Day 23: Places to see in Southland in New Zealand: Cathedral Caves, Purakaunui Falls, Nugget Point, Moeraki Boulders
Continue with the itinerary for places to see in Southland It is the forecast of today, after having made yesterday the route through the places to see in Los Catlins, during which we discovered spectacular landscapes, very different from those we had already seen throughout this trip to New Zealand in 36 days.
With this objective in mind and the visit to Cathedral Cave scheduled for the early hours of the morning, to make it coincide with the low tide schedules, after breakfast and leaving everything arranged in the Jucy motorhome, we leave the Whistling Frogg Café, our accommodation in The Catlins tonight when it's 8:30 in the morning, willing to enjoy the places to visit in Southland that are pending.
Remember that if you are interested in making a route through New Zealand by motorhome, we recommend you look at the Motorhome Republic page where you can see all the available motorhome options, prices and make the reservation directly.
Places to see in Southland
Known as the deepest south of New Zealand, the route through Southland begins at Te Anau and ends at Dunedin, passing first through Manapouri, Riverton and Invercargill, places we passed yesterday, before arriving in Los Catlins, and then continuing until Dunedin, where this area of New Zealand ends.
We could say that this area of the country is one of the least explored and although we would not say it is included among the essential places to see in New Zealand, it is a highly recommended 1 or 2 day route, especially if you have extra days or want Know a less touristy area.
More practical information to prepare your trip to New Zealand
- 10 essential tips for traveling to New Zealand
- 10 essential places to see in New Zealand
- The best travel insurance for New Zealand
For us today the day will begin with the visit to Cathedral Caves, one of the most representative places in this area of New Zealand, just two kilometers from our accommodation, where we arrived a few minutes before 9 am and where after waiting to open, we leave the motorhome in the parking lot.
Cathedral Caves
Considered by many to be the most tourist spot in this area of the country, Cathedral Caves or Cathedral caves are two caves that enter the rock almost 200 meters and are only accessible 2 hours before low tide and two hours later.
It is for this reason that it is important to check the state of the tides on their website or in Metservice, to match your visit, since otherwise you will not be able to enter, since the access is completely closed.
Once you have parked, you will have to walk a path of about 20 minutes through an incredible forest, until you reach the beach, where you must walk about 5 minutes until you reach the first of the caves and be able to marvel at this incredible spectacle of nature .
Cathedral Caves, one of the places to see in Southland
Tips for visiting Cathedral Caves
- As we mentioned before, remember that you can only go to Cathedral Caves, one of the visits to do in Southland, two hours before or after low tide since after the access is closed.
Being part of the route for the Catlins we did yesterday and whenever it coincides with low tide, we believe it is very interesting to do it on the same day of the route and even lengthen the day following the route through the places to see in Southland, until you reach Nugget Point or even Dunedin.
In case it happens to you like us, that does not fit you with the tide schedule, you can always sleep in the area where we have slept and continue with the route the next day.
Cathedral Caves
- The ticket price is 5NZD per person and they are charged directly in the parking lot.
- Remember that to reach the caves you will have to walk a path of about 20 minutes through a forest until you reach the beach and there are no services, no bathrooms or where to buy, along the entire route.
Cathedral Caves Trail
- In addition, this area is again the territory of the sandflies, so it is important to wear long sleeves and long pants as well as repellent.
- The visit, between the tour and the caves, will take you approximately 1 hour.
Cathedral Caves Beach
It's 10 in the morning when we continue with the route through the places to see in Southland making a journey of 20 kilometers to Purakaunui Falls, where we arrived at 10:45 after making the last stretch of road of about 9 kilometers, along a spectacular road although less fit for a motorhome, which makes us slow down and take this last stretch with some more peace of mind.
Purakaunui Falls, another place to visit in Southland
These relatively hidden waterfalls are another of the places to see in Southland that we recommend you not to miss, since despite not being especially impressive, they are a perfect place to make a stop, stretch your legs and travel a small path of no more than 10 minutes, which will take you through a forest to the waterfall.
Purakaunui Falls
After less than 30 minutes, we return to the motorhome to return to the route, now towards Nugget Point, another of the most interesting points in Southland, to where we have to travel 40 kilometers and practically an hour's journey, since the roads They are much narrower and with more curves, something that makes us go somewhat slower and make this section in almost twice the expected time.
Nugget point
Known for being one of the best places in Los Catlins and one of the essentials of Southland, Nugget Point is nothing more than several rocks that protrude from the sea, with some form of Nuggets and hence his name.
Although initially it may seem that it has little interest, we believe that it is in the whole where its real value is, since these stones together with the landscape and a lighthouse of 1869, make this one of the most beautiful environments in Southland.
Nugget Point, one of the places to visit in Southland
To get to the lighthouse you will have to travel a very easy path of about 10 minutes from which as we read you can see penguins and seals, although we were not very lucky and we did not see any.
Nugget point
At this point and after about 30 minutes visiting Nugget Point, we decided to check the weather forecast for the next few days, in order to make a decision about the next steps of the route and confirm what we had already seen a couple of days ago : The next days are expected to be rainy on both the Otago Peninsula and Moeraki Boulders, which is one of the main objectives of this trip through the southern part of New Zealand.
Taking this into account, we decided that it is best to leave the visit to the Otago Peninsula for the next few days and today go directly to attack Moeraki Boulders, although this means doing more kilometers and having to travel the same road several times.
With this we hope to get to see the sunset there today and if we are lucky, we can enjoy one of the most famous postcards of New Zealand.
And so, with this decision already made, we headed to Moeraki, passing through Dunedin, 100 kilometers and an hour and a half away, where we took the opportunity to go to the supermarket, put gas and eat as well as take a break for 4 : 30 travel the 80 kilometers that separate us from Moeraki Boulders, where we arrive at 5:30 in the afternoon.
Dunedin
And here is when we face the first problem: throughout the tour of the places to see in Southland, we have not thought about the tides before making this decision. As in other places in New Zealand, such as Cathedral Cave this morning or Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula, this place must be seen at low tide or 4 hours before or after.
In our case, for not consulting it, we have reached the worst time and it is that just two hours have passed at low tide, so it is about to reach the point that the formations are not seen and in addition to that, the time It's getting quite gray, so we decided to turn around, cross our fingers so that tomorrow morning at low tide the weather is fine and go to Moeraki Village Holiday Park our accommodation in Moeraki tonight.
Moeraki Village Holiday Park
This campsite is very close to Moeraki Boulders, something that will allow us to go early tomorrow and is also in a small fishing village, which also has a great incentive and that is where the Kaitaki penguin colony is, a few kilometers from the campsite, where we end today with an incredible surprise: finally see a blue-eyed penguin in addition to a few dozen sea lions that play around the area, giving us an unforgettable end of day.
Kaitaki
Penguin and sea lion in Kaitaki
It's 8:00 in the afternoon when we retire to rest dreaming of a new day on this incredible trip to New Zealand.
We leave you the route that we have followed by the places to see in Southland in New Zealand, among which are Cathedral Caves, Purakaunui Falls, Nugget Point and Moeraki Boulders, where we stayed.
Day 24: Moeraki Boulders in New Zealand - Dunedin - Oamaru
