26th - 27th March

The weather forecast for Stewart Island yesterday, 26th March, was rain so we decided the night before to set an early alarm and go for the 8am ferry back to Bluff. We were originally booked on the 6.30pm ferry but as there is very little to do on the island except outdoor activities, like walking, we thought it best to get back to the mainland and journey onwards. It was a good decision as it was pouring with rain.

We collected our luggage and the car from the Backpackers in Bluff and headed off towards The Catlins, a major highlight of the Southern Scenic Route in Otago. It was a lousy day, rain and very low cloud hiding the hilltops so we missed out on any spectacular scenery although the drive through the Catlins Coastal Rainforest was lovely. We stopped off at Curio Bay to see the fossil forest which was exposed at low tide. This forest was destroyed by volcanic debris in the Jurassic Period and fossilised tree trunks are clearly visible (obviously not the wooden pole in the foreground!)

We were heading for the town of Balclutha but saw a signpost, just before we reached the town, to Kaka Point so we turned off the main road to see what we could find. And we had no regrets at all as we found a nice motel set up a hill above a beautiful beach. This is the view from the balcony:


After we checked in our host showed us on a map where to go to see the rare Yellow Eyed Penguins come ashore at dusk. It was only a short 15-20 minute drive from the motel along the coastal gravel road to Roaring Bay on Nugget Point (visible in above photograph). There was a hide there, and we were lucky enough to see 3 penguins. Two were asleep in the grass just off the beach and one of them was kind enough to stand up to have a stretch and pose for us for 10 minutes or so. Long enough to get a good view through binoculars and to take a zoomed-in photo


A third penguin appeared out of the sea and waddled up the beach


How lucky were we?

Today, 27th March has been a complete washout. Fog and heavy rain all day. So we took advantage of it and had a 'rest day' after our somewhat hectic time on Stewart Island. We did some laundry and made a brief visit to a supermarket in Balclutha for a few necessities and a visit to a garage to top up with petrol. In this area both supermarkets and petrol stations are in very short supply, so we are ever watchful of the fuel gauge in the car.

Tomorrow we are heading up to Dunedin for probably 3 nights.

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