It rained last night but when we awoke this morning it was a clear sunny day, perfect for our final day of wandering about this area. All our travels were carefully planned today so we could make sure we got to Curio Bay at low tide. For that reason we drove to the furthermost point and worked our way back to the Curio Point area, even though it meant travelling the same road twice.
We traveled to Waipapa Point. There was a most picturesque light house here as well as a lovely bay. Unfortunately, the light house appeared to be undergoing some maintenance so was shrouded in what looked to be neon coloured netting, so we were not going to see it at its best.
Even the bottom platform of the lighthouse was cordoned off so we made our way to the beach after just the briefest look.
There was a shipwreck here at Waipapa Point, in 1881, when the SS Tararua was wrecked with the loss of 131 lives. I was impressed that the light house was requested, approved, land purchased, plans developed, parts sent to England for, parts received and the light-house built all within 5 years. That was without computers, telephones or airplanes. I believe it would take us a lot longer today!
We were just about to go down the path to the beach when this arrogant man approached us and told us it was forbidden to take the dogs on the beach, that we could not go down there. We knew he was wrong because we had carefully checked the DOC literature before we had taken them out of the van, but his attitude was irritating none the less. However, from the top of the beach we could see an elephant seal and his lady sunning themselves, so we knew the dogs would be better away from here. Bruce took them back up the path and I grabbed some photos.
They were beautiful, and it was charming the way they needed to keep touching each other. At one stage the lady friend had her flipper over the male’s neck.
However, it was best not to get too close as they were somewhat smelly.
Next on the travel itinerary was Slope Point. Slope Point is the southern most part of the South Island. To get to it we had to walk across farmland, through large paddocks of peacefully grazing sheep and cattle to get to the modern-day light house there. What a contrast.
The coastline here is pretty rugged, bounded by cliffs, and the southern ocean looked pretty empty. We were somewhat surprised when a local came trudging over the paddock in gumboots, with fishing rods and burley pot in hand to go fishing. He said he would get blue cod without too much trouble because the difficult terrain put people off from fishing here. He was on his own, but I guess he had done it many times before.
We made our way back to the motorhome and headed on down the road to Curio Bay.
Curio Bay is a special place for two reasons. One is that the Hector’s dolphins frequent this bay, and the other is because it has a fossilised forest, which you can see at low tide.
When we first got there, we were not sure what direction to walk in, so found ourselves down on the the little swimming beach. We immediately saw the dolphins jumping through the surf like they were possessed. Unfortunately, they came to their senses by the time I got the camera out, and even though we waited and waited, they did not feel inclined to jump around again. We could see their fins just outside the surf line, but they had done their thing! They are really small compared to the dolphins we see around Flaxmill Bay.
Their is a natural outcrop of rocks at the end of the beach, and there were some magnificent plumes of spray coming off them, so we clambered over rocks to take a look, and managed to get some good pictures. The power of the sea is very evident here.
We clambered our way back and went to the dairy to get an ice cream and were told how to get down to the fossilised forest part of the bay. It was over the other side of the car park and we hadn’t seen the signs because cars were parked in front of them.
We had never seen anything like this before. Apparently this area of forest was felled in a flood and the silica surrounded it almost immediately, so it was fossilised within a matter of months. Walking around the rocks it is easy to pick out logs, tree stumps, and what looks like partly rotted wood (which is actually rock). Fascinating!
Apparently the Yellow Eyed penguin lives in this area as well and there are lots of signs urging people to keep well away. However, we saw no sign of them.
The bay itself was lovely, but like the rest of this little area, pretty rugged. We took one last look before saying a reluctant goodbye to the Catlins.
The area has amazing beauty, but at the same time we could see that when the weather wasn’t so nice it could be pretty forbidding, cold and miserable as well. The wild life is well worth the effort coming to see – the various seals, and the bird life. Some of the roads could use a bit of work, but overall a wonderful place to visit.
Away From Home NZ 