The Otago Coast and Catlins

We are starting to realize that our time in New Zealand is running out so over the last couple of weeks we have not been able to visit everything that we want to. Unfortunately this means that we focus on the highlights that our guidebook presents and miss many of the smaller things that locals have told us about. At least we know there will be plenty to do on our next trip.

Our last stop in Canterbury before we ventured into Otago was the Timaru beach and rose garden. The rose garden has an incredible variety of flowers and most of them were in full bloom when we stopped by. There is also a wonderful aviary in the park with some incredibly colored birds in it. From there we drove into Otago and stopped in Oamaru to watch the blue penguins come ashore in the evening and check out Oamaru’s Victorian style limestone buildings.

 

South of Oamaru we visited the Moeraki Boulders and sampled the fare at Fluer’s Place before stopping in Dunedin. Dunedin has some incredible bookshops and a few breweries so our time there was very enjoyable. The hills in Dunedin are also an attraction in their own right with Baldwin Street being named as the steepest street in the world. If Dunedin were at elevation it would surely produce some great runners.

 

From Dunedin we drove along the coast into the Catlins. The Catlins are known for being and incredibly windy place, but we had two days of sunny, calm weather. In that type of weather the beaches there are absolutely incredible. We stayed at the Curio Bay Campground which has two main attractions. The first is a section of 160 million year old petrified forest that has a few Yellow-Eyed Penguins nesting on it and the second is Porpoise Bay where Hector Dolphins come in the summer to have their babies. It was incredible to see such rare animals up close and we both feel lucky to have had the experience.

From the Catlins we drove straight to Invercargill to stay for a night before catching the ferry to Stewart Island where we are now.

Wherever you may be, Merry Christmas from Stewart Island!