So, here we are on the southern coast of the the South Island. Compared to the North Island, the roads weren't quite as twisty and winding and the landscape was more grassy than woody. But we were still mesmerized by the waves. And the lighthouse was very nice as well, especially as we could see Stewart Island in the background. The walk down to Slope Point (the southernmost point of the South Island) wasn't quite as steep as it was at Cape Reinga (northernmost point on the North Island), but it was still a good 20-minute hike. The brochure for the Catlin Coast Heritage Trail said there was food available at this site – there was backpacker accommodation that had a few groceries (no meals), so we bought peanut butter and crackers to tide us over. Slope Point itself was pretty breezy even on this fine sunny day – we can only imagine what it's like for most of the year (especially the winter!). Again, there was good wave action, especially crashing against rocks and steep cliffs. The gravel road took us to Porpoise and Curio Bays – the former purported to have Hector's Dolphins (although we didn't see any) while the latter had submerged fossilized trees (sort of the like the Petrified Forest, bit still under water). Our final stop was at Niagara Falls (a joke from the guy who originally surveyed the area). We had more fun with the path down to the viewing area since it had several hobbit-sized switchbacks. The drive back to Gore (our base on the South Coast) took us through lovely rolling hills that reminded us of Ireland and Scotland.
