautiful to see. The water color was Caribbean blue, but I can tell you that the temperature is nothing like the Caribbean!! It is toe-numbingly cold and I can’t even get past the toes!! The most remarkable aspect of this beach, however, was a man-made rock tunnel that leads down to the shoreline where a protected beach with fine white sand lies protected between the rock walls. I think you can see better what I mean from Randy’s pictures. However, the walk back uphill was a significant cardiac workout!
We then passed through some small towns, wide river mouths, past a few lakes, and ultimately arrived at Surat Bay, where our hostel was situated beside the lovely Surat Bay Beach. The residents of this beach include many sea lions, a marine species we had not yet had the opportunity to see in New Zealand. The sea lions are much larger than seals, and they loll around in the sand, looking like logs, completely oblivious to people invading their beach. Signs warn that they can bite, however, and they are pretty fast on land if they want to be. They are not particularly dainty in
appearance while resting on the beach, but when one of them swam sleekly by us at the water’s edge and then emerged directly in front of us on the sand, we admired his (her?) shiny coat and majestic stature. The beach is lovely and we had a long walk along its length. Our hostel was quite homey and clean, and rather small and restful.
The following day we visited several pretty waterfalls and a unique area called “Jack’s Blowhole” which is a collapsed cave roof 200 meters inland from the sea where the waves rush in through a tunnel. The impression one has, after hiking across some farmland (private land, where the owner has given permission for people to cross; “no trespassing “ signs are rarely seen!) is of a gigantic hole in the ground with water roiling in the bottom. It’s a bit hard to see on a picture, but is quite impressive.
Lastly we visited Nugget Point, named after some rocks that jut out of the ocean which look like nuggets of gold (?). It is a lovely walk to the lighthouse with gorgeous coastal views, and on the rocks below live an active
Tunnel leading to the beach
the story goes that there was a castle up on the hill. The owner made this tunnel for his daughter to gain access to the beach. One day, she drowned there. Well, not every fairy tale has a happy ending!! seal colony (a source of constant fascination to me, obviously). There is also a yellow penguin colony there but we were not there at dusk to see them emerge from the sea.
The following day we started early to catch low tide so we could visit the Cathedral Caves, which are only accessible 2 hours either side of low tide. They were amazingly large and awe-inspiring, with many different textures on their rock walls. We then visited my favorite waterfall, MacLean Falls, which is unique in that it has multiple rock levels and it is possible to climb on part of it so that you can see the falls not only from the bottom, but also from the middle. If one is brave enough to tolerate the cold water it would be possible to splash around in them a bit.
Catching the next low tide, later in the day we made our way to Curio Bay, where a Jurassic age (170 million year old) petrified forest is visible when the water recedes. You can see the outlines of tree trunks preserved by ash from an earthquake long ago. More rare yellow penguins live here as well.
We stayed at a hostel “Dolphin Lodge” on the neighboring Porpoise Bay, another sparsely populated but beautiful white sand beach, where a pod of Hector’s Dolphins live and play-we did catch them riding the waves a few times.
The next day we headed south to Invercargill, and found it to be a lovely small city. The peninsula south of the city is known as Bluff (an even smaller town) where we had lunch of locally caught blue cod (we are told the fish jump out of the water here begging to be caught!) and visited a small maritime museum that was very nice .Bluff is known for the famous “Bluff oysters”-what? You never heard of them? Well, they are not currently in season. Bluff is the departure point for the ferry to Stewart Island, which we will take another time.
Returning to Invercargill, we walked along the main street and admired the restored buildings and had a Thai dinner before returning to our hostel, “Southern Comfort,” a Victorian style lodging that was just like a B and B. In the morning I visited the 4 year old Southland Hospital and had a tour of their state
Mermaid's hair?
You would not believe how large this floating kelp bed is! of the art ED. I was quite impressed.
The long ride home (almost 6 hours) was made more bearable for me as we were listening to an audiotape of, “The Hunt for Red October” and we made an obligatory stop in Oamaru at the wonderful Whitestone Cheese Factory, our favorite locally made cheese.
In 2 weeks my parents are coming to visit for a 6 week stay, and in March Randy’s father will be here for 3 weeks. More to come!!
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jeff w
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AWESOME
Thanks ! COOL !