Putting the "cat" in Catlins

I was told by several people not to miss the Catlins. From Balclutha we took the Southern Scenic Route to Invercargill and stayed over at the Whistling Frog. Due to the level two Covid 19 warning, the restaurant was closed (the thing the Whistling Frog is most known for). I was warned to keep my cat contained because there is a lot of indigenous birds. We adhered to this with some unhappiness, partly because one of the dogs was off a leash (not fair in cat-thinking) and also because there were so much bushes, trees and interesting buildings with interesting nooks and crannies to explore and mum was such a spoil sport! When we went for our morning walk we heard what we believed to be a red stag. It was just before sunrise so we couldn't see anything, but it possibly saw us, because we heard the roar and footsteps that stopped, waited for a while (as did we) and then it moved off in the opposite direction. Ferrari was then happy to carry on in that direction.

It was mostly rainy and we didn't stop much, but the amazingly dense growth area between mountains that form the Catlins, reminded me so much of the South and South East Cape of South Africa.

A Plaques to commemorate a sunken ship (S.S. Otago) from Port Chalmers to Melbourne.

A bit of history about the start and development of the aera.

Just outside Fortrose

Oystercatchers at Fortrose