February 14, 2019
The next phase of our trip was to spend time in the Catlins area near the southern tip of New Zealand. This area was renowned for its wildlife: penguins, dolphins, and sea lions. Our destination in Curio Bay was an estimated 3 hours 40 minutes drive time from Manapouri.
We woke up to the sound of steady rainfall. We had heard it come down hard during the night. This was the first day of our vacation where the rain really affected our plans. The forecast for the area was rain for most of the day, partially clearing sometime in the evening.
We checked out of our room and headed south in the pouring rain. Our first stop was the Clifden Suspension Bridge that crossed the Waiau River. This was New Zealand’s longest wooden suspension bridge. It was still raining, but we donned our rain jackets, read the interpretive signs, and walked across the bridge.
Afterwards we drove further south to the coast where we had wanted to spend time exploring some beaches. We stopped at McCracken’s Lookout, which was supposed to have great views of the coast. It was still pouring rain, and the cloud cover was so low that we saw nothing but pounding surf. So we sat in the car for over an hour hoping it would clear. It never did. Finally we gave up and drove on.
The next stop was Gemstone Beach. This was a place where people hunted for real gemstones such as sapphire and jasper. I was skeptical that I would find anything but figured I could take a look even in the rain. There were lots of stones but I did not find anything worth collecting. There was one other guy there that had a shovel and was picking up some stones. He showed me what he had collected: some yellow colored stones, and he identified them but I don’t remember the name.
We drove on to Monkey Island. The description in the Roadtrippers guide said that at low tide, this small island offshore can be reached on foot. A staircase leads to the top of the island where there are great views of the mountains of Fiordland. Not today! Although it had finally stopped raining, the cloud cover was still very low so there were no views. And it was not low tide. I snapped a few pictures of the island, and we drove on.
There were a few more lookouts that we did not bother to stop at due to the weather. We reached the city of Invercargill and stopped at the New World supermarket to buy groceries for the next few nights, and then we filled up on gas.
Finally at about 3 PM the weather started to clear. We drove to the Waipapa Point Lighthouse. This was the site of New Zealand’s worst shipwreck where 131 people lost their lives. The lighthouse was built after the disaster. We walked down to the beach where we saw a pair of sea lions! They rolled around in the sand for a while and then stopped to clean themselves. We were able to get fairly close to them for photos and videos.
Next on the agenda was Slope Point, the southernmost point of the South Island, but we decided to skip going there since it was a 40-minute round trip walk and it was getting late in the afternoon. Maybe next time!
We drove to Curio Bay, a central point in the Catlins area. We checked into our room at the Lazy Dolphin Lodge which was located directly on the beach of Porpoise Bay. The room was very small, but there was a shared bathroom and kitchen directly outside. There was also an upstairs area that had a separate kitchen that was shared with the dorm rooms. It had a nice view of Porpoise Bay.
Shortly after we arrived we met a girl who was staying in one of the dorm rooms. She told us that she had just returned from Porpoise Bay where she had gone swimming with a pod of Hector’s Dolphins. I asked her where we could find them. She told me to take the path to the beach from the lodge, which would lead to the right side of Porpoise Bay. I walked out there and after a few minutes saw 5 or 6 dolphins swimming near the shore. They were far enough away that I was not able to get any good pictures, but viewing was good through binoculars. Swimming was not an option for me: the water was too cold. Afterwards I walked up the bluff to where there was a car park and a campground. There were some nice interpretive signs for the dolphins. I walked up a road that led to the headlands area. There was a good view of Porpoise Bay from above, and on the other side of the bluff was Curio Bay, which was a nesting site for yellow-eyed penguins.
I walked back to the lodge, and then we used the shared kitchen to make our dinner: spaghetti, bread, and hummus. One of the girls staying at the lodge told us that currently there was only one yellow-eyed penguin residing in Curio Bay, and he usually returned to his nest between 8 and 9 PM, before dusk. There was a viewing area set up for people to wait and watch for the penguin at the bay.
So we walked to Curio Bay and arrived there shortly after 8 PM. The bay itself was quite interesting since the beach was strewn with petrified logs. The penguin viewing area was across the fossil forest logs. A yellow rope designated where we were not allowed to get any closer. We waited 45 minutes with about 50 other people when we finally saw the penguin. He put on quite a show, preening himself and standing in one spot so it was easy to take photos from a distance. We watched for about 15 minutes before he disappeared into his nest.
