February 15, 2019
We woke up to a clear day. I watched the sunrise over Porpoise Bay from the upstairs kitchen at the Lazy Dolphin Lodge. It was beautiful!
I wanted to spend a little more time in the area since the weather was so nice. Back at Porpoise Bay I saw several more Hector’s Dolphins playing in the waves. They were out in the center of the bay since the water was calmer there than yesterday.
The objective for the day was to see the Catlins area and then drive to Dunedin (2 hours 50 minutes estimated drive time). First stop was McLean Falls. It was a 40-minute round trip hike through the Catlins Forest Park to reach the falls, which were impressive.
Next stops were at Florence Hill Lookout (great view of a golden sand beach below) and at Purakaunui Falls. This was one of the most photographed waterfalls in New Zealand, and there was a tour bus already there when we arrived. It was an easy 10-minute walk to the falls through a nice rain forest.
Then we drove on to Cannibal Bay. There was a long and narrow twisty dirt road to get to it. The wind was very strong there, and the surf was up. We walked along the beach and counted seven sea lions in the area. Most of them were sleeping. Two of them were rolling around in the sand.
We drove to Nugget Point. This was another popular tourist stop. We hiked to the lighthouse. At the point there were great views of the ocean all around. On the way out we spotted several fur seals sunning themselves on the rocks at the bottom of a cliff.
View From Nugget Point
Next we stopped at Roaring Bay, which was only a few kilometers down the road from Nugget Point. We were hoping for a chance to see penguins which frequented the area. A display sign said the most likely time was after 4 PM. Since it was shortly after 3 PM, we waited for a while and ate sandwiches in the parking lot. Then I realized we really would not have time to wait longer, since the bed and breakfast place we were staying in Dunedin wanted us to check in before 6:30, and it was almost a two-hour drive to get there.
I sent a message to the property with an estimated checkin time of 5:45. Heinrich took over driving. We arrived in Dunedin early, so we filled up on gas at a Z station and then found a Countdown supermarket next door. This was our first time in a Countdown store. I picked up discount card, but their gas discount worked differently: there was a minimum spend of $40 in order to get the gas discount. We went to the deli and bought ready made meat lasagna, coleslaw and potato salad for dinner.
Heinrich drove to the Piringa Bed and Breakfast, which was past Dunedin and on the Otago Peninsula. We had to drive up some very steep hills to reach it. There were great views of the peninsula from the front of the B and B.
Piringa was a self contained cottage with a refrigerator and microwave, and continental breakfast fixings were included. It was very nice and spacious.
After dinner I wanted to go to Sandfly Beach for a chance to see more penguins, but we found out we had to navigate a twisty road to reach the beach and we would have to drive back in the dark. Then I read some reviews of Sandfly Beach in the CamperMate app. The penguins came out earlier there based on recent sightings, between 4:30 and 6:30, so we were already too late.