Beach dragons and other coastal wonders at Nugget Point
Summer 12/13 roadie, day 8, part 2
For our second to last night of the trip Mike chose Nugget Point at the eastern end of the Catlins. Again he chose well and while not as fancy (or maybe just less modern) as our Curio Bay pad, Nugget Lodge was fantastic. The upstairs apartment gave us wonderful beach views out to the South Pacific Ocean.
As a bonus, we were back in range of both cellphone and 3G coverage. Through much of the Catlins you’re without either – which ain’t a bad thing.
The coastline here was more rugged and this provided a dramatic lighthouse setting as well as native habitats for seals and penguins. And on that note, after checking in we hustled back out into the car and up the road to see what we could find.
The walkway initially hugs the side of a huge steep hill before taking you along a ridge to the Nugget Point lighthouse
Far below the rugged rocks and beautifully coloured, kelp-laden water are home to NZ fur seals
Seal nursery
The lighthouse has operated since 1870 though of course is now automated
Introducing the nuggets of Nugget Point
Basking seals surrounded by tentacles of bull kelp
Just down from the lighthouse is a yellow eyed penguin viewing place
You’re quite a distance from the YEPs here (moreso than at Curio Bay) so for any decent photos you need an enormous zoom lens
Given we lacked grunty viewing equipment, and given we had penguin success at Curio Bay, we decided it wouldn’t be worth returning for the evening penguin migration from sea to land. Instead our attention turned to exploring the beach around our accommodation and partaking of beverages on our fine deck.
Looking over to the headland and lighthouse
We found Puff the Magic Dragon all dressed up and gazing out to sea. Loved this guy.
Trying to sneak around rocks on the incoming tide. Mike = win. Me = fail (freaked out by the piddly waves)
Paua shell fence decorations
Supertastic view from our deck at Nugget Lodge
In less than two days we’d be home and back to work. Aghh!
tall tales 
I loved the old shack and the dragon
It was very cool to stumble across them (I may even have squealed).
Nice photo essay Hayley. The dragon is wonderful (love the hat), and I want to be one of those “deeply casual” fur seals. ~James
Deeply casual is a good way of putting it!
Great location for that lighthouse, Hayley. It all looks wonderfully wild. Trip almost over- oh no!!!
I do love a rugged coastline with maybe the occasional lighthouse for decoration. And it’s about this time you need to have another trip in the pipeline, to slightly ease the pain.
Wonderful set of photos. I love the dragon too.