Day 21 - 23 (February 17 - 19) - The Catlins

Day 21

The area we stayed in these days is called "The Catlins". It can be described as: wildlife, rainforest, rural meadows with sheep and cattle, waterfalls, coastline, beaches, and cliffs. Somehow, you can find everything here.

Today, we started our day with a trip to Nugget Point. Here, you could walk along a small hiking trail along a cliff to the lighthouse and enjoy the view of golden nugget-shaped rocks in the sea. Seals were lying on the rocks, which could be seen with the binoculars.

After that, we went on to the Purakaunui Falls, a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the jungle. After a 10-minute hike through the rainforest, we reached the waterfall down below. It was heavenly here. The air, the sound of the water, the bird chirping. Of course, there were also other tourists here with us, but we didn't find them disturbing. The other tourists were probably also following the Southern Scenic Route (a road with picturesque scenery and main attractions of the southern South Island). Mattis loved hiking through the jungle and letting leaves float in the river.

In the evening, as always, we looked for a place to sleep - today it was the DOC campground in Purakaunui Bay (16$). The DOC campgrounds are state-owned and impress with their unique location in nature and the price. This place was on a meadow between a bay, beach, and rainforest.

When we arrived here, the children and I explored the beach while Tim cooked for us. We live here in luxury. Tim later went for a walk on the beach and even encountered a seal.

Day 22

The morning started very relaxed. Lea enthusiastically talked a lot in bed. Mattis happily painted wearing only a diaper.

At noon, we made our way to the Cathedral Caves. On the way, we stopped in Papatowai - once for a photo of the bay there and because we noticed a crazy artist café called 'Lost Gypsy Caravan'. The whole facility was a work of art. There was something to discover everywhere. A bicycle-riding skeleton, a moving whale made of corrugated iron, mosaics made of taillights, and an entire caravan with interesting and funny inventions that invited you to test them.

We had coffee and Mattis had a homemade ice cream with fresh blackberries. Oh man, the ice cream was delicious. Unfortunately, we didn't get much of it. After that, we all ordered 2 omelets, which were also outstanding. Obviously, everything is made with great love here. So this stop was really worth it.

Now we went to the Cathedral Caves. We arrived just in time at 4:50 pm because you can only explore the caves at low tide or 2 hours before and after low tide (low tide was at 5:30 pm today). We walked downhill through a rainforest (with huge, fern-like trees), along the beach, and then we stood in front of the 2 cathedral-high caves. Equipped with light, we walked into the first cave and could exit the second cave through its connection. Mattis, as almost always, walked everything by himself.

On the beach, Tim and Mattis found kelp (seaweed). From that moment on, it became Mattis' 'snake' and his new pet. The snake was dragged behind him for the entire return journey. Only due to a developing storm and rain, Mattis was not allowed to walk the last part of the way by himself with his snake.

We slept at a freedom campground in Waikawa (Waikawa Recreation Reserve). When we arrived there at 7:30 pm, it was already crowded with campers. But more campers arrived after us. Well, we just want to sleep here. Otherwise, the place is nicely located right by a bay (although we only saw the bay at low tide and therefore only with mud and slime).

By the way, the snake, as a new family member, was allowed to sleep under our bed (fortunately it doesn't smell unpleasant :-)).

Day 23

First thing in the morning, we went for a walk with the 'snake' in the grass. Up the grass, down the grass. Mattis knew exactly where to go. And Mom had to come along.

For breakfast, we drove a little further to a parking lot at Porpoise Bay. We actually wanted to eat at the beach, but on the short drive, Lea fell asleep, and it started raining. So we had breakfast in the motorhome, and when the rain stopped shortly after, Tim went surfing and the children and I went for a walk on the beach.

The 'snake' was there for everything. On the beach, there were black and white birds with long red beaks and red eyes (it looked funny as they hopped on one leg or ran on both legs alternately). But the highlight of the afternoon should not remain birds, but become Hector's dolphins. I was pointed to them by a couple. They were jumping out of the water very close to the beach and swimming with the waves. But the craziest thing was that they were right next to Tim in the water. They went under him and swam on their bellies and backs next to his surfboard. There were 3-4 of them at the same time. We were all very impressed. I couldn't take any photos because of excitement.

Mattis was most impressed by two New Zealand children and their truck and excavator on the beach and wanted to play with them, which of course wasn't possible. But luckily, he could get excited about a big stick that he let swim in a shallow river and caught repeatedly. He also loved bathing the 'snake'.

Later, we drove a little further to Curio Bay to walk through the 'living forest Curio Bay' (nature trail through the forest).

Afterwards, we went down to the bay (Curio Bay) to see a petrified forest. This is a fossilized forest that is 180 million years old. You can still see individual lying tree trunks and tree stumps in a top view. This can be seen on large stone plateaus in the bay during low tide. It was quite fun to walk on the stone plateaus with the water pools (especially Mattis loved it) and see the beautiful scenery of the bay, but otherwise, it wasn't spectacular.

But the highlight was the penguin chick with its fluffy feathers, which could be seen from a distance with a telephoto lens. On the way back to the motorhome, we could even spot an adult yellow-eyed penguin when looking at the bay.

Since it was already evening, for simplicity's sake, we went to the overpriced but beautiful CurioScape Campground (42$; showers cost an extra 1$ for 5 minutes of hot water) right next door. While checking in, Mattis kept himself busy by slowly laying 12 chairs on the floor in front of the reception (with a certain systematics) and then putting them back exactly at the corresponding tables. Wonderful.

We got a wonderfully beautiful spot with a sea view. During the sunset, we went for a walk with the children along the cliffs and enjoyed the golden evening light. At 9 pm, we even went down to the petrified forest again for a short time to see if we could spot more penguins - but there was only one yellow-eyed penguin there. Since it immediately became dark, we quickly went back.

Tomorrow our journey from the Catlins continues.