the Last of the South.

Okay, I swear this will be my last post on our South Island Roadtrip

On Wednesday the 9th, we made our way from Invercargill to  the beautiful land of the Catlins. We spent the whole day driving along the coast and through forests, stopping at as many beautiful/interesting sights as possible.

First stop: Waipapa Point.

Waipapa Point is the location of the worst civilian shipwreck in NZ in 1881 where 131 people died as their steamship was sunk by the treacherous reef. Sooo then they built a lighthouse! It was a beautiful spot and I remember the waves being huge there  too. It was also where we saw a New Zealand Sea Lion!

This wasn’t just any sea lion, it’s one of the rarest in the world. He actually slid his way up the path from the beach right in front of us, as if he were claiming his territory. So we backed away, but not so far that we couldn’t get a picture. They look like pretty harmless being all fat and blubbery, but like seals, they can be dangerous if you get in their way.

Next stop: Slope Point!

Now the big fancy sign was located at Bluff, but it’s not actually the southernmost point- Slope Point holds that honor (by an extra 7km). We actually had to drive down this gravel road and then walk through the pasture of a sheep farm to get there. It kinda felt like we were at the edge of the world standing up there near the cliff’s edge.

Making our way through the rolling hills and windy roads, we then stopped at Porpoise Bay to eat some lunch on the beach. During the summer months, Hector’s dolphins will actually swim in the surf close to shore. We talked to the lady at the camp store there who said we probably wouldn’t see any penguins at Curio Bay (which was right near Porpoise Bay), but that there was a good chance at the Nugget Point lookout. So we skipped Curio Bay (later found out one of our friends we met saw a penguin up close that day! darn.). We made a quick stop at Florence Hill Lookout, since it was right off the side of the road. It was basically just a pretty view of the ocean and surrounding cliff, but while we were there an old man came up and started talking to us. It turns out he was the owner of the farmland surrounding the lookout and he pointed out the location of the “Spouting Cave”sign. There was  a sign for this cave, but (like most visitors apparently) I don’t think any of us had any clue where it was pointing to- there didn’t seem to be a cave in the area around it. Turns out the sign is pointing out to the ocean, where a cave in a “sea island” spouts out water any time a wave hits.

Then, we stopped for a short walk to the Purakaunui Falls!

and then drove to our final stop at Nugget Point! You drive up a windy gravel road to get to the walkway up to the lighthouse. But before the walkway, there is Roaring Bay- the penguin lookout! We basically ran down the path to get to the hideout to view the penguins (there is actually a little shelter with windows that you go in to watch them so you don’t scare them away!). And I don’t remember how long we waited- but no penguins. So we decided to go up to the lighthouse and then come back for another look!

So the area around the lighthouse was beautiful. There was a sea mist rising through the light of the setting sun which was just so cool.

But we all were just dying to see penguins!! Back to Roaring Bay. We made our way down the path and stopped about halfway to see if it was worth going the rest of the way down… at this point we almost turned back. But then I barely saw this little blob of black and white in the grass near the shore. Commence the running. There was one penguin just chilling out. Then, we see another penguin coming  in from the ocean. We got to watch it waddle ashore and then hop its way up the rocks. Then, ANOTHER waddle and hop show from another penguin. Then, we start to spot some out in the water and see them ride the waves in. THREE waddle in together. As this is happening, the first penguin is starting to make its way up the hill (I assume their nest was somewhere up there). In the end, we saw about 10 penguins. I was soooo excited.

The penguins are Yellow-eyed Penguins, which are also some of the rarest penguins species in the world!

While we were in the Catlins, we kept running into the same people at all the stops. One of them was a guy that we assumed was German (I mean every other guy we had met was…) but it turns out he was from the Netherlands. His name was Diederik (not deed-rik, deed-a-rik!) and we all stayed in the same hostel that night in Kaka Point. It was called Fernlea Backpackers and was just a little house perched on a hilltop overlooking the ocean. There was noone else there that night, so we basically had a beach house all to ourselves! Pretty awesome. That night he taught us a game called BOONANZA. which is a game about trading BOONS. aka in English- beans. The different types of “boons” translate to points, so the person with the most points wins in the end (I think Nicole won that one). So I learned some Dutch names of beans that night. Like blauweboon and snijboon. Infact, as I was watching the Netherlands beat Brazil today, the word snijboon kept coming to mind since one of their players was named Sneijder haha.

The next morning we got up to watch the sunset from the beach. It was cold, so we did not stay out there very long! Then we were on our way to Dunedin, which was about 1.5 hours away. Once we got there, we ventured out to the Otago Peninsula. Grace and Nicole did not appreciate the windy coastal road out there as they both get motion sick, but at the end there is an Albatross Colony! Though you had to pay a sum of money we were not willing to pay to actually see the colony. But we saw one fly over at the lookout, so that was enough.It was at this place that my fall occurred.

I have a penchant towards running towards things that I’m excited for (like penguins). Well I was excited for the lookout (and to be out of the car), and i notice that the pathway down to the lookout is muddy and wet- so I decide to just walk down the grassy slope. I start running down the grassy slope and then realize it also is wet and slippery! I start doing a 1-2-3  slide with my feet long enough to realize I’m going down. But I didn’t just fall down, I slid down. When I got up, I was covered in mud. My hands, my jacket arm, my pants. hahaha okay it was pretty funny. Nicole was right behind me laughing too. And just as I did this, a group of schoolkids was walking by! The teacher even said “Now kids, this is why we don’t run down the hill.” hahaha. Then, it wasn’t as funny as I realized how miserable the mud felt. So I got to change and wash up in the musuem’s bathroom and all was well. We then drove back to the city and checked into our hostel- Hogwartz! Too bad I’m not a Harry Potter fan. This was our first hostel where we actually had to share our room with other people- we had been so spoiled so far on the trip. We of course met another German boy named Felix. and we also met up with Diederik that night to go on the Speights Brewery tour and then out for dinner.

Our last day of the roadtrip ended up being an interesting one. We stoppd at Moeraki Boulders on the way home, which as I’ve mentioned before, I loved seeing those things.When we stopped for gas next, I went to get out my wallet… and could not find it. I then realized that I had taken it in with me to the bathroom at our last bathroom stop and was pretty sure I had left it there. It was a very small  blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town that we had stopped at, but I remembered there was a tavern right next to the public bathroom. So I called the information number and got the number for the tavern. They kindly offered to run over to the bathrooms and check if it was still there. I had to tell them “uh it was actually in the men’s bathroom” as it had been empty and I didn’t feel like waiting for the women’s lol. But it was not there. So I called the Hampden police and left a message with the “constable.” I was pretty upset at the possible consequences of this, but Grace and Nicole did a good job of assuring me that it would all turn out okay. Lo and behold, a couple hours after we get home I happened to check my UC campus email (which is a rare occurrence) and I see an email with the subject of “wallet.” It was from an Australian traveler who found my wallet and since they were COMING TO CHRISTCHURCH, just brought it with them since they saw my UC student ID. I was so relieved. I was able to pick it up from their hotel the next morning.

So we ended up having an absolutely wonderful road trip. I had been feeling before that I had not seen enough of the South Island… and the roadtrip cured that feeling. I got to see some rare New Zealand wildlife and we were blessed with some great weather. and we just had a great time together driving through that amazing landscape!

It is good to think back on these awesome times that I had in NZ- I look back at the pictures and it feels more like a dream than that I was actually there. We have had absolutely PERFECT summer weather here in Indiana, which has really helped my adjustment. I haven’t had terrible jet lag, but more than I expected! I didn’t have any trouble adjusting to South Pacific time, but adjusting back is not as easy…

so until next time, Happy Summertime.

Advertisement

~ by Juli on July 2, 2010.