What better way to take advantage of the school holidays than to go on a road trip. We chose the Catlins, as I haven’t explored this area in detail before. There is plenty to see, and even taking two days to explore there is still a lot I missed out.
First stop Waipapa point light house
The lighthouse is a popular spot to visit. It has a good car park with toilets, and there is a short track to the lighthouse and the point with access to the beach. Apparently there can be sea lions along this beach although there were none to be seen during our visit.
Lovely bush, and a moody sort of day and I have enjoyed creating a more artistic scene.
Second stop, Curio bay, Catlins.
Curio bay is an interesting place. We were lucky to arrive when the tide was low and could clearly see the remains of the old forest that the bay is famous for. The public can freely walk over the rocks at low tide and examine up close the petrified trees.
Curio bay is also a nesting place for the yellow-eyed penguin, and you can sometimes see them coming back to their nests. This time of year they are moulting, so none to be seen. Another reason to come back.
By this stage it was getting late, so we drove all the way to Kaka point, so we could get an early start the next day. The first stop on the second day was just down the road at Nugget Point. We were up early to catch the sunrise, and it seems a lot of other people had the same idea.
Nugget Point light house
Nugget Point is another one of those iconic spots that turn up in photos everywhere, but this was the first time I had been there. I was drawn to the lovely deserted sandy beaches on the way to the point, and we also checked out the shelter at Roaring bay where you can spot various wildlife if you are there at the right time of year.
Nugget point has a large car park and toilets, and the track in is well-formed and easy to follow. Steep cliffs have meant that the last part of the track to the lighthouse has been fenced on both sides. There is a great lookout from the lighthouse itself. Most photographers stop short of the lighthouse and you are elbow to elbow with others trying to get the same shot.
We moved on fairly quickly as we had a big day if we were going to fit everything in.
First, a quick stop to explore the tunnel at Tunnel Hill because, why not? Note to self, take a torch next time. It is a shortish tunnel and you can go right through if you have a torch, great echos here too.
Next stop, Cannibal Bay. Hoping for Sea lions, but found a nice little bay with lots of seaweed and windswept trees.
And on to Owaka where we had to pop in to Tea pot land for a quick look. My own teapot collection has a long way to go to even come close to this one.
Of course, you can’t go on a Catlins road trip without a visit to a waterfall or two. The second waterfall we stopped at is the popular Purakaunui Falls, (the first one was Barr falls just outside of Owaka, but it was barely a dribble. The first sign we had that there hadn’t been much rain here recently)
Purakaunui Falls is lovely and in spite of low water flows, I got some great photos here. There is a large car park with toilets and the track in is well defined. I’ve put more of the images I got from here in our image library
More Waterfalls
Matai Falls and Horseshoe falls were up next, after a nice little side trip to Lake Wilkie. Beautiful reflections here on a still day.
Again Matai falls was very small due to not much water, but I got some nice images of the Horseshoe falls, and the bush surrounding it.
The Native bush in the Catlins really is lovely. We saw and heard lots of bird life.
Our last stop was probably the one we liked best. Koropuku Falls.
Right away we could tell we weren’t on the usual DoC track.
The track is narrow muddy and slippery, but thoughtfully lined with punga logs. At times you need to scramble over boulders, but the bush was fantastic, and the falls themselves charming.
I have more great images from this track in our image library and I can’t wait to revisit these Falls when there is a bit more water flow.
If you are planning a visit to the Catlins, we found this website helpful. There is a website that will tell you when the tides are right for a visit to Cathedral caves, Sadly they weren’t for our trip.
There is much more to see and experience here. The track into McLean Falls was closed because of a rockfall, and Cathedral Caves weren’t open either. We also want to check out Jacks Blowhole, and it would be nice to see at least one Sea Lion, or a penguin or two. We’ll be back.
