The Catlins (October 16-19)

View from our room -- rainbow over Porpoise Bay

The seas were going to be rough and the weather chilly for at least the weekend, so we decided to visit the Catlins before heading to our next intended destination, Stewart Island.

We opted to bee-line to Curio Bay via the main Southern Scenic Route, saving the Southern Coastal for later, in hopes of seeing penguins at dusk. On the way in we noted that some of the accommodations were already full, so after a brief exploration around the fantastic lookout between Curio Bay and Porpoise Bay, we headed back up the road and got the last room at the Curio Bay Boutique Accommodation. For much less than we would have expected to pay, we stayed at a gorgeous self-contained ensuite studio with a wall of windows overlooking the beach at Porpoise Bay. Little Blue Penguins waddle by our door on the way to their nesting sites in the wee hours and return to the ocean around 4-5AM, as owner Nick proved by pointing out penguin poo right outside our door. Not exactly the sort of thing you'd read in an advertising brochure, but we were excited at the possibility of having our own March of the Penguins. Nick & Dani required no deposit, credit card or signing paperwork of any sort for us to take the room. Just grab the key from the lock and write your name on the blackboard out front. How refreshingly simple!



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After settling in we headed to the Niagara Cafe, a short drive back back up the road. This is the best, and perhaps the only, restaurant around. After a nice meal in their conservatory, with a view out back to lambs frolicking around child sized patio furniture in the yard, we visited the actual Niagara Falls of New Zealand, highly recommended by our friendly Austrian server Renata for solitude.

Rare yellow-eyed penguin (juvenile)

We returned to the Curio Bay lookout and walked down to view the 160 million year old Petrified Forest as evening approached. Very interesting, but our main hope for the evening was catching a glimpse of the rare Yellow-Eyed Penguin. While visiting with a couple from Denmark who had seen a penguin up in the bush, a couple we'd met earlier in the evening from Barcelona and some others were pointing towards another penguin coming ashore. We had the pleasure of watching this little guy amble across the wide rocky area at low tide all the way back to the edge over a period of about 45 minutes. It started to sprinkle, so we headed back up the staircase where we saw another Yellow-Eyed penguin hopping across some much steeper terrain on the other side of an inlet too deep for us to cross.

We went to bed hoping to hear Little Blue Penguins as they passed by in the night.

We did hear LBPs calling to each other Saturday night late and again in the morning, but could not see them as it was dark. We left shortly after 9AM for Nugget point on eastern end of the Catlins drive. At the Cathedral Caves turnoff, we learned low tide was at 4:30PM so planned our visit to the coastal cave for the way back. One more stop at the info center in Owaka where a small group of locals were just hanging out on a dreary Sunday morning, but they were keen to help us with travel information and tell us about the unusually deep snow that fell just two weeks ago.

As we pulled into Kaka Point, a pair of lost looking black and white Paradise Shelduck chicks popped out at the road's edge. We snapped a couple photos, but still no sign of mom or dad as the chicks waddled around directionless. We reluctantly drove off, hoping they'd be okay, but at the same time, we heard a loud emergency siren. Susan immediately, and she admits irrationally, thought "Tsunami!" as we were right on the water's edge. A few cars seemed to be suddenly moving around the otherwise quiet town, so we followed one around the corner and came upon the volunteer fire brigade. The undulating siren was the signal for volunteers to report to the fire station. Later we learned that a steady siren indicates a tsunami or earthquake warning.

Purakaunui Falls

The rainy and blustery weather continued as we stopped for brunch at The Point Cafe where only a handful of locals sat around reading the paper or drinking coffee. The big screen TV dominated the bar side of the cafe with a Maori program of some sort. We were greeted by a friendly man with a distinctively different accent, a little harder to understand. We ordered our standard drinks - a Mochachino for Susan and Mike had his usual Long Black. If you want coffee with cream, order a Flat White. With only one or two exceptions, everywhere we've ordered coffee in New Zealand, we've been served a fresh grind made by the cup. Warmed by our drinks and meal, we headed out to Nugget Point, where we ran into Javier and Elizabeth, the Spanish couple we had met at Fossilized Forest the night before. In spite of the high winds and sprinkles, the walk to Nugget Point was beautiful with blue green seas and little islands teeming with birds, seals and sea lions. The weather improved all afternoon and it was sunny and dry when we walked out to pretty Purakaunui Falls. Our last stop for that day at Cathedral Caves began around 6PM, well past low tide so we stepped up our pace a bit. We had a great time exploring this giant U-shaped cave on the beach in the increasingly wet sand.

Beach near Cathedral Cave

The Niagara Cafe requires reservations for dinner and since we had not called ahead and no diners were expected after us, we arrived to a closed kitchen. Renata offered us bowls of hearty Hungarian Goulash Soup so we did not go hungry, and the meal was topped off with a tasty apple crumble dessert. We learned that Renata and her husband had lived in Ft Meyers, Florida, Iceland and Norway before settling in New Zealand, where, "when someone says it is so, it is so."

Mike stopped in to pay Nick and Dani for our stay, and request an additional night. Susan was tired and made her way straight to bed so missed visiting with them, but Mike learned that Dani is from Bavaria and the couple also operates a sheep and cattle farm. We would have accepted Nick's offer to visit his farm on a warmer day.

Mike woke Susan up around 11PM because he thought he saw something that might be a penguin out near our front porch. We got out the camera and tiptoed around excitedly, but it turned out to be the owner's cat, Molly. We did hear lots of penguins squawking a little later, then again around 4AM. Sure wish we could SEE these guys! But still it is fun knowing they are around.

Our plan for the next day or so is to do nothing and wait out Tuesday's storm, which might bring more snow, before heading to Stewart Island. We enjoyed the morning sun rising over Porpoise Bay from our bed until 10AM. It is sooooo relaxing to be here! Some Hector's dolphins were sighted in the bay the day we arrived, and this area is the closest they ever come to land. The chilly weather might have kept them away because we saw none during our stay.

After another brunch at the Niagara Cafe, we drove out to Slope Point, the southernmost point of the South Island. Then we took a drive up into the wild Waikawa Valley. We stopped at the Curio Bay camp store to pick up a couple things, then lounged around our room deciding where to go tomorrow.