Falling in love......

....with the Catlins.

This area was going to be a day or two's side-trip along the Southern Scenic Route but a short side trip to Nugget Point via the beach-side settlement of Kaka Point was the start of a whole new set of thoughts......

Anything coastal has a certain charm/lure/pull for me and seeing this area in beautiful morning sunshine, albeit with a strong, cool 'breeze', was no exception.  Cute wee holiday baches sit alongside modern new, luxury homes all virtually on the shore line.  The road was narrow, windy and hilly so each turn revealed a new sight to marvel at and admire.  Golden sand abounds but that ol' 'breeze' seemed to be a pretty strong constant.  Judging by some of the horizontal vegetation in the area I think it's probably a constant.  

Nugget Point was lovely, though not quite the spectacle I encountered last time I was here (in extras).  Instead of being taken by the lighthouse I found myself being absorbed by the bull kelp being tossed around in the waters far below.  How very odd!  Into Owaka for some fuel and to explore a few local stores - the locals in these parts are so keen to share their 'best places', mostly off the beaten track, which is how I came to be at Cannibal Bay watching this chap (lady?) leaving the surf and heading up the beach.  Not a New Zealand fur seal  but a New Zealand sea lion......rather larger than the fur seals.  I was very pleased I'd got my long lens on!   I did wonder whether Cannibal Bay was linked somehow to the face that I could clearly see in the rocky headland (extras) but it seems it owes its name to the human remains once found by a surveyor in the area rather than to any man-eating past. Can you see the face? I see a Maori whakairo (carving).

I've decided to stop at the Catlins Boating Club tonight - another recommendation from a very helpful local :D  It seems quite a few others may have been given similar advice.