Perfect Purakaunui- Catlins

 Catch-up

The DOC camp at Purakaunui Bay is our next stop as we travel north through the Catlins.

Along the way, we stop at the Florence Hill Lookout for morning tea. The lookout overlooks the coastline which includes beautiful Tautuku Bay, where the native bush reaches right down to the edge of the dunes. This is one of the most well known & iconic views you'll see as you travel the Catlins. You can access the beach from a narrow track through the bush at the bottom of the hill, we've done this on one of our previous Catlins trips.

Our destination, Purakaunui Bay, is famous for being one of the locations for the film The Chronicles of Narnia; the Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. The towering bluffs along the north side of the bay were used in the film.

Although we've visited the bay before we've not stayed at the DOC camp (it's a basic camp with long-drop facilities). The camping area is large with several areas to park in, although the ground is quite lumpy and can be very boggy even in the middle of summer. There are a few gravel areas beside the road where you can park if you don't want to venture onto the grass. 

There's also a couple of grass patches where smaller vans or tents can camp closer to the beach. You do have to drive along the sand to access these areas though.

Once you turn off the Purakaunui Falls Road, there's 6kms of gravel road to travel to reach Purakaunui Bay, the last kilometre is very narrow & one way so proceed cautiously. We find that if you travel these roads late morning or early afternoon you'll usually miss the campers coming out that have stayed overnight or the day trippers heading home in the late afternoon. 

I say 6kms of gravel but that doesn't include the 8kms or so on the Purakaunui Falls Road once you leave the main highway at the Catlins River Estuary. This is the better road to take if you're coming from either direction, the others are also gravel, hilly & winding.

We stayed in early February and there weren't too many campers about. Unlike the January day when I visited several years ago when every available space was taken up by tents & motorhomes. 

The Purakaunui River past the camp & out to sea 

We arrived early afternoon and managed to park in one of the better spots, overlooking the beach and beside a small creek that joins the river, so no one could crowd us out.  

The road ends at the top of a hill just past the camp & overlooking the beach. I don't think many campers realise that the area at the top is also part of the camp and you can park up there too. 

A short vehicle track leads to a couple of reasonably flat areas that overlook the bay in one direction... 

...and the lower camp in the other.

I had seen a few vehicles drive through the camp and up the hill, and then return to park up. They probably thought they weren't allowed to stay up the top as there are no signs there but when I saw a DOC worker camped there, I checked the info board out to see that the area was included in the camp boundaries. 

I was actually a bit peeved off with the DOC guy to be honest as he had set up his tent in the one clear area I had sussed out the day before, for a sunrise shot. I felt a bit creepy tiptoeing around his tent the next morning trying not to make the grass crackle as I tried to shoot the sunrise. 

So I wandered further up the hill and when I returned he was up and had his billy on. I had a chat with him while he made his breakfast. He was on a week long job in the Catlins and while there was a nearby DOC house he could stay in, he preferred to camp here. And you can see why, what a view to wake up to.

Other campers had made their way to the beach to watch the sunrise, one person meditating, another doing yoga while others just stood in awe and watched the bay fill with beautiful colour & light.  

Many more had no idea what they were missing; by far the best part of the day!

The love bird couple in this tent probably thought all their Christmases had come at once when they secured the perfect spot right on the edge overlooking the beach. 

 

They went out for the day as we did too and when we returned later in the afternoon, a huge squall had blown through and obliterated their gazebo with all the piping buckled & bent and no sign of the top. There was broken china, upended chairs, clothes & shoes scattered far & wide. 

We offered them cups & plates to use but they made do with the remnants. I guess they won't do that again in a hurry, luckily their tent stayed in one piece although a few of the guy wires had come loose.  

The Purakaunui River flows out alongside the camp and across the beach to the sea. The tannin stained water provided the perfect place for the Red-billed Gulls to partake in their daily ablutions. 

It was fun to sit and watch them as they called to & squabbled amongst each other as they lined up to take the next available space when one departed. One gull in particular spent ages having a bath, getting annoyed at another one when it sat too close in front of him and finally leaving with a hop, skip & jump. 

Of course a visit to the Purakaunui Bay is not complete without a visit to the Purakaunui Falls, another top tourist attraction in the Catlins. We've been before, actually twice, but I enjoy visiting places more than once, you never know the different conditions you can find from visit to visit. And especially waterfalls as the flow can change dramatically. 

On this day there was a mediocre flow but with a slow shutter speed & my tripod (which I don't usually cart with me on walks, preferring to shoot on the run) I managed some half decent shots. And a bonus was that there were very few tourists crowding out the platform jostling for a clear spot & I didn't have to contend with people down on the rocks in front having in-depth discussions or their picnic lunch! One day I'll catch the falls in full flood. Now that would be a sight.

On the day of the squall we drove around to Jacks Bay to check for sealions. There hadn't been any haul ashore at Purakaunui while we'd been there, or none that I could see.

Jacks Bay cliffs are similar to Purakauni Bay

We'd seen a few at Jacks Bay before but not on this day, the beach was bare. So we took a right at the end of the road on the way out and headed to the outlet on the south side of the Catlins River Estuary. Again there was nothing about other than a couple of people gathering shellfish.

We turned around and headed for home looking for a lunch spot along the estuary & out of the wind. We pulled into a small clearing & when I scanned the sand dunes with the binoculars I saw what I thought was a sealion. I rugged up- it had turned cold- and trudged through the dunes in the gale force wind with stinging sand whipping my bare legs. 

As I got close this big old fella with his rheumy eyes & gummy mouth lifted his head to look at me.

I'm sure he was thinking "Where the heck did you come from?" as he looked from side to side & rose up onto his hind flippers. He did a couple of shuffles and then thought better of it and collapsed back into a heap on the sand & closed his eyes. I headed off back to the ute, now fighting the wind and sand head on while trying to keep my camera out of harms way, tucked into my jacket. You can see the sand flying past the front of the sealion in the photos. 

Back at the camp there was excitement down on the beach. Not only had two sealions hauled out onto the beach while we were out but one of them, a large male had chased a couple & their two children across the beach at a very fast pace and they had been quite terrified by the encounter. Those are his 'running' track marks below. In the background is another camper being very careful how close she got to him- the dark patch at the end of the tracks- to take photos.

He obviously wasn't too worried, he was soon fast asleep oblivious to the terror he'd inflicted, that's him bottom right.  I walked to the far end of the beach to check out the other large male dozing in a lump of seaweed (below left & top right).

And then in the rocks at the top of the bay where I located a female sealion, she's barely visible & hiding as best she can from marauding males. Males are relentless in their pursuit at this time of the year, they chase females trying to round them up into harems. Except on the mainland there aren't that many females so they can be the target of many males. 

Females are a third of the size of a fully grown male, they are also a creamy beige or grey colour whereas males are brown and have rough hair manes (hence the sealion name). Can you see her? Click the photo to enlarge. 

Perhaps this was why the first male wasn't happy to share his beach with humans, he was hunting for his female. I quietly backed off and left her to her hiding spot. 

Kaiteri Snapshots

Kaiteri is what the locals call Kaiteriteri & I figured after 4 weeks we can just about be classed as locals. We talk over the fence to the regulars out walking for exercise, walking their dogs or just on their daily stroll along the waterfront to the shop. We know most of the camp ground regulars both employees & long term residents and can wave an acknowledgement to the water taxi & tour boat skippers as they pass by. Even the local birds know where they can get a daily hello (& a feed).

But the time has come for us to move on over the “hill” to Golden Bay for a few weeks so before we go I thought you might like to see some random snapshots from this wonderful little place called Kaiteri, a place that delivered exactly what we were looking for over winter; golden sand, calm waters, sunny days, rest & relaxation.

A bush walk behind the camp leads up to a lookout over Kaiteriteri estuary & bay. A massive amount of water funnels in and out under the bridge each tide movement, so much so that there are signs along the edge of the outlet stream warning of the sudden changes in depth & swift current.

And here’s a close-up of “Out There” parked on the front row at the Kaiteriteri Motor Camp.

This gentleman made regular visits to the beach, mostly after the weekend. The first time I saw him approaching from the far end of the bay I though there was a blind man coming as he swept his metal detector back & forward. And just to prove that we’re both silly as each other, David thought so too. And while he hasn’t found too much in his quest for fortune he told us he'd found a few rings & coins. I liked his nifty “flour sifter”.

Another day in paradise.

Birds around camp- In the afternoons, the big fat wood pigeons (kereru) flew out to sun themselves in the camp trees. Gulls & sparrows cruised up and down the beach looking for easy handouts. A Little Shag dries out on a post in the estuary.

And then there were the cheeky birds. This thrush is a camp favourite, like a little shadow it followed us about as we moved around the vehicles, darting out from underneath as soon as we stepped outdoors. No matter where you were it would suddenly appear right beside your feet. Many times it waited at the bottom of the stairs giving a short peep for a bit of food.  If it was off digging for worms and a motorhome arrived it rushed over to make friends.

Then along came the ducks, just two, this female & her mate who most of the time waited for her on the road. They wandered up from the beach late in the afternoon (or were waiting first thing in the morning), luckily she only realised there was food to be had in the last few days otherwise I’d have had to ignore her. Because as soon as I fed her the sparrows arrived and after the sparrows came the gulls, dozens of them!

I know, I know, feeding the birds is a bad habit because they reward your generosity with poop! All over the step & the mat much to David’s annoyance. I know this but I can’t help myself and other than the thrush I only started to feed the others in the last few days & we’ll be gone soon. Who could say no to this cute little fellow? “Please sir, I want some more?”

 

In a small grove of beech trees on the way to one of the lookouts there were many birds in a feeding frenzy, including this tui. They were flitting about all through the trees, running up & down the trunks and chasing others away. They were feeding on the tiny droplets of honeydew produced by the beech scale insect which have blackened the trunks of the trees, it's similar to sooty mould. Honeydew plays a vital role in the food supply for a range of native bird and insect species. The honeydew drops have a high sugar content and are an important energy source for birds over winter.

 

 

And if I could take one thing with me when we leave Kaiteriteri it would be the pink phone booth on the left! I’d stick it upright on the storage box at the back or squeeze it through the door and make it into the shower box. A two in one; a shower on the inside, communication on the outside. This my friends was our number one best gadget while parked up here at Kaiteri, a free wifi zone, delivering one whole gigabyte each per day for our phones & computers. Considering I use approximately 5GBs a month costing around $75, having a free zone so close was a very big deal.

But best of all it was delivered to the inside of our parked up van without us having to sit outside the booth as we would usually have to do. The only problem was that we were on the outer edge of it’s range and as motorhomes came & went and parked up on the front row between us & the phone booths the strength came & went. We had to move about the van holding the computer up in the air or work off the kitchen bench to pick it up sometimes.

Frosty feet- Winter lesson #1; make sure you put your crocs in the shoe box otherwise come morning, you’ll have a very cold (& slippery) walk to the showers. Lesson #2 stand your crocs up when you get back, to drain the water, otherwise you’ll have wet socks the next time you step back into them.

Our neighbours had a frosty start to their kayak tour, they were heading up to Abel Tasman Park for three days but had to wait for things to thaw before stowing away their food & sleeping bags.

And this would have to have been the heaviest frost we experienced while at Kaiteri, the same day as we headed to Flora Carpark & the snow.

And finally a photo for Dad. Hop frames near the turnoff to Kaiteri. When I was a child Mum & Dad did a tour of the South Island with some friends (and without us). Whenever we watched the home movie of their trip dad would say as they drove past the hops in Motueka “There’s my favourite plant”. It was much later on in life before I realised why!

Little Blue Penguins & Black Backed Gulls- Moturata Island

Today we walked out to Moturata Island just off shore from the Taieri River mouth to see what birds were making the island home.  It's the nesting season on the island & it's a very sensitive area so we were well aware that we had to take our time & try not to disturb the birds too much. The island is only accessible at low tide and only for about 40 minutes either side so our timing had to be precise. The waves start rolling back in and over the sand spit spilling into the river very quickly once the tide turns. We didn't want to get caught out over there like a family staying at the campground did last summer. They had to be rescued by local boats after dark & then only because someone on the shore heard cries for help.

To give us plenty of time we left for the island two hours before low tide and had to wade through shin deep water for quite a way but at least we knew we'd have plenty of time.

Once near the island we could see that most of the rocky cliffs contained dozens & dozens of Black Backed Gulls (Karoro) and their fluffy grey chicks of varying sizes. The chicks were everywhere and very well camouflaged but if we stayed still long enough we'd catch them moving. There were quite a few down at ground level, maybe they've fallen off their rocky ledge at some stage.

We found a couple of Little Blue Penguins(Korora) under some rocks and in a burrow nesting, there were signs everywhere that there were plenty of penguins about. And it didn't take us long to find these Little Blue in a rocky crevasse, seven in total, what a treat! They didn't seem to be at all perturbed that we were peering in at them. None looked like they were nesting (just resting) so I took the opportunity of grabbing a few shots before leaving them in peace. A couple had a brown tinge to their feathers & I need to do some research to see if perhaps they were juveniles.

We found a stoney alcove away from the noisy gulls & where we weren't disturbing the birds to have lunch before leaving for the mainland well in advance of the incoming tide.