The Catlins, New Zealand South Island – April 26th – 29th, 2017

To be completely honest, after the stunning beauty of the past month, the Catlins region was a bit of a letdown. The lack of crowds was a definite plus, but the wind, rain, and pretty (rather than breathtaking) views all tallied in the cons column. Regardless of my negative review, I must admit that our first stop, Clifden Cave, was actually really cool. We spent about an hour splashing, scrambling, and squeezing through the dark caverns of the uncommercialized cave only to exit about 300 meters away (although we traveled about a mile underground to get there). Loved it! Next, we had lunch at the isolated and appropriately named "Cosy Nook" surrounded by crashing waves. Then we walked briefly through Mores Reserve to a beautiful 360 degree viewpoint over the Riverton region and surrounding islands. The same could not be said for the next site, which was literally just a sign at Stirling Point marking the “lands end” (meaning the southern tip of the island). Yawn. We did drive up to a viewpoint though which was quite beautiful.

Clifden Cave, Cozy Nook, Mores Reserve, and Stirling Point. 

The next day, we ventured to Waipapa Lighthouse where the wind was blowing so strong that we struggled to stay upright. We enjoyed taking hilarious (well we think they are hilarious) photos of us jumping into the wind and getting blown several feet backwards. The painful unintended downside was that the resulting knots in my hair took a significant amount of time reconciling. After driving another couple of hours, we decided to do what would turn out to be the worst hike in New Zealand. Although we were feeling a little “hiked-out” to begin with, we decided to push through since Scott said, and I quote, that Waipohatu Loop Walk is the “Catlins best day hike loop.” For the first time, we found ourselves cursing Scott’s name. The two-hour hike to two unimpressive waterfalls was torture. There was so much mud that we had to tip-toe and slosh through the entire trail with only overgrown jungle with the occasional bird to mollify us. Not only were we not impressed, we were not in a good mood by the time we finished. The only way we can justify Scott’s, “best day hike loop” tagline is that perhaps it is the only day hike loop in the Catlins. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Fortunately, there is one sure way to tame a foul mood – PENGUINS (or in this case, penguin singular)! We spotted an endangered Yellow Eyed Penguin (YEP) at the coastal petrified forest (which was also ridiculously cool).

The Catlins takes "wind" to a whole new level.

Left: The worst hike in New Zealand. Right: View from the petrified forest, a petrified tree in the coastal rock, and a YUP! 

We chose to forgive and forget Scott’s blunder regarding Waipohatu, and trust him when it came to Cathedral Cave. He suggested we ditch the crowds at the main cave and venture around the next outcrop to a few hidden sea eroded crack caves. Although it was just after low tide, the route around the outcrop of rocks was treacherous. Andy managed to scramble over moss covered rocks and reach the beach only wet to the knee, while I chose the faster more efficient route and just walked straight through the ocean emerging wet to the hips (I suppose this says something about our personalities). The caves were, as promised, abandoned and more than a little eerie. With only a cell phone light, we ventured into the narrow cave which tapered smaller and smaller until it eventually dead ended in the dark abyss. I was relieved to find the cave uninhabited… I was expecting zombies. Now low tide plus about 45 minutes, we attempted to return to the first (and largest) cave, but both of us ended up soaked this time around – any later and we may have had to swim. The main tourist cave was also super cool. The water had eroded a massive semi-circular cave, with both mouths on the same beach about a football field’s length apart. The surrounding scenery was pretty great too: jungle clad hills connecting a fine yellow sand beach.    

Cathedral Caves.

We continued to drive around the southern tip, eventually stopping at Cannibal Bay, where you can commonly glimpse sea lions on the beach. At first glance, Cannibal Bay was a fail, but then we spotted some rock looking objects in the distance and decided to take a walk along the beach to check it out. We were not disappointed! There were about 20 sea lions who ignored us completely and went about their business napping, swimming, or annoying one another for fun. At one point a gigantic male starting waddling right towards us (they are surprisingly fast) to go squash his girlfriend/wife who was sleeping on the beach. After dashing out of the way, I got the entire thing on video!    

Waikawa campsite and Cannibal Bay.

So, although I started this post a bit negative, I now realize, after writing it, that we did indeed have a pretty great time in the Catlins. Perhaps not because of the scenery or the weather, but thanks to the wildlife!