The Catlins

From Manapouri we headed straight for Invercargill where we took the opportunity to stock up on supplies. We then made our way to McLean Falls on the Catlins coastline where we had planned to spend a couple of days. The day after we arrived we planned to have a lazy day, but it never seems to work out as planned!

The first stop of the day was at the quirky Lost Gypsy Art Gallery. This was a brilliant collection of automata, memorabilia, and things you can press, pull or play with! From here we stopped at Tautuku Bay where we enjoyed a long walk on the golden sands of this deserted beach; unbelievable to have such a beautiful beach to ourselves!

We went back to the campsite, enjoyed a long lunch, and read our books before heading back out again for a couple more walks. First up was the 40min return to McLean Falls, followed by a walk to the Cathedral Caves. The caves can only be explored at low tide so when we arrived in the evening (at low tide) the conditions were also really good for taking a few photographs.

The next day we set off for Dunedin with plans to make a couple of stops along the way; Nugget Point and Kaka Point. At Nugget Point we made the short walk to the lighthouse where we got a great view out across the 'nuggets' as well as being able to see seals and sea lions playing on the rocks below. Unfortunately we were there at around 11am and so missed the opportunity to see the Yellow Eyed Penguins that are frequent visitors to the area.