Our first full day in the Catlins. The name Catlins comes from the Catlins River, named after a whaling captain, Edward Catlin (sometimes spelled Cattlin), who purchased a block of land beside the Catlins River in 1840 from a local Māori chief.
It was a sometimes chilly and sometimes warmer day today, depending on how much we were in the wind. Some of the bays that we visited were surprisingly sheltered.
After a much needed, good night in our very comfortable house by the sea in Kaka Point, we woke early to take in the sunrise and headed off to Nugget Point to see the lighthouse. It’s just a gorgeous walk along a steep cliff to the lighthouse. You do have to look over the edge, because that’s where the fur seals are. We saw what must have been a nursery for fur seals – several little pups in a rock pool. And then we saw some adults nearby.
Along the path, we met a chef from Dunedin who has a taco truck. We discussed Mexican food and encouraged him to come up to Waikanae Beach because the Mexican food there needs some help!
The rocks in the ocean are spectacular. Interestingly, the rocks on the south east side of the point are much squarer than the ones on the north east side.
A little way from the lighthouse, we went down to Roaring Bay to hide out in the hide to look for penguins. But we were outside of penguin visiting hours. We did, however, see a sea lion. Those flippers were made for swimming more than for walking!
After Nugget Point, we drove to Surat Bay, where we saw several NZ sea lions. These sea lions are alleged to be the rarest in the world. They are beginning to rebuild their population after being hunted almost to extinction. It took a bit for us to see them lying on the sand. They look dead and then you see a flipper flick up some sand or a shudder of breath. Hey, if we’d been swimming for ages, we’d be exhausted too.
Conveniently, there was a coffee truck at Surat Bay, the Orange Roughy. Excellent coffee and fresh farm eggs. So fresh, in fact that they had to collect them from the hens for us.
We did learn the difference between NZ Sea Lions and NZ Fur Seals. We think we have seen both. What we see on the sandy beaches are mostly likely sea lions. Fur seals are more likely to be on the rocky shores.
Then we drove to Owaka where there is an excellent museum which tells an interesting story of the shipwrecks in the area as well as the early life. There used to be a train line here. Sadly, no more.
We grabbed a toasted sandwich and some excellent hot chips at BakeHouse Takeaways. We were hungry, but they were mighty good. And then we set off to do a couple of waterfalls. Getting anywhere takes forever because there are so many opportunities to ‘stop and look at that’.
First, we saw Purakaunui Falls, which are at the end of a short bush walk. The bush is spectacular and alive with the sounds of birds. Definitely one of Frances’ happy places. These falls were not very full but had a zen-like quality.
We then drove on to Matai Falls. Another bush walk, quite different, with some lovely podocarp trees that had shed there bark leaving rust brown trunks exposed. These falls were maybe less spectacular, but the journey was interesting. Including a side attraction of a hand cut channel for the Catlins River Branch Railway.
We stopped by Nugget Point again to check on the penguins. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the memo. Better luck tomorrow!