We left Portobello Village on the Otago Pennisula and drove back into Dunedin and around the city. Luckily, our motorhome came equipped with the Kruse Audio Tour Guide, a GPS system which has a narration of any area we are passing through. It is a helpful and interesting tool, because it includes entertaining stories about local people as well as information about the sights to see.

We headed south on SH1 into the Clutha River district. The Clutha River isn’t NZ’s longest but it carries the most water, draining many of the lakes we’ve already visited in the Wanaka/Queenstown area. We passed through Balclutha, the largest town in South Otago, and then on to Owaka, where we stopped at the museum. The museum had some informative displays and two short films about the shipwrecks that have occurred in the area. Near here is Cannibal Bay which gets its name from human bones found on the beach left there by the warrior Te Rauparaha.

Owaka is the beginning of the southeastern coastal region called the Catlins which is along a roadway known as the “Southern Scenic Route.” This area is noted for rolling hills, rugged coastlines, beautiful beaches, and old forests.

We stopped at a town called Kaka Point and hiked out to the lighthouse at Nugget Point. We saw seals and sea lions there.

Then we walked to three different waterfalls along our route – the Purakaunui Falls, the Matai Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. We wanted to hike to Cathedral Caves but they were closed for safety regions, which was very disappointing.

We stopped for the night at McLean Falls Holiday Park which has a good restaurant called the Whistling Frog. We felt three small tremors while we were having dinner.

Tomorrow we’ll walk to the McLean Falls which is next to our campground.