Kia Ora, Aotearoa: December 21

After being laid up in Invercargill for two days I decided that I could limp along to the truck and head on down the road (against the wishes of the medical expert I'm married to). We decided to travel through an area of the country called "The Catlins".

I didn't have the slightest idea what a Catlin was, so being a person who likes to know stuff, I looked it up. Since there is not a lot of money to be made off the Catlins, I couldn't find very much information online. So, pretending I wanted to spend money, I tricked Google into giving up some non-commercial information.

First inhabited by the Maori people in the period 900-1700 AD, the Catlins is an area with a rich history. Captain James Cook sighted the area in 1770, but it was not until the period 1810-1830 that whalers and sealers arrived in the Catlins. The Catlins takes its name from Edward Cattlin, a ship's captain and whaler/trader who made a land claim in the district in 1840. Now why Edward had two "Ts" in his name but the region name doesn't is a mystery that I'm sure I'll never know the answer to, and is probably something they haven't even noticed here.

In the 1830's and 40's there was a feverish and destructive era of whaling on the Catlins coast. Within 10 years, the Right whales were eliminated by shore and ship based whalers. Some of these whalers married local Maori and their descendants live in the Catlins today.

The first settlement of land by Europeans took place in the mid 1850's. Settlers arrived primarily to mill trees, the first mill being in operation around 1865. Nine timber mills were operating near the Catlins and Owaka Rivers by the 1880's. In 1877, 107 ships sailed from the Catlins area loaded with timber bound for house building in Dunedin and Christchurch. During the 1870's and 1880's many settlers took up land for farming. The farms were only 50-200 acres and bought with state assistance. In the early 1900's, farms became larger and freehold. Since the end of the sawmilling era, the Catlins district has relied on farming as its mainstay. However, the area has now become "trendy" because of its heretofore unspoiled (or unspoilt in kiwi) nature and has seen a significant rise in tourist interest in the last several years. I guess I can see why. It's an incredibly beautiful place.

It's not too hard to figure out the predominant wind direction here

We set out along the coast as best we could (the main highway is more inland) and made what appears to be the usual stops. Unfortunately I forgot my wheel chair at home, and am not old enough to qualify for a free Hover-round through medicare so we didn't venture too far from the truck. We were able to find life-giving ice cream at Curio Bay.

We made a stop at Slope Point which is the southernmost point of land on the South Island.

I was being very careful not to do a Joe Cocker over the side

We saw a pretty funny thing. Straight below us over the cliff we spotted a seal leisurely swimming along when it got attacked by a gull.

It was probably an easy 200 feet to the water, but I was using a 300 mm lens here

We figured out that there must be a nest in the cliffs somewhere because next she was after me:

...moving on

Curio Bay - there is a sunken petrified forest near here

Porpoise Bay

Some rock...I forget

After deciding that we couldn't handle all the people at Curio Bay, and seeing that there were none of the Hector Dolphins that they are famous for hanging around, we had a bite of lunch in the park at Waikawa and continued on. Ever eager to get me iced up, Cynthia decided we were stopping for the night. She picked the "McLean Falls Motels and Eco-tourism Holiday Park". Not exactly your standard kiwi-sounding accommodations. It sounded like a gay hippy commune to me. When we checked in the mystery was solved. The place was owned by a woman from San Francisco. It did have a decidedly American ambiance with the "Whistling Frog Cafe'". They even had quesadillas on the menu ($42).

We looked into the options. They had a "kiwiana" cabin for $90. This was roughly the size of a small tool shed. We opted for the Motel ensuite room for $135. We had to use the communal kitchen reserved for the ensuite gang. It was very nice.

The rooms were very American. Could have been in San Diego. Nicely decorated with trendy stuff, comfortable bed, and the cheapest industrial grade toilet paper money could buy. Even had one of those plastic lockable anti-theft TP vaults. Yep, feels like home. The walls were so thin and uninsulated that I could hear Cynthia doing the dishes in the kitchen which was 3 rooms down. I could feel every drawer or cabinet close with my head leaned against the wall.

Everyone we talked to told us if we were going through the Catlins we just have to see Purakaunui Falls. It's a must stop! Well it's about a 12 kilometer detour off the main road, and when we got there there was the standard campervan platoon in the car park. I used my gimp legs to beg out of this one so Cynthia went down to take a picture or two.

Remember the old Crocodile Dundee movie from the 80s (I think) where he goes to New York chasing that skirt? Remember the scene where the (race omitted) mugger pulls a knife on him, which produces the classic line "You call that a knife? That's not a knife, now this is a knife" Well...

That's not a falls...

Now this is a falls! Some of you Puget Sounders may recognize this from their famous pancake mix

We again headed down the road...

Cynthia picked a winner (neglecting the sandflies) when she found the Piano Flat campground on the Waikaia river. She studies the map and finds campgrounds that are on or near rivers. She found another one way up the Catlins river so we decided to go have a look. I may have mentioned something last trip about how NZ campgrounds work. They will have a maximum number of "campsites" but nothing defines the boundary or location of a campsite. It looks something like this:

This particular campground had 53 campsites. It also boasted the following amenities:

(2) picnic tables
(2) "long drop" toilets
(1) water spigot

It didn't matter. We wouldn't be camping there anyways because:
(a) I couldn't walk
(2) The river is tea-stained (tannins) and you can't sight fish

We decided to follow the forest road along the river anyway since my "Bible" said that the water around Frank's Creek was worth a look. This road was amazing. We'd go about a mile and the road would split and there would be regular street signs (all shot to pieces) naming all these one-lane dirt roads that went all over back there. We got lost 3 or 4 times but finally found the river again and got out to where I could see the sun so I could navigate.

I didn't notice this sign until I was done playing on their bridge

Well, by and by we made our way out to Owaka. Owaka is a bustling metropolis of about 400. That's where we stumbled upon the lamb tongues. There were a few other interesting features of Owaka.