The Catlins

On Feb 23/03, we headed south on the Southern Scenic Route to the Catlins (98kb) This is the first waterfall we stopped to see - Purakaunui Falls - very nice (66kb) The bush along the coast is extremely heavy - lots of rain in this area (91kb) One of a zillion one way bridges in NZ - only one lane, and the bigger arrow has the right of way (50kb) Then on to Matai Falls (73kb)
Sara enjoyed it, obviously - none of the hikes to the falls were too long (60kb) Lots of ferns and other greenery (52kb) I think this is Horseshoe Falls (50kb) It was in the greenest valley - wow! (56kb) I hadn't ever seen a public coin rubbish dump before - for , you can put whatever you can squeeze into the opening, then push a button to drop it in (29kb)
Not a lot of people in the Catlins, but you can run into a mob of sheep . . . (41kb) When they come by, you just sit and wait until they're past you - life can be a little slow (57kb) On the way to McLean Falls (54kb) I think this was my favorite one - the brown coloring in the water is from peat moss upstream (50kb) Joe at the falls (67kb)
Sara at the falls (73kb) Lots of interesting tree formations on the track (57kb) On the way back to Dunedin, we stopped at the Tautuku Nature Trail, which went to a deserted, beautiful beach (20kb) Tam and Joe hightailed it back to the bush, because there were a zillion sandflies here! (50kb) But Sara wanted to check out the water first - yep, just as cold as everywhere else on the South Island! (12kb)