We got up at five this morning, hoping to see a yellow-eyed penguin, but unfortunately we had no luck. The petrified forest is also located in the sea at the same spot, but we couldn’t see that either.
The petrified forest at Waikawa, in Curio Bay (The Catlins), is around 180 million years old and dates back to the time of the dinosaurs. The original trees were buried under volcanic ash and mud. Over millions of years, minerals gradually replaced the wood, creating petrified tree trunks and stumps. At low tide, the remains can be seen along the rocky shore. It is one of the world’s most remarkable and best-preserved petrified forests from the Jurassic period.
After that, we had some coffee and tea before heading towards McLean Falls. Because we were so early, we were the first to arrive, and I had plenty of time to experiment with my camera and filters. When we returned to the car park, we saw the first walkers arriving.
We also wanted to visit Cathedral Caves. These impressive sea caves in The Catlins, on New Zealand’s South Island, were carved into the sandstone cliffs by the force of the waves. The two main caves are connected and have vaulted ceilings reaching heights of around 30 metres. Their enormous size and remarkable acoustics make them resemble a cathedral. The caves are accessible only around low tide, via a walk through the forest and along the beach. But when we saw the road, we decided it wasn’t such a good idea with a campervan almost seven metres long.
We then drove on to Purakaunui Falls, another beautiful set of waterfalls in a magnificent forest.
We had found a campsite in New Haven and thought we might be too early, but the owner rather brusquely informed us that they were closed due to family circumstances. So we continued to a campsite near Kaka Point. It’s a lovely, peaceful campsite. The wind is still blowing very hard. I’m glad our campervan weighs 3,500 kilos, because some of the gusts really make it rock.
It was another wonderful day.
One last comment about the final photo, which isn’t very sharp: we were wondering whether a cow has ever fallen off the reef.
