Their are several routes from Dunedin to Invercargill, and we have definitely chosen the road less traveled: the southern scenic route. In fact, from what we hear many New Zealanders have never visited this area. This route includes a lot of unsealed roads - you can not even imagine the dust/silt that we've had to clean from Culli. Definitely worth it!

After visiting Emerson's on our way out of town, the scenic route took us along the southwest coast of the southern island. Really beautiful, well that is once we found the right road after a slight detour/hiccup in Dunedin. Scott, I was not navigating (eric) You were the one taking the wrong turn (valerie)

There are about 47 highlights noted on a map of the southern scenic route, we didn't see all of them but we did manage to see a lot! (19 at last count) First, we arrived at Nugget Poin (Tokata). And, the first of many unsealed roads. The drive up was spectacular but nothing compared to what we saw once we got out of the van. Spectacular sheer cliff drops to rocks below where seal pups were cavorting. Then a quick walk up and around the point to see massive rocks in the ocean that look like they were gold nuggets placed just out of reach. Breathtaking. See the pics.

About 40 minutes later we were at Tunnel hill an historic rail tunnel built entirely by hand in the 1800's. It is about 256 metres long built out of locally kilned brick and of the sweat and blood of local men. Taking a torch with us was a good idea!

Another 40 minutes gets us to Jack's Blowhole, in an unlikely setting. We arrive at the beach and head up a hill through sheep pasture land and away from the ocean. We weren't sure what to expect. We come along to a section of pasture land that includes the DOC sign so we knew were in the right place then across the way we saw an observation platform completely fenced in with dense vegetation all around - huh? At the deck we marveled at mother nature once again. We looked down 155 metres to see an ocean inlet that opened up in the middle of the pasture - straight down. Stunning. You could see the arch below that had been carved by the water. And you could hear the rushing waves. Pity the first person who stumbled onto this opening in the earth, because I'm not so sure they lived to tell the tale.

Next, lunch, it's 3:30 and we're starving! The walk into Purakanui Falls was relatively easy about 15 minutes in. These are the most photographed falls in NZ, stunning. But not to give anything away (we've been here before remember), MCLean Falls on tomorrow's itinerary is pretty spectacular too.

Then on to the Old Coach Track (Tahakopa Loop Track). This is a coastal podocarp forest that leads to a moa (big extinct bird) hunter's camp at the mouth of the river. Very cool - think 'lions and tigers and bears, oh my.'

We decided to stay in Papatowai for the night since you can only see the Cathedral Caves at low tide. What we didn't know was that they don't open the trail for the a.m. low tide, only in the evening. We missed our chance ... c'est la vie. One more reason to return to NZ. Undaunted we decided to do a series of small hikes/walks making a cruizey day of the drive to Invercargill.

We started early the next morning at the Tautuku Bay Nature walk and hiked out to the coast, it was a nice 20 minute walk to get our blood pumping. Then off to Lake Wilkie. This is a lake formed from a glacier that is filling in and becoming bog then turning to forest. The marketing: 'This walk shows the amazing succession of forest development from lake edge to mature forest.' This walk and the information posts along the way were really terrific. The fact that there was no one around and the lake looked like a mirror added to the enjoyment.

Next, the Tautuku Estuary boardwalk. Really cool boardwalk built out in a estuary so you could walk all the way out without damaging the wildlife. Pretty cool. Then on to the aforementioned McLean Falls. Really stunning, you gotta see Eric's photos.

Ok, now we're finally ready for breakfast so stop at Curio Bay for a respite. Then we took a little walk down to Curio Bay to see the 180 million year old Fossil Forest. The DOC information board showed a really cool illustration of how it came to be. We just thought it was cool walking along the fossils! Then over to porpoise bay where unfortunately we didn't spot any porpoises, but we did spot the TipTop Ice Cream cooler, so enjoyed an ice cream on the point.

Slope Point - the southern most point of "mainland" New Zealand 5140 km from the equator and 4,803 km from the South Pole. Nothing but a lot of ocean on one side and sheep on the other. In fact, there is a sign that lets you know that access is closed during lambing season (Sept./Oct.) An interesting spot to visit.

Now we're in Invercargill preparing for our trip to Stewart Island in the morning. If few Kiwis visit The Catlins, even fewer make the trip to Stewart Island. Over 87% of the island is designated scenic reserve and there are only 390 permanent residents - not counting the wildlife! This should be fun.

Eric & Val