Petrified

Continuing down the Southern Scenic Route, we visited Curio Bay. It's famous for its Jurassic petrified forest and wildlife, including hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins) and Hector's Dolphins. We didn't see any unusual wildlife but we enjoyed looking closely at the remnants of an ancient forest.





I even found Dave his first paua shell, hidden in a rock pool. It wasn't as big as the one we discovered in Riverton, though!



In Clifton, we took a little detour to explore the local cave network, which has unrestricted access. You don't have to be a dedicated spelunker, although DOC recommends that you have at least two sources of light for each person. We felt like real explorers, a bit panicky in the really tight spots (not good even for those who aren't particularly claustrophobic!), seeing glow-worms and stalactite formations close up. We did get into a tight spot at one stage deep into the network when we discovered a steep drop in our route, descending into a huge pool of water. We couldn't see how deep it was so unfortunately we had to take a deep breath and return the long way doubling back through the tight places.



Dave managed to take a pic of the glow-worms. They look like beautiful blue lights in the dark, illuminated, not quite so pretty. This is the larval phase of the glow-worm, which is actually a fly. The fly itself has no mouth, it has a short lifespan.



More roadside scenery until we reached Te Anau for the night.



We went on the last cruise to the glow-worm cave in Tunnel Burn, part of the Aurora cave system across the lake. The rising moon was huge and beautiful.