Well, it has been a long time since I last wrote at the end of February, and life has been really busy and very enjoyable. I have had my house full of visitors and Airbnb guests, all of whom have been really fabulous, friendly and interesting. I hope I can stay in touch with some of them.
After a particularly hectic week, with my first ever guiding in French (a super group of tourists from Quebec), followed by a weekend of visitors and sightseeing, I set off south on my longest car trip yet, to the bottom of the South Island.
First stop, the Moeraki Boulders, a weird, unexplained phenomenon of rounded rocks on a long otherwise clear and sandy beach. I was really lucky that the rain stopped long enough for me to walk to the boulders, enjoy them and photograph them, then it started again.
I stayed in an Airbnb nearby. Lovely lady , who owned the place,cooked me a great meal. It was a chilly night though and a nice wood fire would have really been the icing on the cake.
I picked my friend Jane up in Balclutha, just south of Dunedin, and from that moment we more or less left the bad weather behind us. How lucky we were to see this fabulous area with blue skies and such amazing colours. With hardly any cars on the roads, we could stop where we wanted, wander on the beautiful golden sands and take in the wonderfully fresh air of the Catlins, a less visited area of New Zealand.
First stop was a well known area called Kaka Point (the Europeans always laugh at the name, but the place is magnificent!)
Just beside this is one of the loveliest places to visit, Nugget Point, with its 150 year-old lighthouse stuck out on the end of a narrow headland and with the most spectacular views out to sea
and back along the coast. The sun peeping through the clouds cast a fantastic silvery light on to the turquoise blue sea.
From the lighthouse we looked over rocks where we could see seals clambering amongst the rock pools and could here the young seals squealing with delight as they played. It was gorgeous.
Amazingly, the small town of Owaka where we stayed has a garden called Teapotland!! I have never seen so many teapots in my life, but sadly the family does not run a tea shop!!!
In fact, they do not even like tea, it seems from the notice in the garden!
We stayed in a really nice Airbnb cottage right by the sea and beside the Owaka River, made even more attractive by the stunning red hot pokers on its banks.
What a tranquil setting!
From the cottage we walked out in the morning to this incredible view over the bay. Not a cloud in sight! Fabulous.
Although Owaka has a minute population, 3 bars/cafes, a couple of shops and motels, and not much else, it does have a fascinating museum, which is well worth a visit. However, a visit there must include the toilets, with massive pictures of penguins on the doors and bird song playing!
One of the iconic sights of the Catlins is the delicate and idyllic Purakaunui Falls, reached after a gentle walk through an unbelievably beautiful, lush beach forest. It was really gorgeous there.
Most of the roads are now sealed in the area, but we did have a couple of unsealed roads to deal with, but they were pretty easy driving. Certainly not very crowded and with lovely bush and flax on each side.
The next stop was not far away at the tiny village of Papatowai. The last time I was there was with the family and with the boys when they were 1 and 2.5 years old. We camped by the estuary and despite 10 of the days being rainy days, really enjoyed the holiday there. This time I was thrilled to enjoy the area once again, but this time with perfect weather.
We were also very excited to see a few spoonbills fishing not far from the banks of the estuary!
The scenery was breathtaking, the water unbelievably clear and the patterns on the sand and around the little pools were extraordinary - fantastic views in both directions!
Onwards to the south and a breathtaking view of Tautuku Bay from Florence Hill Lookout. Apparently this is a very popular surfing area but it was all too calm.
The forest walks all around the Catlins are truly majestic, with very old native trees towering above you and the forest full of the sound of tuis with their fabulous melodic songs
Add to that the tiny, idyllic lakes like Lake Wilkie, just a short walk from the main road. Not a ripple in the water and such intense colours, and perfect reflections.
I love the sense of humour in this part of the world. We stopped for lunch at this excellent cafe, called the Whistling Frog - my mum would have adored this sign!!
Then, not far down the road is New Zealand's version of Niagara Falls. A guy named it this for a bit of fun and amazingly the name stayed and it is quite a tourist attraction. Like me, most people look for the falls and then read the sign which explains that this little waterfall is IT.
There is even a Niagara Falls tea room, which is also really worth a visit.
With a fantastic art gallery, bright cafe and restful garden. Plus some interesting signs!
And excellent tea and coffee with homemade carrot cake. Yum! How could you not be nice I asked myself. It was a paradise.
We spent the day stopping and starting, with the most incredible number of truly fascinating areas to visit. At Curio Bay (Tuma Toka in Maori), there is an amazing ancient geological site where you can actually walk amongst the remnants of 180 million year old petrified forest.
We were so lucky to be there at low tide. Not only is it a stunningly beautiful spot to be, but the fossilised trees are awesome. I cannot believe that we were allowed to simply walk around and on them. Apparently there are also penguins there in the evenings, but sadly we did not see any.
Literally 5 minutes along the coast we stopped yet again at an area well known for its dolphins and porpoises. We didn't see any porpoises but we saw a number of Hector's dolphins quite close to land. The surfers in the water often end up swimming with the dolphins (for free!). Despite the super calm day, there were still some pretty spectacular waves and sprays.
We were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. Every corner offered something new and something special. At Waipapa Point, we stepped out of the car to this magnificent view, but were treated to an incredible chance to view 4 sea lions fighting on the beach below the lighthouse. You can just make them out on the beach. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, they had gone by the time we reached the beach.
Jane and I stood above the beach watching the sea lions in the waves, thinking we were at a safe distance. Guys working on restoring the historic lighthouse told us later that there had been some very aggressive fights throughout the day and that the sea lions had even gone up the hill to the car park. They move very swiftly, so we would not have wanted to stand in their way!
Although there was hardly a breathe of wind, it is clear from these poor battered trees that they have to put up with a fair hammering!!
We were starting to get a bit weary, but still enjoying the wonderful evening as we arrived at Fortrose. Fabulous sunset starting there.
What a heavenly place this was, in fact, all the places we had visited in only a period of about 6 hours were equally brilliant!
One presumes that not many people stop along this stretch of road, judging from the interest shown by this large herd of cows, which almost stampeded to the fence to get the best views of the tourists!!
The end of a really magnificent day with Jane and my little car, Ken. I am really happy with it and delighted to be doing this most memorable first long road trip.
Now to the bottom of the South Island (the end of the earth), to Invercargill.
