In honor of the 2 glorious days that Brad and I had off (on the same days- bonus!), we headed south to a beautiful area called The Catlins. We have been hearing from many people that it's especially beautiful and pristine, and it definitely lived up to its reviews. We drove all around the coast, getting out every few minutes to go on some short, beautiful hikes to waterfalls, beaches, and to see some awesome wildlife. Also, we almost hit a cow. I tried to get out and herd it into a pen ("I can do this Brad: I'm from Clifton Springs!"), but Brad sped off insisting I was going to get myself run over. And of course, there was no shortage of sheep:
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| Scaredy cats... |
Our first stop was to Nugget Point. Naturally, as soon as we parked it began snowing. Despite Brad reclining his chair and going into his happy place for a few minutes, we decided to do the hike anyways. Luckily, the sun came out and Nugget Point ended up being our fave stop.
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| Rainbow |
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| The "nuggets" |
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| Happy playing seals |
Next we went to Cannibal Bay, which by itself was nothing special. However, a certain majestic 400 lbs. fellow inhabited the beach and posed for some great pics.
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| Showing off his gorgeous mane! |
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| "Come here I've got something for you..." |
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| And good night! |
The first waterfall hike we did was to the "trademark Catlins falls," The Puraukaunui Falls.
The last stop of day one was to Tuatuku Beach. The bluff was beautiful, and there was also some creative artwork on the beach.
We finally made our way to our hotel, The Hilltop. We were the only people there and had the whole house and sweet view to ourselves!
We woke up on day two and headed down the road to The Lost Gypsy Gallery. The artist makes all sorts of quirky things out of recycled materials, most of which are wind-up or self-powered, such as a flying walnut. Oh, and his workshop is a bus.
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| The workshop |
Last but not least, we did a quick hike to McLean Falls.
