Speights Tour

Catlins to Christchurch

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December 23rd 2005
Our last Stray driver and our guide to the Catlins was Noddy. A nice enough bloke, but very opinionated and always having a dig at the Aussies for one reason or another. We made several stops on the trip up to Dunedin at: a fur seal colony, a petrified forest preserved by molten lava millions of years ago at Curio Bay, three Hector Dolphins playing in the surf at Porpoise Bay and then a walk dow ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Catlins

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The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year... ... read more