NZ’s Hidden Gem: The Catlins – Part I

The Catlins, New Zealand

From Te Anau, we headed south to Invercargill. It was here – in this bigger & much more accessible city – where we fixed up what was ailing our car. First order of business was a new battery! After having jumped the car 3 times, we figured it was time for a replacement. Next up, a new spare tire to replace the flat one. And finally, a longgggggg overdue oil change. Though prices in New Zealand are MUCH more expensive than at home, due the fact that we replaced the battery ourselves, and found a functioning used tire to act as a donut, we didn’t have to spend an arm and a leg on these fixes (… just an arm). With everything fixed on our mobile home of sorts, we continued even further south to Bluff.

Bluff is where you catch the ferry to New Zealand’s third island, Stewart Island. It’s apparently the best spot to see a kiwi in the wild. We opted to pass on going to Stewart Island this time around, but we may change our minds! We had lunch on a giant hill overlooking the bay with views to Stewart Island in the distance. From Bluff, it was only a short hour-long jaunt to our stop for the night: Weir Beach Reserve – a free campsite on a beach.

We spent the following next two days exploring one of New Zealand’s best-kept secrets: the Catlins. The Catlins tourism website describes it best:

Come and explore this “hidden gem” on the south eastern coast of the South Island, New Zealand. The Catlins is an area of great contrasts and natural beauty with an abundance of wildlife. From magnificent coastal cliffs and headlands, long sweeping beaches, coves and sandy bays; to extensive temperate rainforests, waterfalls and rolling farmland, the Catlins is a fascinating, rugged place “off the beaten track.”

Our first full day of exploring was filled with roadside stops, & short hikes to stunning vistas. The first stop was a neat one: Slope Point. While the name doesn’t sound very significant, the location is! Slope Point is the most southern point of New Zealand’s South island. This remote & barren section of land was very reminiscent of Cape Reinga – minus the lighthouse and hoards of people. The cliffs overlooked rocky beaches with crashing waves, and the vastness of the horizon was full of wonder.

From Slope Point, it was a fairly short drive to Curio Bay. This bay is home to a petrified forest. What’s that you ask? Well (according to the lovely sign of which I took a picture to aid my memory), it’s a remnant of what was once a fully flourishing forest of trees. Now however, the trees are made of stone. This occurred starting with the heavy rains that fell on nearby ash-covered volcanoes. The abundance of water was enough to flood the area (this forest). Due to the high amount of silica in the water (from the ash), the trees were essentially turned to stone in a matter of months. The stone stumps of these trees are all that is left of this forest.

Nowadays, this petrified forest is home to the very rare hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin. The best time to see the penguins is at dusk when they return from the sea to their nests on land. We made our way around the rocks and stones noticing other little creatures that have made this place their home.

Just down the road from Curio Bay is Porpoise Bay. Instead of penguins, this area is a hot spot for Hectors Dolphins. It’s not known why the dolphins frequent this area, but frequent they do! And often! We weren’t lucky enough to see any when we were there, but apparently the dolphins come in packs and turn the land surrounding the bay into a grandstand for this live event! Instead of watching dolphins, we admired the incoming tide crashing on the rocks creating huge waves & splashes.

Our next stop was my favourite from the day – and I’m guessing Mac’s too – but maybe for a different reason! McLean Falls was a 3km drive down a gravel road from the highway, and then a 25 minute walk through lush forests, but the journey to get there was 100% worth it! These waterfalls were beautiful, and I loved that you could navigate the rocks to get right close and personal to the rushing water. I brought along my tripod and had plenty of fun playing with some long exposure shots, as well as using the self timer.

After McLean Falls (and an unexpected extended stay at a cafe to use their wifi so someone could listen to the Raptors game….), we had 3 more shorter side-trips before we reached the campsite. The first of these was the Tautuku Estuary Boardwalk. By this point, the previous blue skies had faded to grey, so the scenic sights were a little less scenic, and a bit more dreary. Nonetheless, we still appreciated the view & calming waters of this estuary boardwalk. In the summertime, the reeds & plants are in full bloom, making this area truly stunning (as we saw in a photo at the cafe!).

Next up was Mirror Lake Wilkie. While rippled waters negated the mirrored effect on the Mirror Lakes en route to Milford Sound, here at Lake Wilke, not a drop of water was out of place leaving this area distinctively mirror-like. Again, the overcast skies slightly took away from the beauty of this area, but it was still really cool!

The last of our roadside stops was a short walk to two waterfalls: Matai Falls & Hoseshoe Falls. Given that we had already been awed and totally enamoured with McLean Falls, it was hard to feel the same kind of appreciation for these smaller ones. Still, a waterfall is a waterfall, and they’ll always be pretty no matter the size.

It’s worth noting that we stopped at the Lost Gypsy Gallery, but unfortunately it’s now closed for the winter and won’t reopen until October! From what I’ve heard, the gallery is an old bus converted into a home for trinkets, gadgets, and gizmos to play with. There were a few fun things outside that we enjoyed, so I can only imagine how cool this place is in full!

At this point, the grey skies were beginning to look ominous, so we navigated our way through a maze of gravel roads to reach our lodgings for the evening – Purakaunui Bay Campsite. This DOC-run campsite was $6pp, but it overlooked the bay (where we went on a short walk and saw some sea lions!) and had plenty of space for us to pitch our trusty tent. We were fortunate enough to coincide our plans with some fellow Canadian friends meaning that we had the company of some familiar faces at this campsite! Katie & Iain came to NZ shortly after Mac & I did, and a mutual friend of Katie & I put us in touch! We’ve been chatting throughout each of our travels, and when we learned that we’d both be touring through the Catlins, we decided to meet up! The 4 of us shared a bottle of wine beside the car before the drizzling rain became actual rain and we retreated to our respective tents for the evening. It didn’t stop raining until way after midnight!

The following day, Katie, Iain, Mac & I set out on a convoy to explore some more of the Catlins. Stay tuned for Part II coming up soon!