The Catlins
January 5th

We made several stops in The Catlins as we made our way along the southern part of the island.  First, we hit the falls.

Purakaunui Falls
Matai Falls
Next, we were locked out of one of the areas we really wanted to see - Cathedral Caves.  This area is only accessible during low tide.  We arrived too close to the tide coming back, and the caves had already begun to fill with water.  We had to abandon that plan and headed to Curio Bay.

Stumps and Trees		 curiobay.jpg (68636 bytes)
Curio Bay is known as one of the world's most extensive and least disturbed examples of a Jurassic petrified forest. It is 160 million years old - when NZ was part of the supercontinent Gondwanaland.  
Our last stop was at Slope Point, the most southerly point on the South Island.  You hike through a farm to get there.

I cannot put into words how WINDY it was there! I have some pictures at the water's edge but thought this picture of the trees might give you a better idea of the wind I'm talking about.  The trees all grow like this from the constant battering.  I thought we might blow over the edge!
We spent the night in Invercargill and went to see "Die Another Day" for dinner.
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