Tour of the Catlins

Day 1: 6th February

We left the B&B after chatting to yet another French couple! They were from the East of France, on the Luxemburg border, and spoke very good English.

We made our way out of Dunedin heading South on the Southern Scenic Route, which hugs the coast. The weather was overcast, but warm, ideal for driving. The scenery is pastureland right to the cliff edge, with rows of wind-sculpted trees showing which way the wind blows off the sea. Lots of sheep and cows in these parts.

We past Wetlands, home to wild fowl and some of New Zealand’s rarest birds. Inland lakes dot this area, lots of people boating, swimming and fishing, and some surfers out in the sea. It is Waitangi day today, so everyone is enjoying a long weekend break from work.

Waitangi day ‘celebrates’ the Waitangi treaty being signed. In 1840 when the British declared New Zealand a colony a treaty was signed between the British and a number of Maori chiefs.

We stopped off for lunch at Kaka Point, overlooking the sea. The sun finally came out, and it was really warm whilst we had our lunch.

We carried on to Nugget Point, seeing beautiful long stretches of white sandy beaches. Every now and again we saw a seal hauled up on the sand sunbathing.

Nugget Point has a path leading to a lighthouse, built in 1869, it overlooks a series of wave like pinnacles, which look like nuggets. As we followed the path we could hear seals on the rocks below, and when viewed through our binoculars, we could see them playing in the rock pools and suckling their mothers. We stood on the far side of the lighthouse, looking out to sea, watching the seals, dolphins and sea birds. The rocks had fringes of kelp waving in the current, making it look like hair.

Next en route was the Purakaunui Falls. It was a ten minute walk through a beech and podocarp forest leading to a viewing platform overlooking the waterfall. The water drops 20m over a series of wide terraces, and as it had rained the previous evening, they were quite impressive.

Our last stop before arriving at our next overnight accommodation was Cathedral Caves. These caves are on the beach and can only be accessed at low tide. We had to walk for 20 minutes down through lush native bush, until we reached Waipati beach. The sun came out as we walked along a stretch of white sand towards the enormous cave entrances. The opening of the largest cave is 30m high. The cave walls were layered in different coloured rocks and were quite spectacular.

We had our first encounter with the notorious sand fly. These little blighters bit any uncovered skin they can get their teeth into.

We arrived at Papatowai our destination for the night. We stayed in a traditional New Zealand Bach, cottage to you and me, or more like a garden shed. It was situated on the edge of the Takakopa estuary, and we had a walk along the water’s edge as the sun was setting. There are some truly beautiful places in the world, and we have been lucky to experience some of them.