Our first stop was Lake Wilkie (below). It wasn't the most spectacular lake we've seen but the walk from the car was very short so it was worth a look.
The road leading East finds the coast at Tautuku Bay. It's a lovely wide bay with a nice sandy beach and a few waves for the surfers.
From the lookout point where the photo above was taken, to the left (east) you can also see a small island just off the coast.
The island has a blowhole that sprays a jet of water in the air every time a decent sized wave pushes past.
The main access road through The Catlins winds both along the coast and inland to avoid all manner of obstacles such as rivers, inlets and ranges. In one of the inland diversions there is a short walk to two waterfalls, Matai Falls (above) and Horseshoe Falls (below). These falls are nowhere near as spectacular as McLean Falls, but well worth a look all the same.
Along a side road that eventually turned to dirt was yet another waterfall, Purakaunui Falls. These falls were a bit more substantial than the pair we'd just seen.
Harry had been a trooper so far. He was very patient on the long drive from Ashburton and was now doing multiple walks with us.
We had lunch at Cannibal Bay (below). The road from Purakaunui Falls was all dirt and we were glad to take a break from the dust.
Apparently elephant seals beach themselves here from time to time but I suspect they're in Antarctica in summer. Harry couldn't help himself and felt the need to splash around in the little waves butt naked! Despite being summer, the water was still icy!
We set off again and fortunately the dirt road ended reasonably quickly. After a drive a fairly lengthy drive we arrived at Nugget Point. We left Harry asleep in the car with his Grandad in charge, and walked along the track to the lighthouse.
Far below the path on two ledges there were sea lion colonies with lots of pups making a ruckus. There was even a pup training pool on one of the ledges out of harms way.
Closer to the lighthouse we caught a look at the other side of the peninsular where there's an array of mini islands surrounded by kelp forests that the sea lions seem to love.
There's another penguin colony that nests in one of the nearby bays but this time we came up empty. It was time to make tracks back to the house for dinner.
With Harry tucked up in bed, Julie and I went back to the lookout we'd been to earlier in the day to take some sunset photos. The sun goes down late in the day that far south so it wasn't until about 9.30pm that we were able to take some photos with decent colour in the sky and without the sun dominating the lens.
We would have to say goodbye to the Catlins as we were off to Dunedin the next morning. What a surprisingly wonderful place that is nowhere near as famous as other popular New Zealand tourist icons.
