After staying the night in Papatowai, we awoke to a nice, sunny day. Our first stop was the Cathedral Caves, which you can only visit during low tide. To get there, we drove through the forest on a gravel road, then hiked about a half hour through a steep, old growth forest. Luckily, the path was really nice – as I could not imagine walking through the jungly, steep slope otherwise.
We arrived at a wonderful, large sandy beach at the end of the trail. The caves were about five minutes or so further down the beach. They were actually massive caverns that formed a loop deep into the cliff. You walked through one entrance, turned right at the end and ended walking out at another entrance just further down the beach from the first. It was impressive! We ate a picnic lunch on some rocks near the caves before walking back up the path and getting back on the road. It was so pleasant to be in the sun with such great views of the ocean.
Our next stop was Curio Bay, where we walked on top of a 170 million-year-old petrified forest along the tidal rocks. At first we could not quite realize what we were seeing, then suddenly we recognized the dozens petrified stumps and fallen trees all throughout the tidal pool area. Geologists believe the forest got blown down during a volcanic eruption, then buried deep in volcanic ash which preserved the wood until it became petrified rock. Eventually, the ocean tides eroded the ash away and the tree forms remained. It was so cool!
Our final stop in the Catlins was Slope Point, which is the southernmost point on New Zealand’s South Island. This area was mostly rolling pasture land ending in cliffs at the ocean. We walked past sheep to get to the end. The path was soft and grassy, and as we neared the end we noticed it was spongy – almost like walking on artificial turf. Upon closer inspection, we were walking on a carpet of tiny succulents that were so pretty. Looking out over the ocean, we were as close to the South Pole and Antarctica as we have ever been.
After that, we drove the final stretches of the southern shore to Invercargill where we stocked up on groceries, and headed just a bit further to stay the night in Riverton. We cooked some fresh green-lipped mussels we bought for supper. They were very large, and quite tasty steamed in New Zealand white wine and shallots. We would be heading north to Fiordland the next morning.
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