Going further South
Armed with only an online Catlins map and some rough planning done at the broken down lounge, we managed to book a night accommodation at the Slope Point Backpackers to stay for the night. I was once again abit mad at E for her every morning troublesome compulsory habits- shitting for 30min and 30min for shower and 30min long breakfast. I was the one prepping the breakfast and lunch and i hate it for her lack of sense of urgency. How we always failed to set off at the agreed time because of all her slow mo actions. Instead of setting off at 10 in the morning, we only left at 11 :/
However, I am really thankful for the great sunny weather on the first day in Catlins. First stop at Nuggets' Point was a great start to kick off the southern scenic drive! A short walk to the lighthouse brought us to the pointed stones on top of the emerald green sea against the blue sky which looked just like nuggets from far, hence the name Nuggets' Point.
Being abit too ambitious, we decided to cover as many things as we could. An hour long walk to the Jack's Blowhole- the collapse of a cave top led to a deep waterfall- was nothing fascinating but time consuming. Purakannui Falls was a multi storey waterfall which was rather beautiful. We had a quick lunch at Purakannnui Bay before rushing down to catch the Cathedral Cave, the place I really wanted to see most in Catlins. Cathedral Cave is located halfway along Catlins. I have actually reminded E a couple of times that we had to reach Cathedral Cave at 340pm because admission is only permitted during the low tide period. However, my warnings were fallen to deaf ears and I was really mad at E when we were rejected to admit the cave, just 10min after the closure. It was then 5pm. The low tide timings were getting later each day and the thought of having to drive all the way back the next day, was not just time wasting but a waste of petrol too. E appeared unapologetic and her behaviour started to irk me quite abit.
We had no choice but to continue our sightseeing before calling it a day at the backpacker which was another 1,5hr drive away. We dropped by Mcleans Falls which was just beside Cathedral Caves. Mcleans Falls was much more magnificent than Purakannui Falls but these waterfalls were uncomparable to the ones I saw in USA. Sky was getting dark and we drove all the way to Slope Point for a night rest. Was really devastated to realise our beef had gone bad after all day driving in the car. We were really so exhausted but we still had to come down to a conclusion of where to hang around for Christmas, which was arriving in three days' time. Everywhere was almost booked out and I was afraid we had nowhere to stay. The pathetic 10mb free wifi was totally not helping at all. And worst of all, my phone network was not working in Catlins!!! The tension and the frustration was building up every single day on the road.
Woke up next morning to a gloomy weather, I was upset with the drizzle and wanted E to abandon our sighseeing plans for the day. Blessings showered upon us on day 2. We managed to snag up two beds in Te Anau for 5 nights, over the Christmas period. I heaved a sigh of relief, having to know the next direction of our travel plans and knowing that there is another Singaporean girl there who I can meet up with! Drizzle was getting lighter and sky was slowly clearing up as the day passed by. We went to Slope Point- the most Southern part of the South Island and met the same bunch of nice Kiwis at the waterfall there too. We explored Curio Bay Petrified Forest, which was indeed really special. It was a fossiled forest exposed by the pounding of the sea for the last thousands years. We slowly made our way back towards Cathedral Cave, and was sure we were not going to miss it again! We had a brief stop at NZ Nigara Falls- one of the smallest waterfalls in the world, that we missed it on our first drive through. HAHA.
Cathedral Cave is an hour trek down from the carpark. 5 dollars admission fee to be paid before entering. It was a sea cave sitting at the end of the beach. This sea cave was magnificent! It has two mouths of entrance/exits and they were linked through. Everyone was trying to take a cool silhouette picture at the entrance of the cave. We decided to remove our shoes and waddle through the water at the entrance which was initally ankle deep but the incoming high tide resulted in rising water level. The stench from the dead seal was forbidding us from staying too long in the cave too.
The Catlins road were not easy to drive on because they were not just windy, they were pretty narrow too and the gravel roads were very slippery. Met an incident where we were supposed to share the road with an oncoming vehicle, and we had tried to keep as close to the cliff as possible for the vehicle to pass through. But the oncoming vehicle was too reckless and they toppled off the side of the road and was stuck. We left them helpless in the end. And another time where we were going downhill down the gravel road, our car drifted and we almost ran into the fence. Was glad to have some Kiwis passing by who offered to help. These nice little gestures make travelling in NZ so pleasant.
Drove to the last stop of Catlins which is the Waipapa Lighthouse. Waipapa lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouse in NZ and it was built after a big shipwreck happened at the area. There was a lighthouse community there in the past but it no longer existed. Light showers came after we visited the lighthouse and a faint rainbow appeared across the sky. My first rainbow in NZ! It was 7pm then and we had to drive for another 2h to Southern Comfort BBH in Invercargill by 9pm. We realised pushed our luck too far this time when we realise our petrol tank was only left with one unit. I was on the wheels and I really could not drive at ease throughout, checking out the petrol indicator every 2min. We tried to find a petrol station along the way but they were all closed. Just half an hour more to Invercargill, the tank signal was blinking, my heart was racing. E kept assuring me that we had AA insurance service but I could not embrace the fact two girls having to wait for petrol delivery along a stretch of road in the dark. I fear for our safety and the cold. My heart settled down alittle when we turned into the streets of Invercargill and we knew we are in safe land. The car started to show signs of slowness. my heart skipped a few beats each time we had to stop at the traffic light. E was advising me not to let the car be stopped completely, else the engine would definitely not able to start up again. We finally heaved a sigh of relief when we pulled up in the BP.
Southern Comfort BBH really lived up to its name. Was glad to have a good two days rest here. Spacious, clean and well located. We did laundry, groceries shopping and some sightseeing over the two days. Finally I was back to civilisation, connected with everyone else. Invercargill is really a small town, nothing special. Pampered myself with a Christmas drink from the Most Southern Starbucks in the world and spent our day people watching. We left our laundry out in the sun, thinking we would not be back thattt late where the rain was predicted to come in the evening. However, the sky started to get abit gloomy, and we had to rush through our grocery shopping and ran home with all our groceries in our arms. The downpour really came after we collected our laundry off the clothes line. Blessing number three in two days.
Time at Invercargill was really a good time to recharge. We did some planning for our exciting trip in Te Anau. This trip had been filled with so many little blessings along the way, really thankful for them :)
However, I am really thankful for the great sunny weather on the first day in Catlins. First stop at Nuggets' Point was a great start to kick off the southern scenic drive! A short walk to the lighthouse brought us to the pointed stones on top of the emerald green sea against the blue sky which looked just like nuggets from far, hence the name Nuggets' Point.
Being abit too ambitious, we decided to cover as many things as we could. An hour long walk to the Jack's Blowhole- the collapse of a cave top led to a deep waterfall- was nothing fascinating but time consuming. Purakannui Falls was a multi storey waterfall which was rather beautiful. We had a quick lunch at Purakannnui Bay before rushing down to catch the Cathedral Cave, the place I really wanted to see most in Catlins. Cathedral Cave is located halfway along Catlins. I have actually reminded E a couple of times that we had to reach Cathedral Cave at 340pm because admission is only permitted during the low tide period. However, my warnings were fallen to deaf ears and I was really mad at E when we were rejected to admit the cave, just 10min after the closure. It was then 5pm. The low tide timings were getting later each day and the thought of having to drive all the way back the next day, was not just time wasting but a waste of petrol too. E appeared unapologetic and her behaviour started to irk me quite abit.
We had no choice but to continue our sightseeing before calling it a day at the backpacker which was another 1,5hr drive away. We dropped by Mcleans Falls which was just beside Cathedral Caves. Mcleans Falls was much more magnificent than Purakannui Falls but these waterfalls were uncomparable to the ones I saw in USA. Sky was getting dark and we drove all the way to Slope Point for a night rest. Was really devastated to realise our beef had gone bad after all day driving in the car. We were really so exhausted but we still had to come down to a conclusion of where to hang around for Christmas, which was arriving in three days' time. Everywhere was almost booked out and I was afraid we had nowhere to stay. The pathetic 10mb free wifi was totally not helping at all. And worst of all, my phone network was not working in Catlins!!! The tension and the frustration was building up every single day on the road.
Woke up next morning to a gloomy weather, I was upset with the drizzle and wanted E to abandon our sighseeing plans for the day. Blessings showered upon us on day 2. We managed to snag up two beds in Te Anau for 5 nights, over the Christmas period. I heaved a sigh of relief, having to know the next direction of our travel plans and knowing that there is another Singaporean girl there who I can meet up with! Drizzle was getting lighter and sky was slowly clearing up as the day passed by. We went to Slope Point- the most Southern part of the South Island and met the same bunch of nice Kiwis at the waterfall there too. We explored Curio Bay Petrified Forest, which was indeed really special. It was a fossiled forest exposed by the pounding of the sea for the last thousands years. We slowly made our way back towards Cathedral Cave, and was sure we were not going to miss it again! We had a brief stop at NZ Nigara Falls- one of the smallest waterfalls in the world, that we missed it on our first drive through. HAHA.
Cathedral Cave is an hour trek down from the carpark. 5 dollars admission fee to be paid before entering. It was a sea cave sitting at the end of the beach. This sea cave was magnificent! It has two mouths of entrance/exits and they were linked through. Everyone was trying to take a cool silhouette picture at the entrance of the cave. We decided to remove our shoes and waddle through the water at the entrance which was initally ankle deep but the incoming high tide resulted in rising water level. The stench from the dead seal was forbidding us from staying too long in the cave too.
The Catlins road were not easy to drive on because they were not just windy, they were pretty narrow too and the gravel roads were very slippery. Met an incident where we were supposed to share the road with an oncoming vehicle, and we had tried to keep as close to the cliff as possible for the vehicle to pass through. But the oncoming vehicle was too reckless and they toppled off the side of the road and was stuck. We left them helpless in the end. And another time where we were going downhill down the gravel road, our car drifted and we almost ran into the fence. Was glad to have some Kiwis passing by who offered to help. These nice little gestures make travelling in NZ so pleasant.
Drove to the last stop of Catlins which is the Waipapa Lighthouse. Waipapa lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouse in NZ and it was built after a big shipwreck happened at the area. There was a lighthouse community there in the past but it no longer existed. Light showers came after we visited the lighthouse and a faint rainbow appeared across the sky. My first rainbow in NZ! It was 7pm then and we had to drive for another 2h to Southern Comfort BBH in Invercargill by 9pm. We realised pushed our luck too far this time when we realise our petrol tank was only left with one unit. I was on the wheels and I really could not drive at ease throughout, checking out the petrol indicator every 2min. We tried to find a petrol station along the way but they were all closed. Just half an hour more to Invercargill, the tank signal was blinking, my heart was racing. E kept assuring me that we had AA insurance service but I could not embrace the fact two girls having to wait for petrol delivery along a stretch of road in the dark. I fear for our safety and the cold. My heart settled down alittle when we turned into the streets of Invercargill and we knew we are in safe land. The car started to show signs of slowness. my heart skipped a few beats each time we had to stop at the traffic light. E was advising me not to let the car be stopped completely, else the engine would definitely not able to start up again. We finally heaved a sigh of relief when we pulled up in the BP.
Southern Comfort BBH really lived up to its name. Was glad to have a good two days rest here. Spacious, clean and well located. We did laundry, groceries shopping and some sightseeing over the two days. Finally I was back to civilisation, connected with everyone else. Invercargill is really a small town, nothing special. Pampered myself with a Christmas drink from the Most Southern Starbucks in the world and spent our day people watching. We left our laundry out in the sun, thinking we would not be back thattt late where the rain was predicted to come in the evening. However, the sky started to get abit gloomy, and we had to rush through our grocery shopping and ran home with all our groceries in our arms. The downpour really came after we collected our laundry off the clothes line. Blessing number three in two days.
Time at Invercargill was really a good time to recharge. We did some planning for our exciting trip in Te Anau. This trip had been filled with so many little blessings along the way, really thankful for them :)