The southern tip of the South Island is known as The Catlins. With the exception of Stewart Island, the next land mass when journeying south is Antarctica. The cold wind certainly reminded us of this fact!
The area couldn't have been more different to Queenstown with barely a tourist in sight...
... once again we were walking alone on windswept beaches.
We did have some company though, a pod of Hector's dolphins played in the waves just meters from the shore...
... as evening fell, just a short walk from where we camped, penguins waddled and hopped up from the sea to nest above the tideline.
Dave used his powers of persuasion to get two of the penguins to pose reflectively!
These two love birds were in perfect harmony and happily shared a kiss...Aww...
... less subtle were these two sea-lions, the big male (around 2m in length and weighing half a ton we reckon) was quite keen to have his way with this less than interested female. Their fight was colossal and included a moment when they charged right pass us - they move really fast for such big creatures with no proper legs!
Our time in The Catlins has been a mix of sunshine and tremendous storms, here the clouds can be seen gathering out to sea, we took the hint and headed for the forest.
A 40 min trail brought us to the picturesque McLean Falls, powerful after so much rain!
Our mission to see as much of NZ as possible is quickly being realised, here we stand on another edge of the map - the southern most point of the South Island.
The wind was fierce and by the look of the trees we could tell that it was not for the first time...
... the enormous waves battering the rocks also reminded us that tomorrow we catch a small ferry to Stewart Island for our last Great Walk - we hope our sea legs are as strong as our walking legs!!!
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