Bluff and the drive through the Catlins

After leaving the library in Invercargill, I drove about 25 kilometers to Bluff. Bluff is the southernmost town on the South Island and is known for its world-famous Bluff oysters. In addition, Bluff is the starting point for Highway 1, which runs through the entire country and also across the North Island to Cape Regina. Since I'm not a fan of oysters and it wasn't oyster season at the time, so the oyster fisheries were closed, I treated myself to a portion of fish and chips on the way to Stirling Point. Once there, I enjoyed a delicious lunch and watched the sea. Stirling Point is also home to a signpost indicating the distances to various cities on Earth, a kind of giant chain of ships, and a small lighthouse. Bluff itself is a pretty dirty port town, and the rainy weather didn't help. So after lunch, I headed back to Invercargill to get cheap gas and do some shopping. In the afternoon, I drove to Fortrose, a small village on the edge of the Catlins area. I spent the short night there before heading to the Catlins the next morning. Unfortunately, it started storming and raining heavily at 3:00 a.m. in the night. The storm was gone by 6:00 a.m., but the rain was supposed to continue until evening. I had written down all the points from the guidebook and the internet that were worth visiting in the Catlins and where you can see great scenic highlights after short walks. However, rain was not part of my plan. This once again showed me that it often makes little sense to plan everything down to the smallest detail on such a trip. There are always factors like weather, road closures, etc., that you simply cannot foresee. But since I have a good rain jacket, I didn't let my plan be deterred and still headed to all the destinations. This often resulted in me returning soaking wet to my car, but I was often alone at the waterfalls and coasts. I took short breaks from time to time and dried my things as best I could with the car heater. My first stop was Waipapa Point Lighthouse. There was a small lighthouse waiting for me, and with luck, you can see sea lions at its feet. Due to the weather, I only took a quick walk around the lighthouse and couldn't spot any sea lions. It was only on the way back to the car that I saw a sea lion on the beach in the distance. But since it was pouring rain, I decided to go back to the car instead of walking to the beach. After that, I visited Slope Point, a 20-minute walk across a sheep pasture led me to this cape. Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island. Since I have been to many capes this year, there was no question but to walk there, it was destiny :D However, there was only a sign at the cape indicating how far it is to the South Pole and the Equator, and a small rusty lighthouse. So I quickly took a few pictures and went back to the car. The next stop was Curio Bay, where you can see the rarest penguins on Earth with a lot of luck. Well, what can I say, bad luck with the weather but still lucky with the animal sightings. When I arrived, I saw a little yellow-eyed penguin. At that point, I didn't care about the rain for a short time and watched the penguin for quite a while, which I later regretted a bit because my jeans now felt more like wet swim trunks. Well, after another hour's drive, I reached McLean Falls. There, I took a breakfast break and tried to dry my things a bit. Then I walked about 30 minutes through the forest and stood in front of the relatively small but still impressive waterfall. Back at the car, I drove past a viewpoint overlooking a beautiful bay, then continued to Purakaunui Falls, another beautiful waterfall that you can reach on foot fairly quickly from the parking lot. Finally, I visited Cannibal Bay in the hope of seeing more sea lions, which often lie on the beach there. But when I arrived, there was no sea lion in sight. Only a few seagulls were squawking about my presence. Then I drove to the campsite. Once again, I had chosen a place where I had to pay a bit. In return, there were hot showers and a kitchen. After a day in the rain, just what I needed! When I arrived at the site, of course, it suddenly stopped raining, great timing. I used the next two hours to clean myself and my camper up. In addition, I had read about Surat Bay, where sea lions can also be seen occasionally. Since it was only six kilometers from my camp to the parking lot for the hike to the bay, I went there again in the evening. After making my way through the dunes, I reached the beach and was able to watch two sea lions from up close. This was a really great feeling and also a somewhat reconciling end to this rainy day. In the evening, I read in the news that the West Coast, where I was just a few days ago, has been hit pretty hard by the water. The heavy rainfalls in recent days have led to major flooding and road closures there. Currently, the roads to the glaciers are closed, and I'm really glad that I've been there already. But as I said from the beginning, not everything can be planned unfortunately, and often you also need luck, which has been quite kind to me so far. This morning, for once, it wasn't raining, and I made a detour to Nugget Point. The rocks in the sea in front of the cape are also called nuggets and have given the cape and lighthouse its name. There were also a few seals resting on the rocks :) There would have been another opportunity to watch penguins in Roaring Bay over there. For this purpose, a small hut was set up from which you can observe the penguins. However, there was nothing to see today. After returning from the lighthouse and seeing a few cute rabbits in the meadow, I drove to Dunedin. I now hope that the weather will change soon, and I can enjoy some spring sun in the last ten days. Today, I will be exploring Dunedin, the largest city in the south, and will also sleep nearby. Tomorrow, I will visit the Otago Peninsula and I'm curious to see what awaits me there.

Oh, by the way, it's raining again in the meantime :(