Honeymoon – Falls, petrified forest, end of South Island, start of route 1 and Stewart Island in one day!

How much can we cram in one day? Well, we started the day driving through the Catlins listening to the multiple adverts about drink driving. Surprising as Ali was stopped 3 times and breath tested twice at Wedderburn. We drove through the Catlins, which really resembled Wales to us. We found the most photographed waterfalls in New Zealand..and photographed them. We then were on a mission to find the Niagara falls of New Zealand, and oh the person that named them had a big imagination, they are tiny! The town next to them is named Niagara too. 

We then visited the petrified forest at Curio Bay. There is a real Harry Potter theme to this trip, while star gazing we called the constellations of Bellatrix and Sirius, and now a petrified forest, or fossil forest in the bed of the sea. It was really quite amazing. While getting morning tea at Porpoise Bay, we also saw Hectors dolphins swimming in the bay. 

Onto Slope Point, the most Southern part of South Island. We walked to the end, a shear cliff down to the sea. The distances to the South Pole and Equator were interesting, We are almost half way between the two! It’s so different to Lands End in England, which is more like Disney. 

We drove on to Bluff and Stirling Point which also feels like the most Southern point, but is actually just the start of road one. It has the sign with various pointers, London was almost 19000km away. I stood under the South Pole pointer as usual. We travelled to Bluff to catch the ferry over to Stewart Island, and after yesterdays experience on the wildlife cruise, we were ready for the roaring forties and had sea sickness tablets before getting on the catamaran. 

The waves were absolutely huge! I have no idea which way the waves were going, it felt like they were going in every direction. The journey only took an hour, but it was a roller coaster of an hour which I really enjoyed, and surprisingly, so did Ali. We saw Royal Albatross soaring in the high winds, and lots of shearwaters. Then Stewart Island was in view. We left the catamaran feeling fine, and the Bay Motel owner picked us up in his mini bus, showed us around the island and then we checked in. They upgraded us to the most amazing room, it’s huge! It has a Jacuzzi bath, balcony overlooking the harbour, our bedroom window faces the harbour. 

I have a strange feeling we are going to love it here.