Winning the best dressed competition

Today we set off back on the road we travelled yesterday to visit Catherdral Caves. We'd managed to find signal so checked the low tide times on their website to make sure we didn't miss it today. To double make sure we didn't miss it we arrived an hour early and were the first ones there. By the time the lady had been down to check if the conditions were suitable and was ready to open the pathway there were around 20 other cars present. She gave us all a talk and started off by saying that Nick and I were the only ones best dressed for the occasion, result! The caves are sea caves and we knew we'd get wet so we had our trousers rolled up and wetsuit shoes on ready. She warned everyone there was knee deep water and she gave them time to ponder if they wanted to enter. As she knew we had decided we got to pay first and head down the track. Nick and I flew down the 20 minute walk knowing we'd get photos with no one else in them if we hurried. The forest was amazing but we knew we could appreciate it later, it was a race to get there before the people behind us. We powered across the beach and eventually came to a huge cave tucked around the corner. We climbed over the rocks to avoid the deepest part of the water until we could drop down and it was up to our knees. Towards the back of the cave the water ends and we were able to walk around on the sand and explore. The cave has linked to another one next door to it so we headed on out into this one which was an impressive 30m tall. The water level changed dramatically every minute or so and it wasn't long before even our trousers were getting wet. We didn't mind and kept moving around to see every part of the two caves from all possible angles. We walked out into the sea so we could get a view of the cave entrances from the outside. This involved waiting for the waves to retract and quickly getting through a deep section and onto a sand shelf further out where the water was only knee deep at most. The waves here were amazing to watch because several waves flowing in different directions would lap over each other and create beautiful linear patterns in the water. We spent a lot of time here and as tide started to come in we headed back to the beach and up to the carpark while admiring the forest more than we had when we rushed down previously. We spent time drinking tea and drying out in the sun before setting off on the drive to Invercargill, the next town on our route. We spent the afternoon at the swimming pool, combining having a relaxing time in the hot tub with much needed hair washing. The centre was super cheap and offered a hot tub, sauna and a leisure pool as well as the main area. We had a great time playing catch and using floats shaped as rings to test our ability to throw the ball through the rings. The life guards did give a few funny glances as we played with the kids toys but we had a great time so we didn't care. Feeling relaxed and well showered we headed to our freedom camp spot for the night. We're in a car park tonight opposite a field home to two donkeys and a goat. Hopefully they don't make too much noise!Read more