The Catlins - and a bit beyond

This is another LONG entry - just warning you ;-) I missed a few pictures I meant to add, but there should be plenty here to compensate for the reading!

So, I stayed in Invercargill from Sunday (8 March) until Friday (13 March). The weather was pretty grim most of my stay, so there’s not much to write about. I mostly kept myself busy with organizing and converting my music files on the laptop, but one day I managed to brave the weather for a walk around town! It was blowing like crazy and the precipitation wasn’t so much rain as it was mist being blown really fast at you; sideways!

13 March (Friday): Fossil Forest, Cozy Sea Lions, and Brave Penguins.
Friday morning I woke up to an amazing sound; well, absence of sound really. There was no rain on the roof and no gusts of wind threatening to blow the house down. It was amazing. When I went into the lounge I could see blue in the sky!!! There was still A LOT of clouds in the sky, but they were white, rainless clouds! I took a shower and packed my things. I said goodbye to Matt and his roommates and headed into town. I took care of some errands, dropped a thank you gift back at the house, and then headed away towards the Catlins.

I vaguely considered checking out Bluff before heading to the beach, but really couldn’t be bothered with the dead end road and extra time. I wanted to get going! I had checked out the tide times with the information center before I left. I knew I had to be at the fossilized forest within 3 hours of low tide in order to have a good look. While the Waipapa point lighthouse and Slope Point (the most Southern point of the South Island) were first to cross my path, I wanted to see the fossil forest as close to low tide as possible. So I headed to Curio Bay first.

I stopped first at the campground, situated between the bay itself and the ocean. I’m not sure what the ocean looks like an average day, but when I arrived it seemed like a sea still fresh from days of stormy weather. The large waves were rolling in hard and crashing into the flat rock of the shore, usually causing white billows of spray. It was quite impressive!

I traveled down the road about 500meters and parked at the fossil forest. Apparently, 170 million years ago, a large storm had caused mass amounts of volcanic ash to flow into a forest that existed in the area. A Department of Conservation (DoC) signboard informed me that “The ash in the floodwater was rich with silica which impregnated the standing trees, literally turning them to stone in a matter of months”. Another DoC board informed me that petrified wood like this is incredibly rare; as the siltification has to occur rapidly, before decay can set in. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting – large rocks that looked like trees? When I looked down on the exposed beach all I saw was a wide expanse of flat bedrock, littered with cracks, tide pools, and rocks. Where was the forest in stone! Ha ha, the fossils (like animal fossils) are left in only some of the rocks. I walked down the stairs and started looking for the “wood grain” imprints in the rock. This looked like a massive task, as the whole coastline, where the bedrock met the cliffs, was littered with rocks! I started working my way around the coast, photographing the kelp and waves. Eventually, though, a strange marking in a rock caught my attention. Was this grainy, uneven bit of rock a fossilized tree? Hmmm, best take a picture and go back to looking at the crashing waves.... I worked my way right around the shore, looking at the strange patterns in the cliff and wondering if those were supposed to old trees. Finally, I stumbled (not literally, thank you) upon a definite tree fossil. No rock would ever produce a perfect semi-circle on its edge and be patterned after bark. A tree had definitely been inside this rock at one point. I continued down the coast until I rounded the point and was able to see the campground beach I had been at earlier. I watched the forceful waves create towers of water that were almost as tall as the bluff in the background! On my return towards the car I paid more attention to the rocks washed against the cliff and less attention to the waves and flat rock of coast. My effort paid off with a couple really cool fossil finds! My first find was of a few leaves imprinted in the rock. My second find was a massive rock that was LITERALLY covered in fern leaf imprints. It was amazing! I took lots of photographs. A DoC volunteer came up and asked what I’d found and was quite impressed. She figured it was the best example of fossil leaves she’d seen!!!! (I was quite pleased with myself). She also figured that it was one of the rocks that people were chipping away at – in order to take a souvenir home. That was one reason she as volunteering – to help keep that forest from being taken away – the other reason was to keep an eye on people in the evening, when the yellow-eyed penguins were coming up to their nests! Before the volunteer went off to talk with other people I managed to get her to take my picture with my find and also found out about a free camp nearby. Score! I took heaps more pictures of the crashing waves before heading down the coast towards Slope Point.

After much driving of gravel roads I found myself at a gated paddock. The landowner didn’t mind people walking to the edge of the cliff that marked the most southern point of the South Island, just don’t harass the stock please. Though the wind had died down tremendously from the last few days, it was still quite strong as it came up from the south and blew over the cliffs. This strong wind must be what was causing such fierce waves. I had to repeatedly clean my camera lens of the salty mist that was drifting up from the meeting of water and cliff below. Occasionally, a short lived rainbow could be seen in the mist of some of the taller sprays. While there were some clouds on the horizon, I am certain that I saw a bit of Stewart Island!

My next stop, after more gravel roads, was Waipapa Point. A lighthouse was erected on this point after 131 passengers died in the shipwreck of SS Tararua in 1881. While the rocky reef this lighthouse warns of is visible at low tide, by the time I arrived there was no trace of the treachery below. Instead, what I was treated to was the sight of two sea lions on the beach. It appeared they were having some sort of argument; as the smaller one (still wet from the ocean it appeared) went into the ocean (on video) while the larger one (which appeared semi-dry) flopped back into the sand. I certainly didn’t want to walk down the beach towards the big (possibly aggressive) sea lion, so I headed around the point instead. I took pictures of shells, kelp, sponges, and, of course, waves crashing. I completed a circuit around the lighthouse and went to see if the sea lion was doing anything film worthy. I was disappointed to find that it had left. I mentioned my disappointment to a couple nearby and they asked if I had seen the penguin. Penguin!? Where?! Just next to them was a yellow-eyed penguin, standing in the middle of small dune trail. I got a brief amount of footage as he lay down in the path, but he is behind a lot of grass. I took heaps of pictures while I had the opportunity. I felt a little bad about being so close (at the fossil forest you are supposed to leave a 10 meter distance – 2 car lengths – between you and the penguin). However, I was far closer than that when the bird was pointed out to me! So, if he could lie there and not worry, I could take pictures and not worry. Unfortunately, his nose was buried in the tall grass, so I never got any iconic pictures – but the ones I got are cool none the less. The same couple that told me about the penguin told me that there were a couple of sea lions further up the beach, so I headed that direction. I could see the big brown mass of either one very large sea lion or two next to each other, but they were just up the dune and in a pit. So, I climbed up the dune and found a lookout above them. Again, I was probably a bit close, but since I was above them and they seemed not to notice I wasn’t worried about being attacked. I took several pictures of what can only be described as two love birds in a sandy love nest. It was so cute! I kicked myself really hard last night when I watched the video I had taken of the pair – apparently I only started filming when I thought I pushed standby!!!! Argh! Oh well, the pictures are still quite cute!

On my way back towards Waikawa and the free camp I’d been told about, I stopped at Waipohatu scenic reserve. I wouldn’t mind doing the 2 hour waterfall track if I’m in the area again someday, but the bit I checked out was really muddy from all the recent rain and I wasn’t too keen on doing the stream crossings they mentioned. So, I noted that it was another place to camp if necessary and continued on.

After assessing the freedom camping situation – and talking to a couple in an RV that were already there – I opted for sleeping in my car. While the paddock would normally make a great camp site, the ground was quite soggy and the sky was looking like it might rain a bit later. I wasn’t looking forward to packing up a wet tent after hiding from the rain for the last week, so I decided to just make up my bed in my car and head back towards the fossil forest for the penguins. I knew I didn’t have to arrive right at 4pm, when the DoC volunteer had said they might start showing up; I was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be arriving much before the light started fading. So, I stopped back at the Curio Bay campground to see if the rare (and endangered) Hector dolphins were about. Apparently there is a group that calls the bay home and can be seen quite regularly. Unfortunately, they don’t like murky water and the recent storms had really stirred up the bay. Instead, I was treated to a sea lion in the grass in front of the office! The caretaker I chatted with didn’t seem to think the presence of the sea lion was cute at all. She found it to be quite an inconvenience. Apparently, sea lions think they own the beach and the land above it. So, if you happen to have a tent where they want to settle – well, they have pretty big teeth and a muscular neck. Apparently they can do some damage! After saying goodbye to the caretaker (and looking at pictures of the resident dolphins surfing the waves!) I drove up to check out the view from the bluff and have some dinner. Afterwards I headed back to the fossil forest.

The DoC volunteer said she hadn’t seen any penguins yet, but they were bound to show up. The tide was high, but there was still a bit of coastline to wander. It was the DoC person’s job to keep us from wandering it and scaring off the penguins. I entertained myself with taking pictures of a few nearby fossils and the waves and then just sat back and waited. And waited. And waited. I kept wondering how the heck the penguins made it through the crashing waves and various currents. I took video of one area of the water, where water rushing off the flat bedrock (from the last wave) created a mini-whirlpool as the next wave came surging in. They must be brave little penguins to make it through the obstacle course. I pictured them jumping like salmon over the tall rock outcrops to get to the next level of the course! I think I was standing on the platform for 2 hours before the first penguin arrived. And then it was on the other side of the cliffs! We had to go down the platform and stand next to a cliff to see it! Back at the lookout, I was messing with my zoom, trying to figure out if a dark spot was a penguin in the distance when someone said they’d found one. It was right next to where I was looking – but it wasn’t where I was looking! I took lots of pictures and quite a few videos, but the distance was so great (and the light getting so dim) that none of them are high quality :-( Despite my bracing the camera on the railing, the wind still adds a lot of shake to the video and the pictures aren’t detailed enough to crop. As interesting as seeing the yellow-eyed penguins sounds, it’s actually quite boring. I mean, they do look very cool – but they don’t really do anything!! They waddle a little ways, shake themselves and their tail (which does crack me up) and then stand there for AGES. Sometimes they preen themselves while they stand there, but it’s still quite boring. You’re standing there waiting to get a chuckle out of the way they walk and hop over the rocks, but they just stand there – as if they aren’t performing! Geeze, no tip for him! ;-) Eventually, the light had faded so much that my pictures were coming out blurry and the clouds were dropping a mist, so I decided to call it a night. I said goodbye to the DoC lady, who had been very helpful and fun to talk with, and drove back to Waikawa for the night.

14 March (Saturday): Waterfalls (small and large), Tides, and …… Sand Poo?
I started my day with a short drive to Niagra Falls! Yep, right here in New Zealand! The falls were named as a joke by a surveyor that had seen the North American Niagara Falls. I would actually like to see the “falls” sometime when the water level isn’t so high. Maybe there would actually be an inch or two of “fall” before the water continues on its way. As it was, the “falls” really only looked like a short set of rapids!

My next stop for the day was the McLean Falls track. Now here was a waterfall!! I was treated to a lovely walk through the bush (thanks to Kings High School and DoC) before seeing a decent waterfall rushing into a pool of water that then cascading down some step like rocks. THEN, I followed the trail up the cliff edge and saw the ACTUAL falls! A double whammy of waterfalls! You might notice that the water appears to be brown in some parts of the falls – that’s because the water in this area is brown. Really brown! It should have something to do with the tannins leached out of the wood (that’s the reason in the states anyway), but I haven’t asked.

After leaving McLean Falls, I headed to Cathedral Caves. I needed to arrive within an hour of either side of low tide to see the caves. My timing was perfect – I arrived 45 minutes before the tide. It was a short walk through the bush and then I arrived on a large sandy beach. It was a 5-10 minute walk to the start of the cliffs where the caves were located. I had been warned by the guy giving out tickets (it was a $5 charge) to watch out for rogue waves that would get my feet wet. I was careful to stay near the rocky steps at the bottom of the cliffs when I was close to the surf – stepping up and out of the way of a couple of high reaching waves. However, I was busy taking pictures of the kelp when one wave caught me faster than I expected. I tried stepping up, but my foot slipped on the kelp. I pretty much ended up on hands and knees with one foot out of the water and one foot in. The good news? My camera was still dry!!!! I had been expecting a massive system of caves, but instead found about 4 or 5 separate caves. Most of them didn’t go too far into the cliffs and others still had a small layer of water on them. There were two caves, however, that went into the cliffs and connected together. The whole area was very beautiful and worth a look at. The purple algae on the bottoms of the walls were very beautiful.

My next stop was Tautuku estuary. It was a short walk through the bush that led to a boardwalk. The boardwalk took me through the muddy swamp, surrounded by rush and shrubs. Supposedly it is a perfect place to see/hear the fernbird, but I didn’t see any. I did see lots and lots of snails on the exposed mudflats and I watched the crabs wander around too. On my way back down the boardwalk, I came across a large spider I’d never seen before. I took pictures, as best I could without getting to close! It scurried away eventually, leaving me free to continue down the boardwalk without worrying about it jumping on me! It was quite interesting though – yellow stripes and white dots (hmmm, sounds like a fashion crisis).

I stopped briefly for a walk near Lake Wilkie. I think the best part of this walk was the birds in the bush before you reached the lake. I tried taking video, but don’t yet know how the sound came out for the calls. The rest of the walk gave views over the lake and had informational boards about the vegetation. At one point you were on a boardwalk over the water.

After a 2 minute drive from Lake Wilkie I decided I might as well hit the Tauuku beach. I didn’t stop to buy the guidebook for the nature walk through the bush, but I did enjoy the sound of all the birds in the area. I came out of the forest and to a wide sandy beach. I almost didn’t walk to the water’s edge, but then decided I might as well, since I was there. The beach was so barren; no shells, no rocks, no debris. There were quite a few little holes in the sand, I assume they belong to crabs (my co-volunteer and I, in Hawaii, used to sit and watch crabs on the beach come out of similar holes – Darren would try digging the crabs out after spotting one…..). I continued walking down to the water’s edge and spotted a few little orange round things in the sand. Hmmm, they were slightly gelatinous – were they the tops of some sort of jellyfish? I picked one up and carried it to the water to wash the sand off – to see if I could find tentacles. At the water I found a whole bunch of the gelatinous items. I think they might have been egg cases of some sort – lots of little orange balls held together by mucus. Also of interest on the beach were lots of little sandy forms. I really don’t know how to describe them. They looked like putty had been squeezed out of an icing tube onto one spot (if that makes sense!). All I can think is that it was some sort of sand poo! I touched some of them and they just crumbled into sand, but had a slightly mucus consistency mixed in. Strange! (I know I should have some idea what the creations were – but my invertebrate zoology class was years ago!).

Well, after all these explorations, my day was still only half over! After a short photo op at a lookout, my next stop was picnic point. I went for a nice stroll down the beach, taking pictures of the water and various sea shells. It was interesting to see the bright white waves of the ocean turn slightly amber as they mixed with the brown river mouth. I vaguely headed towards a wooden railing in the distance, in the bush. When I arrived I found that it was trail. This trail connected to the Kings Rock trail I had seen in my guidebook. I followed this trail through the bush, through private paddock, and down to the beach. It was still a lowish tide, so the rocks were well exposed and I was able to find quite a few interesting shells – several of which were beautiful paua shells (abalone). After a nice relax in the sun and a bit of an explore, I headed back up the hill and to the car. It was nearing high tide and I still had to see Jack’s Blowhole.

Once again, I drove past several points of interest in an effort to catch a feature that was best seen at a particular tide. I had actually wanted to catch Jack’s Blowhole (a big hole in the land, 200 meters from the sea that spouted water in the right conditions) while the tide was still coming in; unfortunately, I arrived right at high tide. While water was still surging into the crater in the ground, it wasn’t coming anywhere near my level of view. It may not have made a difference if I had arrived earlier, though – I had been warned that it wasn’t the most impressive blow hole (the ones on the west coast, in Paparoa national park had better ones). It was still neat to see the water coming in to a hill far from the ocean. The blowhole might have been impressive if I had seen in the day before – when the seas were still rough from the week of storms.

After walking back from Jack’s Blowhole, along bluffs above the sea, I headed towards a DoC campsite at Purakanui Bay. One of the guys I had walked with on the west coast had mentioned this bay had yellow-eyed penguins. When I arrived, I opted to sleep in my car again. The ground was a bit muddy and didn’t look to comfortable anyway. I had found my parking spot, following the grass and staying out of soggy looking areas, when I noticed a guy trying to push his rental campervan out of the mud. I walked over and offered my help. He had me drive (as his girlfriend didn’t know how) while they pushed. Eventually, another guy from the camp came over and we finally got the thing out. I made dinner and packed up some stuff to keep warm and busy while waiting for penguins. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to cross the wide, semi-deep stream separating the beach. I could have taken my shoes off, but didn’t really want to bother. I watched as two people waded through in their rubber boots. I considered doing the same, but then decided against it. I was wondering if these people were going to find a place to watch penguins, but after reaching the far end of the beach, they climbed the hills, checked a bush, and then came back and walked to their house. I was very curious as to whether they were checking traps, nests, or just going for an evening stroll. I was also curious if they were renting the house for the summer, the week, or permanently lived in the area. Guess I’ll never know. I was quite glad, though, that I had opted to stay in my spot. I figured if penguins arrived I would have just as good a view as from the other side of the beach; plus I wouldn’t be scaring them with my presence when walking. In the end, I caught a decent sunset but didn’t see any penguins. I got quite a bit of reading done though!

15 March (Sunday): Birds, tunnels, and a lighthouse
Before heading out for the day, I had a wander down the beach. I had watched a wood pigeon fly into the bush, so I caught some pictures of it on its dead wood perch – with the moon next to it!My first stop of the day was another waterfall – Purakanui waterfall, apparently one of the most photographed waterfalls in New Zealand! I could see why too, it was beautiful! It had about 3 steps of falls and was really wide. A nice way to start the day – particularly with the birds sounding on the walk.

Next, I headed for the Catlins Forest, to Tawanui campground and trail. While the 5 hour (one way) trail started at the campground, the best place to hear/see the rare yellowhead (mohua)was at the end of the trail. Since there were 4 areas to start on the trail, I opted for starting at the end! After driving back forest roads for a bit I finally found the end. I started down the trail by the river and was more than surprised to see tons of mushrooms. And not just mushrooms, but the really cool “Alice in Wonderland” amanita mushrooms! I had never seen so many in one place. I took a bunch of pictures, walked a little, stopped and took more pictures. The mushrooms were on the trail for a good 15 minutes! The mushrooms were in every stage of growth too – from the very smallest, white little button starting to come out of the ground, to the fully mature with its top starting to curl upwards. It was so amazing! I love mushrooms (I like to eat them to, but I know far better than to consider eating these toxic ones – they are strictly for pictures!). I tore myself away from the mushroom and continued across a wire swing bridge and down the trail. I stopped for quite a while, listening to birds I hadn’t heard before and trying to a get a picture of them. I think they may have been the yellowhead – their call was quite different than ones I’d heard before and I swear I saw yellow on the birds I caught site of. I was never able to get a picture though :-( They were too far away and moved too fast for the camera. I hope the audio on the video at least comes out! I continued down the trail and through the beautiful woods, listening to birds and enjoying the scenery. It took me almost 2 hours to finally make it to the first side trail back to the forest road – Wallis stream, supposedly an hour walk! I had a nice little picnic in the sun at the picnic table and then spotted a red butterfly. It was the same one I had seen at the bottom of the Haast pass! I took a million pictures as the butterfly was distracted with its flower – I even got some video, ha ha ha. The trip back to the car took far less time, as I wasn’t distracted by mushrooms and birds – too much! The area where I had heard the possible yellowheads was fairly deserted – just a few silvereyes (I think) twitting around.

Back on the main highway, I stopped at Tunnel Hill to see a railroad tunnel built in the 1890s. I was quite impressed to see such lovely brick work on the outside face! It was a long tunnel, and I started to walk through it. I had two flashlights, both fairly dim. I got a little ways into the tunnel and then decided I didn’t really care about seeing the end. I had seen the inside and the other end wasn’t going to look much different. The end of the tunnel, being gated off to private land, wasn’t going to lead anywhere anyway. So, I turned around and came back into the light and way from the creepy feelings of being alone in the dark.

I had found out an information center that the penguin viewing hide at Roaring Bay was closed – being upgraded I think. I was disappointed, but headed to the Nugget Point lighthouse anyway (located right next to the bay). As I walked to the lighthouse, far above the ocean, I could see a man down on the rocks below. I couldn’t imagine how he had gotten down and didn’t envy his journey back up. However, I was a little annoyed that he was so close to the seals. I could hear the little pups calling and when he walked towards any of them they would run (well, hop?) away quite quickly. I think it would have bothered me less if he had been content to sit in one place, but every time I looked at him, he was trying to get closer. I kind of wanted one of the big seals to charge him! Ha ha ha. I know, mean of me! Anyhow, I continued on to the lighthouse. More construction was going on in front of the viewing platform, an extension I would guess. The existing platform did seem a bit small for all the tourists that were parking in the lot. I enjoyed the view of many jagged rocks making their way out to the ocean – no wonder there was a lighthouse here! Below, lounging on the rocks, many seals could be seen and heard.

There weren’t any camping sites in the area, so I opted for staying at a holiday park/motor camp in Kaka Point. Lots of people find little pull outs that don’t have “no camping” signs and stay there. Some areas might be alright with that, but I don’t like the idea of someone coming up to me while I sleep in my car and telling me to move on. The problem with this kind of “free camping” is that there are no toilets and apparently people don’t have the ability to contain their morning “ablutions” until they find one – leading to a nice area becoming icky (not to mention the possibility of disease spreading). So, I figured I could do with a shower and some electricity (to charge my camera batteries and do a bit of blogging). The holiday park was cheap and pretty nice. I made up a massive dinner, giving me leftovers for 2 nights! It’s always a bonus not using my own gas for cooking.

16 March (Monday): Fossils, wetlands, and penguins
From the Kaka Point Lighthouse I headed out of the Catlins and towards Dunedin. I stopped in the little town of Milton and talked to a lovely information center lady. She gave me a map and directions to the Milburn limeworks – which was supposed to have a display of whale fossils! I followed the signs past a limestone quarry and through paddock land. The fossil display was set up at a spot that gave a good view out over the valley: mostly pasture and farm land, with 2 lakes in the far distance. The entrance to the lookout was flanked by massive limestone rocks, all full of various shell fossils, and several of these big rocks were at the lookout site too. There were all sorts of clam and scallop shells embedded in the rocks, along with the occasional sand dollar! It was quite interesting, but of course, the baleen whale fossil was the most impressive. The large rock with the fossil in it, along with several examples of various other fossils, was set in a shed with widows for viewing. However, I think this picture is fairly decent, showing the outline of the jaw of the baleen whale. I can’t tell you what you’re looking at, but use your imagination and maybe you can see something ;-)

My next stop was Sinclair wetlands. This was a private wetlands, owned by a group of Native Maori. They asked only for a gold coin (one or two dollars) for a donation and also offered bags of food for feeding the ducks. The area was supposed to be an example of what a large portion of the area had originally looked like – wetlands full of native plants and birds. I had hoped to see a blue duck or something fairly native, but all I saw was mallards, a few Canadian geese, some very busy swallows, and a few other birds that I could hear but not see (I wonder if the audio came out on that video?). I suppose I was fairly unimpressed with the wildlife – but I imagine the time of year and time of day would influence what I might see. Plus, I really only got to see large ponds from a lookout – the paths themselves followed marshy canals and the bush was so thick I couldn’t see far into it. I wonder if I might see more if I arranged a $15 per person tour? There was a line of row boats in one area, and several hides throughout the wetlands – I imagine that would be the way to see any rare birds. However, I was impressed with the work they doing. They had a little garden area where they were growing plants and replanting the area with native vegetation. Very cool. I tried feeding a couple of Canadian geese, but they would have nothing to do with me. I then made my way around the enclosed pool and found the “feeding area”. Ha, a whole bag of food and not a duck in site! I ended up putting the bag of food back for someone else to buy! I had a nice lunch at the sunny picnic table and then continued on my way.

It was sunny as I passed through Dunedin. I vaguely wanted to stop and check out the city, but I also wanted to get my camp set up in time to get to Shag Point and watch for yellow-eyed penguins. I had thought about stopping at Otago Peninsula and watching for the little blue penguins again. However, I just knew that sitting in the dark on the same beach that mom and I had been at when we saw the penguins would make me lonely. I knew that I would still be excited to see the little birds, but it wouldn’t be the same without mom next to me, both of us squeezing each other’s hands in excitement. Also, I wasn’t sure I had the patience to watch people wander around scaring the penguins. At least when mom and I watched the impatient people we could comment to each other about their behavior. I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with those feelings, and, really, I had gotten a good look at the penguins that night and at the Antarctic Center in Christchurch. So, I wasn’t really missing anything. The other problem with staying on the Otago Peninsula was the lack of campgrounds. I didn’t want to deal with a slightly more expensive holiday park, so I headed towards the DoC campground at Trotter’s Gorge instead. I had also considered, when driving through Dunedin, stopping at the Speight’s brewing company and filling my bottles of water with their spring water. They keep a tap available for everyone that wants to take some away, 24hours a day. However, the water hadn’t tasted that much different, when I tried it on out tour, than any other good water and I couldn’t really be bothered with parking. So, I filled up my water at the holiday park and just drove straight through the sunny, beautiful city. I could see the old churches and buildings and really wished it had looked like this when mom and I had been visiting. Oh well.

Funny enough, the sun disappeared as soon as I left Dunedin! As I started climbing into the hills, I was met with low hanging clouds. The overcast skies spread out over the horizon when I topped the hills and headed down the coast. I hoped it wouldn’t be a cold night for penguin waiting. However, by the time I arrived in Palmerston the sun was back out. I stopped for directions to the campground and inquired about internet - $2 for 15 minutes at the library :-( (just as a reference, it will take me at least an hour, probably more, to get this blog uploaded and pictures arranged – particularly with the amount of pictures I’m choosing).

I was pleased that the road to the campground was paved; gravel roads get pretty old after awhile. Soon, I found myself descending into a gorge with limestone rocks jutting out of the bush. I found the campground and discovered that there was a trail into the gorge. Sweet – a morning walk. I paid my fees, set up my tent, and headed out again. I wanted to get to Shag Point before it got too late, I was really hoping to see yellow-eyed penguins!

When I arrived at the point I was pleased to find that I had cell reception. This meant that I could catch Dave up on the happenings of the last few days in the Catlins. As I sat and watched the water, several groups of people arrived to have a look for the penguins. After 15 minutes or so they would leave, but I stayed. Funnily, the couple that I had helped push out of the mud at Purakanui bay showed up! Ha ha ha. Eventually the last people left, leaving me free to talk with Dave. As we talked, I watched the ocean and beach for any sign of penguins. There were a few seals on the beach and a couple swimming around, but no penguins. After a few hours, I finally spotted one!! I quickly hung up on Dave and got my camera out. The video is a bit shaky, but it’s worth it to see the penguin floating in the water and then coming to shore. Poor little thing gets knocked over by a wave when he’s standing on a rock! However, he manages to stand up again and hops up the rocks and makes his way to the bush. I’m afraid the video is too big for posting here, but it would probably be even shakier and harder to watch on the small blog screen. I talked to Dave after the penguin was gone; he thought it was cool to hear me get excited at my find. I thought it was cool that I was the only one to witness it! I said goodbye to Dave as a family arrived at the lookout (I didn’t want to be rude and ruin their nature experience). Just as I put the phone away, I looked back to the water. There, bobbing around like a little boat, was another penguin!! I told the group behind me and they finally found it. They were so excited. They had a really flash, high zoom camera too!! After the penguin made it up the beach they left – off to Oamaru to see the little blue penguins. It was going to be a penguin filled night for this lucky family! I took this picture of the second penguin that came up, it’s fairly grainy because it’s using digital zoom. Eventually, I decided two penguins was quite a treat and it would be nice to drive back to camp with a little bit of light left.

17 March (Tuesday): Trotters Gorge, more penguins, and Mount Cook
While it wasn’t raining when I woke up, it wasn’t sunny either. I hung my tent fly up to dry out a bit while I went for a walk on the trail through the gorge. The loop trail took me up to give me a great view over the limestone cliffs and rocks. It was a nice cool day for a steep climb.

After a good energy starting morning, I headed toward the town of Moeraki. The map I had gotten at Palmerston, to get to my campsite, had included a map of several small towns in the area. Looking at the map I found that there was a lighthouse at Katiki point, outside of Moeraki. This surprised me, as it wasn’t marked on my driving map; which usually notes such things. I drove to the lighthouse, expecting a good view of the ocean and maybe some seals. I was not expecting to find penguins in enclosures!!! Many penguins were fenced in and looking at me. One was quite curious and came towards me. I was intrigued by his eyes. They appeared to have a thin, transparent membrane that blinked over the eye every so often – moving horizontally, like a lizards. However, the penguin also occasionally blinked like a normal animal too. Interesting. I didn’t know what was wrong with these penguins, but some of them had names – making me wonder if they were semi-permanent residents. I never did see anyone working, so I don’t know the whole story. On my way out of the area, I took one last wander through and found the “Katiki Point Penguin Hospital” with 3 penguins in an enclosure. Were the other penguins also in hospital, or were they so injured they couldn’t return to the wild? After pulling myself away from the fascinating close look at the captive penguins, I headed down towards the point. There were several fences and warnings not to enter some areas because of endangered wildlife. There were rabbits running around everywhere too. I saw several holes in the ground. I thought they were rabbit holes, until I saw the small white feathers at the entrance. Maybe they were penguin’s nests – they certainly smelled bad enough to be! I continued on towards the point and was more than surprised when, as I was stepping over a stile to the next section of trail, I saw a yellow eyed penguin lying in the grass!!! He was on the other side of the fence and when I took the time to look around I saw that 2 other penguins were nearby and several seals too. Crazy! I took pictures and video and then finally decided I should go. I didn’t think I was stressing them out, but you never really know. As I walked back up the hill I spotted another penguin, with 3 rabbits next to it! As I returned to the car I looked again at who was managing the area. I couldn’t believe that this place didn’t have masses of tourists flocking to it and wondered if that was kind of on purpose. The area was managed by the Katiki Pt. Penguin Charitable Trust. I had given a gold coin donation when I first arrived, but I went back and gave five more dollars to support the hospital and ground maintenance. As I was leaving I ran into the same couple from Purakanui bay. I told them what I’d seen and they were quite excited. I was pretty sure, since I was heading towards Mount Cook next, that I wouldn’t run into them again! But you never know!
I had some reservations about coming to Mount Cook. It was a large detour and it wouldn’t be worth it if the weather didn’t cooperate. Mom and I had passed the mountain viewing area on our last day, but the clouds and rain had obscured any view. The night before, while talking at Shag Point, Dave had given me the Mount Cook forecast – it was supposed to by sunny for this day (Tuesday), possible rains on Wednesday, and no forecast for Thursday. It sounded like if I didn’t go right away that my chance might be lost. Dave figured I would kick myself if I didn’t do it now. I figured out that it would be a 300km detour, about $60 in gas. Really, a small price to pay to see something spectacular if the weather was good. So – after the Katiki lighthouse I headed towards Oamaru, where I would cut to the west before returning to the east coast.

I took a side road to the main highway before I reached Oamaru. Boy am I glad I did! The weather was perfect for the three stops I made along the “Vanished World Highway”. The first stop was to see another whale fossil. The trail took me through private paddock land where limestone rocks lined the small valley. I’m afraid the fossil, again enclosed in a glass case, wasn’t captured well in photographs; particularly with the sun reflecting straight off the glass. The whole area was quite interesting though and I did snap a picture of a raptor in the air.

My second stop took me to the “elephant rocks”. Again, the owner of the pasture land had graciously allowed access to the public, allowing us to wander around giant limestone rocks that had been unearthed after seismic activity. The clear, sunny weather allowed me to view mountains in the background during my drive, visible behind the rocks.

Next, was a Maori rock art site. The limestone overhang off the side of the road was fenced off, to prevent further graffiti to these cultural icons. The “art” was sometimes geometric and sometimes looked like boats or people. All of it looked like a child had drawn on the wall with black crayon. Not that I’m complaining, I couldn’t draw a boat much better myself – particularly on a rock wall with primitive supplies! Oops, this one of the pics that getted loaded :-(

Back on the main highway, I stopped in Duntroon for lunch. While waiting for the masses to finish with the public toilet I walked down the street and photographed this church. I find it interesting the front three crosses are all a different style.

I passed up another rock art site, mostly because I was just leaving Duntroon, didn’t know it was coming up, and didn’t really want to turn around and stop again. So, I booked it through Omarama, where I did note the gas price, and headed to Twizel. I was quite pleased to find that the gas in Twizel was several cents cheaper; I had expected it to be more expensive! Good deal! I stopped at the information center and got a bit of information, including the fact that the library had free internet! They did ask for a gold coin donation, but considering the going rate was still $2/15 minutes, the donation was a steal! I also found out that they have free (donation) WIFI! So I’ll upload my blog in a few days from there. While at the information center I found that they have $3 showers! So, basically, when I leave Mount Cook, I’ll be set for another week of camping in the boonies.

After leaving Twizel, I headed for Mount Cook. I stopped at Lake Pukaki lookout briefly before heading up the road (this is the lookout mom and I passed without seeing anything but clouds and mist). I stopped at the visitor center first and then headed to the camp. I was little worried that it would be such a popular place that the campground would be full, but I was able to find a spot anyway. I set up my tent and took pictures of the icy, glacier covered Mount Sefton. I talked to an old guy from Tauranga (near Coromandel on the North Island) and he told me that the Hooker glacier trail was much better than the Tasman glacier trail. As we were talking, he pointed out an ice fall from the glacier. He told me we should be able to hear it soon. Sure enough, a low thunder (almost like a truck passing) soon sounded. He told me that the 30 minute walk up to Kea point was a good place to watch the ice fall from Mt Sefton. After dinner I decided I best view the sunset, as the weather forecast was calling for morning rain clearing in the evening. I thought about walking to the village and then taking a short walk up the hill, but 45 minutes to get to the village seemed a bit long. So I opted for Kea point instead. As I rounded a corner I was pleased to see Mount Cook, still in sunlight. I sat on the platform and watched Mount Sefton for ice falls (catching one on video, but it’s pretty shaky). I then sat and waited for the sunset. I talked with a couple guys from the UK as we occasionally snapped pictures of the subtle pink brought out of the mountain by the sun. It wasn’t a dramatic sunset, but it was nice.

18 March (Wednesday): Rainy Blogging
Whew – that brings us up to today!!! I slept pretty well, despite winds whipping past my tent. The morning rain certainly did come. At one point today I saw a tiny bit of blue sky and lighter clouds, but the rain has set in again and Mount Sefton is only vaguely visible through the mist. I finished my third book in 3 weeks over breakfast and then headed to the village cafe. I’ve had a coffee and some wedges to pay for my space and electricity while I sit and write this blog. I’ve been choosing photographs and realize I’ve probably been a bit heavy with my choices. Not sure how long it will take to load them all! I guess I’ve been here for 4.5 hours now! Argh, and I am tired. Thank goodness I got the first day and half written at the holiday park!!! I am about at my limit now! I won’t get this posted until Twizel, and may not get tomorrows adventures posted. The forecast is for fine weather tomorrow, but the forecast also called for this weather to be clearing! So, we’ll see. After loading this in Twizel, I’ll head for a campground in the Christchurch area and then make my way north towards the Nelson area. I probably won’t do any of the major walks in the Abel Tasman or Queen Charlotte area. I’m actually quite antsy to get back to the Coromandel and start setting everything up for OZ. I still have to buy tickets and find a place to stay (I’m hoping for a WWOOF host nearby). Not to mention dealing with my car (and the windshield that needs replaced – yikes). So, as much as I had wanted to hike/kayak the waters of Abel Tasman, I guess we’ll just see. Surprisingly, I’m actually getting a bit over the constant traveler life style! I am looking forward to getting settled in OZ, finding a job (I hope, I hope, I hope!!!), and having a normal life for a bit (and hopefully saving money).

Anyway, enough about the future – we all know my plans keep changing anyway!! Okay, I am going to resize pictures and then leave this stupid chair. I’ll go check out some of the alpine displays I only glanced at this morning! Yikes – it’s raining hard out there! Hmmm, I still don’t think I can be bothered to fully proof read this massive (11 pages!!!) blog. Wow, I don’t envy my readers this entry! Congratulations if you made it this far!!