Day 19: McLean Falls to Curio Bay

Journal for 2014-11-07 | Published on 2014-11-08 01:16:42

Today was the day of 3 waterfalls and 2 bays. We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast and dressed, and rode our bikes unloaded down to the McLean Falls Car Park, about 3 km down the road. Then it was a 40 minute hike up to the falls. We stopped many times along the way for pictures. The trail was well kept, nicely graveled and had stairs when needed. There’s a lower falls and an upper falls, and we admired both greatly. We had the place to ourselves mostly but eventually another couple joined us at the upper falls, and we headed back out. The ride back to the holiday park seemed to not take quite as long as the ride there. It’s funny how that seems to go.

We finished packing up the cabin and got on the way around 10 am. It was starting to warm up and was quite sunny, which it hasn’t been for several days. A nice change of pace. We had some hills to climb, and some downhills to enjoy. We were having some great riding weather, and were really having some fun. At one point, a hawk decided it didn’t want us to ride by it and tried to attack Pam, but we were moving pretty quick at it only swopped once. It was a pretty big bird!

As we were making our way through the forest toward the ocean, we stumbled upon a sign for a waterfall. The sign said it was a “bush experience” and should take about 40 minutes round trip. It had a marked trail, and we had plenty of time, so we decided to give it a try. Boy was that fun! It was an awesome hike through the forest, crossing over the stream a couple times, and then as we got closer the mist from the falls was floating in the air making it sparkle in the forest. Finally we climbed some rocks to the 11 meter waterfall. Absolutely gorgeous. Matt, of course, played the daredevil and got really close to the falls, while I nervously watched from a safe distance.

We hiked out, and it was about lunch time, so we made our sandwiches and enjoyed our roadside picnic. Matt commented that this might be his favorite part of the whole trip, and I’d have to agree. The hike into the waterfall was amazing, and it was so isolated, we had it all to ourselves.

Then it was back on the road, some more up and down, and it was warm enough that I took a few layers off. It was only the second time I’ve ridden with bare legs (minus leg warmers or pants) on the trip!

Eventually we got to the Catlins Costal Heritage Trail, and the first stop was Niagara Falls. This was technically waterfall number 3 for the day, and let me tell you, whoever named this falls had a sense of humor. It was like a miniature, and I mean tiny, version of Niagara Falls. But now we can say we’ve been to Niagara Falls on two continents!

The next stop on the trail was the Waikawa Museum, and we had a lot of fun wandering about learning about the history of the area. There were Maori, and whalers, and miners, and farmers, which is pretty much the evolution of the habitation of the coastal areas around here. There were lots of neat tools and artifacts. I think we could have spent a lot more time discovering all the treasures, but we had to be on our way. On the way out, we peeked at the sample of the petrified forest they had on display, just a preview of what was to come!

By the time we left the museum, the wind was picking up, and of course we contended with a head/side wind for the last 6 km to camp. We got into the Curio Bay Holiday Park, and no one was at the office, so we picked out a site right next to the Penguin viewing area. We set up camp, and by that time, the office was occupied, so we paid for the site and got an ice cream for a snack. Then we went exploring.

The holiday park sits on a spit of land right between two bays: Porpoise Bay and Curio Bay. Porpoise Bay is known for a pod of Hector’s Dolphins that like to hang around. These little guys are the smallest dolphins, and there aren’t too many of them in the world. We kept a watch out for them, but maybe because it was so windy none were out playing.

We wandered over to the Curio Bay side, which is known for the 160 million year old petrified forest that is visible at low tide. The tide had started to go out but wasn’t all the way out yet, so we had a little while.

Also, Curio Bay has a group of rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins, the rarest penguin. They’re solitary birds, not living in colonies like other penguins. They nest in the rocks above the water, and right now there are chicks in the nests, so one parent goes out to sea fishing while the other stays with the chick. We didn’t see any penguins, so we cooked up some dinner, and decided to walk down to check out the petrified forest.

It was AWESOME! You can clearly see the stumps from the trees, and whole trunks laying on the ground. It was really neat to walk around and try to imagine what it was like that many million years ago. While we were out in the petrified forest, we were lucky enough to watch one penguin climb out of the water and waddle/hop his way back to his nest. It was definitely a wonderful experience, and I’m so glad we got to see it.

Today was a short riding day, but was filled with experiences that we’ll never forget. Looking out across the water, to the south, and realizing that on the other side of the water is Antarctica, well, it’s definitely cool. We’re about as far south as we’re going to go now, we won’t quite reach the southernmost point on the island, but we’re pretty close anyways. Now we’re going to head to Invercargill, the “southernmost city” and then start heading back north. We seem to be getting stronger, and I for one am so glad to be out here, we’re having the time of our lives!

Distance: 40km

Time: 3:00

Avg: 13.29kmh

Max: 55.27kmh

Climb: 608m