{"id":887,"date":"2026-02-15T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/?p=887"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:20:24","slug":"2026-day-24-dunedin-to-curio-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/2026\/02\/15\/2026-day-24-dunedin-to-curio-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Day 24 Dunedin to Curio Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 15, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Map: Day 24<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was mostly cloudy when we checked out of the AirBnb in Dunedin to travel south to Curio Bay. We enjoyed our stay at the AirBnb: it had a wonderful view outside and was very quiet and private.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Morning view from the AirBnb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
View across the driveway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We stopped at a Pak'nSave supermarket on the outskirts of Dunedin to stock up on groceries for the next few days, and then we filled up on gas. Then we drove south into the Catlins area. We had driven that route twice before so had already seen most of the major scenic areas. We decided to make a few stops at places we had not been before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop was Papatowai. I hiked a short nature trail: Shank's Bush. It was a short walk through the rain forest and viewed a small estuary.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Big tree fern on the Shank's Bush nature trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ferns on the Shank's Bush nature trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At a second stop in Papatowai, I hiked to Picnic Point. This was another easy walk through an old growth rain forest that led to a small beach where the Tahakopa River emptied into Tahakopa Bay. There were some nice views of the bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Old growth rain forest on the trail to Picnic Point<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picnic Point<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picnic Point: view across Tahakopa Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picnic Point: view of the small beach and river outlet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We drove on to stop at a couple of nice lookouts: Skeleton Point and Florence Hill, which was one of my favorites from the trip in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Skeleton Point Lookout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Florence Hill Lookout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our next stop was the Lake Wilkie Track. This was a stop that we had missed doing our previous trips due to time constraints. It was a very short hike to a view of Lake Wilkie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lake Wilkie: view from the shore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lake Wilkie: view from the trail above<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We arrived at Curio Bay and checked into our accommodation for the next two nights: the Cloud 9 vacation rental. We had stayed there before in 2019 and loved it. It had sweeping views of Porpoise Bay from the kitchen, living room, and bedroom. It was also the place where little blue penguins nested underneath the house, and we had heard their loud calls in the middle of the night in 2023. We were hoping to hear them and possibly see them again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cloud 9 view from the living room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Cloud 9 fire stove<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Cloud 9 view from the bedroom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Cloud 9 view from the back deck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We drove up the road to the visitor center to ask about penguin sightings. In 2019 we saw one Hoiho penguin at Curio Bay: he put in a regular appearance almost daily just before dusk as he waddled in from the ocean, across the beach and to his nest in the bush. We did not see the penguin in 2023. This year there had been many sightings: the guest book inside our rental house mentioned sightings just a few days ago. The lady at the desk advised us to wait for the penguin between 7 and 8 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We drove back to the house and fixed dinner. We enjoyed the views from the living room until it was time to drive back to try to see the penguin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dinner: sweet and sour chicken and rice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our efforts to see the penguin were unsuccessful. We waited for two hours until 9 PM, and the only sightings were a few birds. The weather had deteriorated, and it was cold, damp and windy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We drove back to the house and started a fire. The heat from the stove kept us nice and warm. We waited for the little blue penguin to appear, but we did not see or hear anything before we went to bed for the night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 15, 2026 It was mostly cloudy when we checked out of the AirBnb in Dunedin to travel south to Curio Bay. We enjoyed our stay at the AirBnb: it had a wonderful view outside and was very quiet and private. We stopped at a Pak'nSave supermarket on the outskirts of Dunedin to stock up … Continue reading \"2026 Day 24 Dunedin to Curio Bay\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4","category-new-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1942,"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions\/1942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}