The southernmost south of the South Island of New Zealand

After leaving the east coast, we reached the Catlins. The Catlins are named after a whaler and are characterized by fertile farmland, lonely lighthouses, and empty beaches.

After our last penguin observation was not very successful, we wanted to try our luck again and so we made our way to Roaring Bay. There, the rare yellow-eyed penguins should come ashore in the evening. We actually saw some penguins slowly waddling out of the water. It was a wonderful sight to see the penguins hop cautiously from stone to stone and move slowly across the beach. This time we also recognized the penguins' yellow eyes. It was a great experience to see these so rare and shy birds up close in their natural environment. Of course, there are several providers in New Zealand where you can take a tour to see the penguins for money, but we consciously decided against it. Unfortunately, there are only videos of the penguins, which I cannot upload :-(

After we were able to cross penguins off our list, we went to Nugget Point Lighthouse. Here, the waves crashed against the cliffs with great force and the so-called 'Nuggets' stood out photogenically from the surf. We were also able to see some sea lions and seals frolicking below the cape.

However, the biggest highlight in the Catlins was yet to come. After a Hungarian recommended us to go to Curio Bay to see dolphins, I was naturally excited. After staring at the water for a few hours and almost giving up hope, I saw the dorsal fin of a dolphin. Quickly, I put on my wetsuit to swim with the dolphins.

Actually, they were not shy at all and danced through the waves and swam up and down the beach as if they were enjoying the attention of the audience. The dolphins swam only a few centimeters past me at times and I was just as excited as the little kids who also went into the water to swim with the dolphins. Hector's dolphins are the smallest dolphin species in the world, measuring about 1.5 meters, and they come to this area to raise their young.

And once again, the saying 'the most beautiful things are free' proved to be true and I was much more excited than I probably would have been on a booked tour. I hope we will have more opportunities to observe these wonderful animals in the wild.

After we had a few surfing sessions on the beaches of the South, we soon reached the legendary Fjordland.