A Waterfall Day

On Monday Jan 2nd we left Dunedin and got back on the road heading south. We took the Southern Scenic Route along the coast of the southern part of the south island. The route took us thru the Catlins, Invercargil, and Bluff, then up to Gore to our accommodations. We stopped at

several places along the way, including two beautiful waterfalls. We first sopped at the Golden Nuggets, which is a group of boulders that apparently look like golden nuggets. They were a bit golden in color, but not exactly what we expected. We did have fun stopping there though, because it was a nice drive out to the point and we enjoyed the excessive amount of wind we encountered. The gust could nearly knock you over. We did get to see some spoonbills, but they were so far away you couldn't really see their huge bills. Purakaunui Falls was our next stop. It was a

very short walk to the incredible falls. Our next stop was the McLeans Falls, which were a bit of a walk, but well worth every step. There were so many levels of the falls. It was gorgeous! The sides of the river weren't to steep, so we were able to maneuver all around the many parts of the falls. Dave really got some amazing photos! He climbed really far down into the falls to try and fit ever bit into the pictures. There were quite a few other people there taking pictures and enjoying the area. There was a group of girls who got into the freezing water and went under the highest fall. We

stayed well out of the flow of water, because it was way to cold for us. It was nice to see so many people enjoying the area though. After we left McLeans, we decided to go to the Niagara Falls of New Zealand, because the name sounded so enticing. It's a good thing we didn't go to far out of our way though because it was actually a small fall named by an architect in the town of Niagara as a joke. It was about a 3 inch decent of water over a few rocks. Dave did not think it was very funny! Once we got back on the road, we drove down to Sterling Point in Bluff, which is the southernmost point on the mainland of New Zealand. It was a beautiful spot right on the edge of the ocean. It is also the end of State Highway 1. In Key West we lived at the end/beginning of US1, so it was only natural for us to go to the start/finish of 1 in New Zealand. We drove thru Invercargill on our way back up toward Gore. Once we made it to Gore, we checked into our bed and breakfast and got to know our hosts. The owner Barry will be taking us out fly fishing tomorrow for brown trout. Hopefully we will catch some good fish Tuesday and Wednesday before we leave the area. We are certainly excited to get fishing!