Not the best of days. Wet and windy so set off to see the Caitlins which is the southernmost coast of N.Z. and reputed to be a beautiful area. We went wrong trying to get out of Dunedin but soon, thankfully, found the right road. We left the main road to Invercargill at Balcuthla and drove to Powatowai where we stopped for lunch and watched the rain come down and the surf pounding the beach. Our camp site literature showed some nice sounding sites in the area but we decided to press on due to the weather. We stopped later in the afternoon at a small town, Waikawa, where there was a small museum detailing life of the early settlers in the area. It was a fascinating visit and made us realise the hardships that those early settlers had undergone. I was very keen to stay at the Curio Bay camp site right by the beach where there is a fossilised forest but when we got there there was a strong wind blowing and the rain was still coming down so we decided to go on further By this time we were both getting pretty crotchety and tired. We pulled into a small information centre and Nigel went in to inquire about camp sites between there and Invercargill. He came out with details of a place called the Lignum Pit Scenic stop which didn't sound in the least bit attractive but we drove on and pulled in there. What an amazing place it is! If you've managed to read this far please, please look at the web site as it will tell and show you much more about the place than I can.
http://www.lignitepit.co.nz/
Maria was so welcoming and gave us a long talk about the place before directing us to where we could park up. They intend to have more facilities, in time, for camper vans but there was all we needed with an electrical hook up and a toilet as well as complete privacy being the only van there. Thankfully the rain had stopped and after our meal we were able to walk round the amazing gardens that they have created from what was basically an open cast mine. What a find.
No comments:
Post a Comment