Traveling further south from Dunedin, we headed into The Catlins area, which is really a whole lot more farmland than I was expecting. I didn't really take many photos of the cows, sheep and grass. We've seen it all before. I dozed off. BUT once we popped back out on the coast near Kaka Point, heading for Nugget Point and a walk to the lighthouse, I was wide awake. I absolutely love a coastal road when I can just happily snap away with my window rolled down while Dave continues driving.
Heading up to the lighthouse at Nugget Point. Probably the best 20 minute hike we've done on this trip. It was "warmish" in the sunshine (yes, I do have my winter coat on). It reminded me of my visit to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa (many years ago now).
These are the NUGGETS of Nugget point.
Of course, if you give the boys some height and water and rocks, you can imagine the resulting competition. (At least they didn't pee over the edge)
Spot the seals . . . yes, this is my 12x zoom. We were really high up.
After checking in at our camping cabin, we headed further towards the national forest park .
In search of waterfalls! This is Purakaunui Falls, one of the most photographed waterfalls in New Zealand and often appears in calendars. Of course, there were other tourists there when we arrived. They were actually standing on that flat bit of rock "IN" the waterfall . . . so what do you think the boys begged us to do?? We adamantly said NO as we had a bunch of other places to get to today, and it as still quite chilly. They thought we were total meanies and we literally bribed them with a piece of chocolate if they would smile for the family photograph.
Xavier is running away to get his chocolate from the van. Jack is already long gone!
2nd Falls of the day was the Matai Falls. Another lovely, short bush walk 10 minutes from the highway.
And there in the middle of rural New Zealand, what do we find???? YES, before you arrive at Dummy's Beach, is NIAGARA FALLS only 100m away.
YES, in completely seriousness, they've erected these lovely signs for this tiny blip of a waterfall in the creek. Rapids, you might say. Apparently the surveyor had been to North America and thought it appropriately humorous to name a copycat. :-) The boys didn't even get out of the van.
Moving on further south to Curio Bay, which is home to a petrified forest. Spot the logs that have been fossilized in the rock on the seashore. It all goes underwater at high tide, but lots of tree trunks and wood fragments are visible at low tide. And in NZ, this kind of rare natural wonder (like the Moreaki boulders from the last post) is signposted and left for people to enjoy, walk over and photograph, with simple instructions that if everyone takes a piece of fossilized wood, there will be none left for others to enjoy, so please leave well enough alone.
Oh, and what to our wondering eyes should appear but a Yellow Eyed Penguin wandering on the rocks. This beach is a nesting area for a small colony of penguins. Again, I promise you this is 12x zoom. They stand only about 2 feet tall on average. And I wouldn't let Dave get any closer knowing that the boys would be sure to follow and we didn't want to teach them to disturb the wildlife. :-)
Another beautiful sunset - thanks God, I really am enjoying these.
It's actually so windy here at the bottom of the island that they trees grow lopsided. Totally windblown. Remember, there's nothing else south except Antarctica. Brrr.
We had to stop to let the cows cross the road after milking . . . right down JACKSONS RD. He was quite pleased, but condition of the sign is shocking though isn't it?
On the shore near the mouth of the Waitaki River. Just a great expanse of rocks fit to amuse children for hours (if we had nothing else to do). There was a raft of shorebirds here resting on gathered seaweed.
But alas, we were heading home, further and further north that day, so we popped back in the car, books and all. (Jackson has checked out over 200 library books since we've been in NZ.)
Sneak peak of the Southern Alps in a break of the clouds. We were hoping for a clearer day while taking this inland route, but it didn't happen.
We drove partway up the Mt Hutt ski field road though, to get some height on the situation and check out the flatest part of the south island, the Canterbury Plains. Hot air ballooning is meant to be lovely here, but Xavier has informed us that he definitely does NOT want to do that because he would be too scared of falling out.
And then the rest of the Mountain disappear into the clouds and we turned around and drove back down! A couple of stops near Kaikoura was next on the agenda. We headed to a fledgling aquarium that just been opened by a new marine biologist graduate who's keen on educating young kiwis about life under the sea.
The boys loved the touch tank (all 3 of them!) but my favourite was seeing the octopus move energetically all over his tank.
We stopped back at Ohau Seal Colony, hoping to catch the young pups cavorting in the waterfall. We were not disappointed and were treated to at least 50 pups swimming and playing in the pool under the waterfall and all along the little river down to the sea. There was a steady stream of visitors, so the pups were not shy at all and came within four feet of us.
Hard to spot them in the photo, but the seal pups are jumping and splashing around in here by the dozens. It's like a daycare centre.
Heading through Marlborough, past the vineyards of Blenheim with the hills in the distance.
Made it home just after sunset, and after driving the length of the south island in 3 days, we were ready to sleep. "What's not to love about this beautiful country? " makes for sweet dreams. zzzzzzzzz
