-1 degrees when we woke this morning, it certainly gets cold down here but we are having the best of the weather compared to the North, at least the sky was clear and the sun shining.
Today was a day trip sightseeing tour around the area and our first stop along the gravel roads was Slope Point, the most southern point of the South Island. A short walk from the car park and we arrived at the sign and a small navigation light on the edge of the cliffs.
“The Group” at Slope Point
Next on our list of things to see was the Lighthouse at Waipapa Point scene of the shipwreck of the SS Tararua NZ’s worst civilian shipping disaster which claimed 131 lives in 1881 on it’s journey from Melbourne to Bluff. When the Tararua struck the reef, one passenger, George Lawrence swam ashore to raise the alarm. He ran to the nearest farmhouse and pounded on the door which was answered by Charles Gilbert. Charles rode his horse to Fortrose and then another 30 miles to Wyndham but it was too late to save the remaining passengers. The waves became heavier and heavier and one by one the passengers were swept overboard. This was one of the reasons that the lighthouses were built along this rugged wind swept coastline.
Waipapa Point Lighthouse
Down on the beach below the lighthouse we found some of the local residents, an old bull, two young bulls and a couple of female fur seals were having a good scrap amongst themselves on the beach. The older one trying vainly to separate the young males from the females. Some vicious biting going on.
The Scrap and the victor
A quick lunch stop beside the Mataura River estuary at Fortrose and we came back around the main road to our POP Stop at Niagra
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