New Zealand Day 5
Hill View Camp Site > Purakaunul Falls Walk > Curio Bay Cliffs > Slope Point >
Manapouri Motels & Holiday Park
Purakaunui Falls Walk
Hill view Camp Site > Purakaunui Falls Walk
The Purakaunui Falls are a cascading three-tiered waterfall on the Purakaunui River. They can be reached via a short 10-minute bush walk from a car park on the Waikoato Valley / Purakaunui Falls Road, a gravel side-road off the main Owaka-Invercargill road. There is public toilet right at the carpark. If you don't have time, you can give this small waterfall a missed.
Curio Bay Cliffs
Purakaunui Falls Walk >> Cathedral Caves (missed) >> Curio Bay Cliffs
We are supposed to visit the Cathedral Caves but missed it because we are too early. It only open at 4pm because of the ttide. Tide must be low so that we can walk in. What a waste. So we head to Curio Bay CLiffs instead.
Curio Bay is a coastal embayment in the Southland District of New Zealand, best known as the site of a petrified forest some 180 million years old. It also hosts a yellow-eyed penguin colony, arguably the rarest of penguin species, with approximately 1600 breeding pairs in the extant population. We didn't get to see the penguins because it's their fur shedding season.
Slope Point
Curio Bay Cliff > Slope Point > Manapouri Motels & Holiday Park
Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand. There is no road to Slope Point; it must be reached by a 50 minute walk following dilapidated yellow markers.
When we reach here, it was pouring with strong wind. When we are done and walked away, the rain stopped. Rain come and go pretty fast. So if you don't mind waiting you can pray for the rain to go away for awhile.
We were drenched by now so we head to our new campsite for a hot shower.
