It’s a long and dusty road..

...because most of them around here are gravel tracks! Scooby has been having fun today, exploring around some more of the Otago/Catlins region.
We started off (after a rather leisurely breakfast, it must be admitted) with a visit to Nugget Point and Roaring Bay. Nugget point is another lighthouse set high on a very narrow peninsula above Roaring Bay. Roaring Bay is very aptly named as the wind certainly was roaring in there this morning. We nearly got blow off the walkway out to the lighthouse, but it was well worth the battering to see baby seals swimming in rock pools below us, and more sea lions (although not as close this time) in Roaring Bay itself.
When we got to the lighthouse, we had a brilliant view of the “Nuggets” – rock stacks lying off the point, set in a turquoise sea – as we hope you can see too. The view really was spectacular. With the wind still blowing at about force 5-6, we decided that lunch was best eaten in the car; we didn’t want to fight the seagulls for it if it got blown down the cliffs!
In spite of the wind, we did manage to see the rare white Royal Spoonbill flying around the point. The photos were a bit shaky, as the camera was getting blown everywhere, but at least we saw them.
The roads out to Nugget point were some of the roughest we’ve been on – gravel, of course and very steep and very narrow in places. A lot of the time the surface feels quite solid, but then you get the feeling that you’re driving on marbles! Even Scooby lost it once today! Thanks for the skid control lessons, Dad!
Having said all this about the roads, would you have towed a new double axel caravan out to Nugget Point? We wouldn’t even have thought about it, but some nutter did! I’m just very glad I wasn’t there when he tried to turn it round...and that I didn’t meet it coming in the opposite direction either! We understand from one camper van driver we met, who was concerned about the suitability of the road for his camper, that said Mercedes and Caravan overtook them on the way out to the point!! Certifiable! I wouldn’t have overtaken anything on that road!
Our next stop was “Cannibal Bay” – so called because human bones have been found on the beach. As the beach is also home to sea lions, cannibals may not be the true reason for the remains – but I’m sure it’s the more attractive story! It reminded us, in many respects, of Holywell Bay in Cornwall - although a little warmer than many of our visits! It was a beautiful place to be, and more special because we were the only ones there.
So, next stop on the “Cooks Tour of the Catlins” was Purakaunui Falls – a relatively gentle 10 min walk into rainforest (we’re quite a long way South for this – Tree Ferns included, but the valley where the falls are is very sheltered, so has it’s own micro-climate, hence the rainforest) As I hope you can see, these were very pretty too – although rather spoilt by the number of people visiting at the same time as we were. I guess a walk of only 10 mins attracts more people than many of the things we’ve been to, where the walk in is a lot longer.
We also saw a new local sport – Sheep V Sheepdog Grand Prix along the main South Scenic Route Road! A slightly harassed farmer let one of his dogs out to round up the said escapee sheep, who promptly took off at a rate of knots, leaving the poor dog lagging behind! The farmer called him back in disgust, they both dived into their Landrover and high- tailed it off up the road after said fleeing sheep. We passed the sheep when it turned left into some long grass at the side of the road about a mile further on – at least the dog stood some chance of getting it rounded up in there!
To sum up the Catlins, is very difficult other than to say it is a wild place with so much breathtaking scenery, and so many different facets of nature and geology in a relatively small space. Surprisingly, few visit this area, as it is quite isolated, and only recently has the main road been tar-sealed.
It’s very much a backwards place that the locals refer to as the “edge of the world”. In some ways this is very true – going south it’s next stop Antarctica, going west it’s Tasmania, going east it’s Chile. The farmers here rely on satellites for phone and internet, and they’ve only had mains electricity since 1960. It’s not a place to run out of supplies either – your nearest shop selling anything other than the absolute basics is over 60 miles away!
The isolation is the reasons so much endangered and now protected wild life is here, of course.