Day 2
Cathedral Caves and the southern point
Morning
McLean Falls
The highest waterfall in the Catlins, twenty-two metres in two drops, at the end of a thirty to forty minute loop through damp mossy undergrowth. To be done before or after the caves, depending on the time of the tide.
Afternoon
Koropuku Falls
A discreet, barely signposted waterfall in a forest carpeted with moss: fifteen minutes' walk, often nobody there.
Curio Bay and its petrified forest
At low tide, the foreshore reveals stumps and fallen trunks turned to stone: a Jurassic forest, 180 million years old, buried by volcanic mudflows and then mineralised. One of the few sites of this kind in the world with free access. Yellow-eyed penguins at the end of the day in the neighbouring Porpoise Bay, with Hector's dolphins sometimes right at the edge.
Slope Point and Waipapa Point
Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island, marked by a simple sign, with trees laid flat by the constant wind. At Waipapa Point, the wooden lighthouse of 1884 was built after the wreck of the Tararua, 131 dead, the worst civilian maritime disaster in the country.
Good to know
The whole day is set by the low tide of the Cathedral Caves, published day by day on cathedralcaves.co.nz. Paid entry, bank card only, and about an hour there and back from the car park, mostly along the beach. A head torch is useful inside.