The Catlins Coast

With 22 planned nights in Norman (the camper, see previous blogs!) I was unsure if we would have enough time to visit the Catlins Coast ‘properly’. When we first picked up Norman, Nick from PiwiWiwi (our camper hire company) really recommended the region, and I could tell that Charlie was sold on going in search of Seals and Penguins. So after Mount Cook, we set off through Twizel, had a good coffee and nights sleep in Cromwell and headed down towards The Catlins. Timing this drive with Labour Weekend was a less than sensible idea. Traffic was plenty and impatient. Especially towards poor Norman on the winding roads between Cromwell and the coast. We had numerous cars up our backside, and stopped many a time to let the traffic pass. We did our best, but unfortunately that wasn’t quite enough for some drivers!! Tip: Avoid bank holiday Monday driving if possible.

Despite the stressful hour or so on the road, we arrived safely by the coast and set up for the night before heading to the famed Nugget Point in the morning. Again, the weather blessed us with bright sunshine and despite the lighthouse and nuggets having little information/reading to offer, we spent considerable time here just enjoying the sea breeze and watching the fur seals. A few other tourists came, took pictures, and left within 15 minutes. It wasn’t really until we had been there for half an hour or so, and watched a couple of kayaks paddle through the nuggets in the distance, that I realised the scale of the small piece of land we were stood on and orientated myself properly given that there was sea on both sides of the path. A wallowing fur sea also gave us some good entertainment as it surfed and dived through the waves 100ft below us. Spending a little longer here soaking up the little things made for a peaceful and relaxing morning.

Before our return to the main roads, we stopped off at Roaring Bay but the resident penguins were clearly out for the day. Late afternoon is the best time to see them here, though the hideout where you can observe has lots of interesting information on the penguin’s migration habits and life cycles. Worth a 5-minute wander for a read alone.

On the winding road back out of the bay, we were zooming (as much as Norman zooms) past a beach when I spotted a sea lion lolloping its way up the beach. I shouted at Charlie to stop the van, so he reversed a bit, pulled over and out we jumped. We approached carefully and watched as the female sea lion emerged, decided that she wanted to chill out on the beach, then head back to the sea, but was too lazy to get the whole way.

So we had seen no penguins at Roaring Bay, but we’d heard from reliable sources that Curio Bay was THE PLACE for Penguins. So off we went. After pausing for lunch at the beautiful viewpoint Florence Hill Lookout, we trundled onto Curio Bay whilst checking for whales out the window at all times. No whales. We arrived mid-afternoon and the weather had turned a little since the morning, so we fuelled up with a solid flat white from the café at Curio Bay before going to check out the Petrified Forest. Interesting. Definitely interesting to see, but probably more interesting if you’re a foliage enthusiast aka someone who is really into this type of stuff. So after about 10 minutes we were waiting for penguins. And waiting. And waiting a bit longer. The rain began to come in, the winds picked up and still, no penguins. Another hour passed and finally, at 7:50 pm Charlie thought he was hallucinating when a little black slice dived through the waves and disappeared again. But thankfully, there it was again, diving closer to shore before it hopped out onto the rocks about 50metres from us. Waddling and jumping from rock to rock, it made its way up the beach before disappearing into the hides for the night. Yipee! A penguin. So we waited a bit longer for his penguin friends, but after another 20 minutes we were cold, wet and well, we’d seen one, so decided to make a move. We later found that we had slightly got our timings wrong. It seems 6-8pm is the usual window, so arriving at 430 was our first error. It’s also probably a good idea to ask the experts in the i-site for the best timings so you get a better chance. It seems the night before, 830pm was the time that most arrived. But we’d seen one, so we happily headed into our camper to warm up and refuel.

Day three in the Catlin’s took us to Waipapa Point and Lighthouse. A lighthouse on a rugged coastline always makes a good photo, but the history that goes with them is worth a few minutes of reading too. The Waipapa Point Lighthouse came with more reading than Nugget Point, with info on a shipwreck and the day to day life of the lighthouse keeper and his family. However, the real draw at Waipapa Point was the Sea Lions. Big, unassuming, sleepy Sea Lions. There are a few signs giving some info on the animals, though this was the case in other coastal areas where we saw no wildlife, so we didn’t have huge expectations. Yet just around the first corner on the beach, a great lump of Sea Lion was taking his late morning nap. He even sat up to pose for some photos before dropping off for another snooze. We wandered along the beach for 20 minutes or so and were happy to watch another one emerge from the ea and make its way up the beach to find the perfect spot to nap. Their mannerisms and expressions in doing this are highly amusing, as if it’s so much effort to haul themselves that little bit further. Trying to persuade themselves it is worth the effort, but then flop onto the sand as if that spot will have to do just fine. It’s a tough life. Indeed they do actually spend a lot of hours far and deep into the ocean, and apparently lose 80% of their ability to move on land (unchecked stat from unknown tour guide somewhere), so I suppose they deserve a little rest.

Sea Lion snoozing at Waipapa Point

Sea Lions and Lighthouses pretty much sum up our visit to the Catlins. We stopped off in Invercargill for a coffee (Batch - really good coffee) and then camped the night by Monkey Island in the rain. It’s great free site and probably a great beach to spend a day in the waves if the rain isn’t horizontal. So in summary, The Catlins, worth the visit. Great scenery like no other we’ve seen in NZ, and great wildlife, just make sure you do your research on penguin times!!