The most picturesque lighthouse

Today we left Dunedin and the beautiful Otago peninsula behind and continued our road trip south. We did spend time visiting a couple of shops to buy a second power bank for us to use on the road. Most of the time when we are paying for powered sites it's to charge our phones more than the van so with a second power back hopefully we won't need to plug in as much. I also managed to bag myself some shorts for the equivalent of £1! We drove the scenic coastal route to Nugget Point lighthouse which is possibly the most picturesque lighthouse I've seen. It gained it's name because of the nugget shaped rocks in the ocean surrounding the area that people said looked like gold nuggets when the sun hit them. On the walk up we saw fur seals down on the rocks below and even more around the rocky shores below the lighthouse itself. It looked like tourists were once allowed to climb down from the lighthouse to the peninsula rocks below but a high platform has now been installed to prevent this happening anymore, probably to give the seals some peace. After eating some lunch overlooking the beautiful surroundings we headed back to the van to continue our drive. We briefly stopped at a small bay where there is a viewing platform to see yellow eyed penguins. After everyone saying they hadn't seen one yet we decided not to stay seeing as we only saw some yesterday. Our last stop for the day was to Purakaunui Falls, and what a waterfall that was. We had a lovely walk through luscious overgrown forest down to the viewing area for the waterfalls. It was a three tiered waterfall with three wide rock shelves so the water powering down it was captivating to watch. The sheer power you could feel in both sound and vibration was also impressive. There's lots of waterfalls to see in the Catlins so it will be interesting to find out which we like best. After enjoying the walk back while listening to all the forest song birds we drove the short distance to a DOC (department of conservation) campsite at Purakanui Bay. It did involve a long drive down a dirt/gravel road but it wasn't too bad a road to go down just very very long. We arrived to a beautiful bay and because of the recent rain we parked up on the gravel part available furthest from the ocean to avoid the mud. We paid our fee and went on a walk around the shore front and even managed to see a sea lion at the far end of the beach. The sun began to set as we returned creating lovely soft colours in the sky. The rest of the night was spent playing games and admiring the night sky. It'll be nice to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean tonight.Read more