Close to the end of our south island trip Kaye and I drove to about the remotest middle of nowhere place in all of New Zealand, the Catlins. It is along the southeastern coast, between Invercargill and Dunedin. It had, to some shock to me, some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. It was too cold for swimming but we were on beaches that reminded me of Florida. On the way down we stopped at Waipapa Point and Slope Point. Slope Point is the southernmost part of the south island, 4800 miles from the South Pole.
We also visited a lot of other great places, including Cathedral Caves, where you can walk along the beach at low tide and wander through an immense cave.
We took a quick hike to McLean Falls, and checked out Tautuku Bay, which was a huge sweeping bay.
We stayed at a backpackers place called the Penguin Paradise Backpacker's near Curio Bay. Curio Bay is a long sheltered bay where Hector dolphins swim. They are smaller dolphins and we saw one while walking along the beach. There is also a petrified forest, where you can see stumps and fallen trees that were buried in volcanic ash. We saw a few yellow eyed penguins there. I have never seen such great tidal changes: this picture is from low tide, and at high tide there is pretty much no beach left.
The owner of the Penguin Paradise Backpacker's was half landlord half surf instructor. We chose a combination option where you could stay at the backpackers and get surf lessons as well all for $60 NZD per night. Since I met Kaye she has always wanted to hop on a surf board and this was the perfect time and setting for her to do so. With the instruction of our landlord both Kaye and I stood up and rode a wave our very first time on a board. The waves don't look big but they sure seemed bigger when we were out there - here is Kaye up on the board, and she swears that I missed the part with her and the big wave.
We spent the rest of our time soaking up the sun on Curio Bay. It is such a isolated area, with basically no restaurants, stores, or hotels - we even had to drive about 30 min away to get gas. But it was very relaxing with so much to see. And we found a really great cafe - Niagara Cafe - with tasty food and a perfect setting. We had dinner there one night and a big group of locals was having a bbq in the backyard of the restaurant, and it seemed like a good place to be! Unfortunately the owners are selling it so who knows how much longer it will be there. On our way up to Christchurch, we stopped at Purakaunui Falls and Nugget Point. Apparently this area has elephant seals, but we only saw sea lions. Next time!
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