Our next day of travel lead us from Oamaru to Dunedin. After two days without gas for your camping cooker, this was our mission. We found everything we looked for in the stores of Warehouse.– camping gas, camping equipment, clothes etc. It would be possible just to fly to New Zealand without any outdoor equipment because you could buy everything there.
After buying everything we needed we head to the beautiful region of The Catlins. In the area you can explore a couple of lookouts (Kaka Point, Slope Point and Nugget Point), beaches (Papatowai, Cario Bay, Cannibal Bay, Surat Bay) and smaller hikes to waterfalls (Matai Falls, McLean Falls, Purakaunui Falls and McLean Falls). It is an often overlooked region but from my point of view it is worth to stay there a few days and enjoy the beauty of this place.
The first stunning place we visited was Cannibal Bay, where we hiked to Surat Bay. This was one of the most stunning beaches I ever saw in my life. Even just for the sake of the picture there was one sea lion lying at the beach.
Our next stop was the lookout Nugget Point. You may know this place from endless Instagram pictures. In order to get to the Lighthouse, take a 20 minutes flat hike from the car park.
Further south we visited the Purakaunui Falls and McLean Falls. For reaching the waterfalls take a short hike (20 min) through the forest. This is another amazing opportunity to fall in love with the bird life in New Zealand. The singing is so unique. I never heard birds like that in my life. Even now back home I am more sensitive to bird singing than I was ever before visiting New Zealand. You will hear bird singing in NZ that sounds like the ring ton of an old Nokia Mobil, at the beginning I was unable even to place what I am hearing. The bellbird and the tui stood out for me from the singing voice. The naughtiest one was the kea which we saw in the Milford Sound area.
Pingback: fjordlandNew Zealand: Doubtful Sound - Outdoor Sandra
Pingback: New Zealand: Flight & Adventure - Outdoor Sandra