One of the best ways to know New Zealand, its unique wildlife is a visit along the south coast close to Invercargill.
A walk along the Catlins River leads through a beech forest. It is popular with its hidden waterfalls and rare local birds. In Curio Bay, petrified trees, which age is more than 180 million years, attract the attention of people rafting down the river. They are “integrated” in the coastal rock and made an amazing root pattern on the stones. In Nugget Point, the endpoint, you can see fur seals and sea lions, shaggy, yellow-eyed penguins, spoonbills, and a seabirds’ colony. And it is not a zoo where animals are keeping in enclosures. You have a rare opportunity to look at them in their natural environment. And if you take a closer look, you find dolphins frolicking in the waves.
Southern Picturesque Route is a tourist route in New Zealand. It connects several coastal cities with the famous Dunedin Highway. In 2008, an Australian travel magazine called it "one of the greatest undiscovered tourist destinations in the world."
The final point of a trip along mountain rivers and forests is Waipapa Point Lighthouse. Located on the picturesque coast, it attracts not only tourists but also sea lions. People come there to watch these animals and take some good photos. Sea lions are not afraid of people at all, but you need to follow the rules of "communication" with animals. You cannot use the flash, feed the animals, and come to them closer than on ten meters.
Waipapa Point Lighthouse is the perfect place to see the early rays of the sun casting blurry tones to the grass and trees of the coast. Look at the waves and marine animals hiding there.
The building located on a lonely hill, right on the coast of the southern cape. And close to it is a sandy beach with many shells. A white tower with a black lamp roof greets sailors and visitors of the city, winking with lights. Its height is 13 meters. On the roof are a lantern and a balcony with a perfect view of the water surface and coastal hills.